Students from Verona, Italy and their hosts.

Thirty exchange students and their chaperones from Verona, Italy, arrive at Tatnall on Saturday for a weeklong exchange program.The students are from the Liceo Maffei school in Verona.They will stay with Tatnall families, attend classes at Tatnall, and visit regional historical and cultural sites.The students will participate in Tatnall school life including an opportunity for the girls to join in cheerleading practice, an activity they have never experienced.

In the spring, the Tatnall students participating in the exchange will travel to Verona where they will stay with families there, attend Liceo Maffei and tour the region. The Verona exchange is one of the cultural exchange programs that Tatnall sponsors. For the past two years, Tatnall has participated in a program with Skive Gymnasium in Skive, Denmark, which follows the same format. This summer, several Tatnall Middle School students traveled to China.

Tatnall is committed to international study opportunities for our students. According to Headmaster Eric G. Ruoss, global awareness and understanding is a requirement for success in the 21st century. “Children need to become more engaged with their counterparts around the world,” he said.

Since 1955, Tatnall has hosted an AFS student, regularly invites speakers and performing artists from other nations and cultures to present and conduct workshops at the school. Tatnall has introduced Spanish as part of its Preschool and Lower School programs. In addition to required courses in Latin, Spanish or French, students in Upper School have an opportunity to study virtually any language from Italian and German to Arabic and Chinese.

Please join us in welcoming our Italian visitors to the Tatnall community next week.