They’re here for the second half of our fifth-grade exchange program; just a few weeks ago, their New York buddies were visiting London’s fair city on their first journey abroad with their classmates.

While our exchange program with Dwight School London dates back 21 years, our history across the pond dates back to 1972, when we became the first independent school in the U.S. to establish a permanent campus overseas. Planting seeds in London was forward-thinking, when the word “globalization” was not yet part of our everyday parlance.
 
Today, Dwight’s global network extends across multiple continents with additional campuses in Seoul, Shanghai, Dubai — and in the cloud with Dwight Global Online School. Through our global network, we offer students multiple exchange opportunities as they get older, and enriching cross-campus collaborative experiences, including this year’s Shanghai Music Festival.

Each spring, fifth graders are matched with buddies in year six at Dwight School London and soon after landing, they meet for the first time for a fun-filled outdoor picnic hosted by London families. They also spend a day together in classes, visual and performing arts activities, and P.E.; and enjoy evenings together bowling and taking in a West End show. Over the course of a week, they forge connections that will last throughout their years at Dwight and beyond. They discover what things they share in common both as Dwight students and as 11- and 12-year-olds.  
Students in New York also discover a new culture and explore the majestic and historic sites in London, ranging from Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, the Tower of London, and the Houses of Parliament to the London Eye, Covent Garden, the London Dungeons, and Borough Market. They take their first tube ride, sightsee via the hop-on, hop-off bus, and even enjoy a classic meal of fish and chips!
 
When it comes time to say good-bye to their buddies, they know it won’t be long before they reunite for the reciprocal leg of this exchange.
 
As students welcomed their London friends to New York this week — also at a family picnic — they were excited to spend more time together in class and at the Dwight School Athletic Center for a mirror experience. For their London counterparts, exhilaration is building as they, too, learn about a new culture and take in many of New York’s landmark sites, from the UN and the National September 11 Memorial and Museum, to Times Square, the High Line, and the Statue of Liberty.