Global Academic Programs

GLOBAL ACADEMIC PROGRAMS MISSION:

At its core, the Upper School academic program is designed to guide students to:

Learn how they learn and collaborate effectively with a wide range of world views
Construct a personalized approach to engaging with and developing solutions for complex, real-world challenges
Conceptualize and explore the networks and systems that undergird global societies
Develop an understanding of what it means to be an impactful global citizen

GCDS Global Academic Programs provide students with opportunities to pursue their interests, apply and develop their skills and knowledge, and forge partnerships with communities, researchers, and peers around the world. While many competitive independent schools offer global travel opportunities, the vision for GCDS Global Academic Programs offers a distinctive opportunity for our students. Rather than discrete student trips, our immersive experiences will serve as extensions of on-campus learning. Connecting directly with our interdisciplinary curriculum in addition to signature programs (e.g. Junior Thesis, Senior Internship, and Specialized Diplomas), Global Academic Programs will include both faculty-organized and student-designed travel experiences.

Greenwich Country Day School believes that it is crucial for students to learn about the broader world and how to collaborate within its diverse communities. In so doing, students develop a cultural responsiveness and necessary skills for today’s increasingly globalized environment. The GCDS Global Academic Programs respond to the rising global demand for citizens who pursue and combine a rich understanding of political, social, cultural, and economic trends. No longer is global competency a luxury, it is now an imperative.

GCDS Global Academic Programs strive to develop in our students the necessary tools to seek understanding, investigate and inquire about what is unknown or different, and to use analytical tools with language proficiency to engage within other nations. Students in the Global Academic Programs will gain the interpersonal and cross-cultural skills to communicate, collaborate, and connect. Moreover, students are inspired to envision and act as they prepare to emerge as positive change-makers intent on creating a better future. GCDS Global Academic Programs encourage critical thinking and practical engagement through continued interdisciplinary study and experiential learning.

Through collaboration between all stakeholders, students will benefit from a combination of rigorous study and rich experiential learning. The Global Academic Programs will extend the GCDS foundational ethos fostering supportive, stimulating, interdisciplinary opportunities. Travel broadens minds. To quote Mark Twain: “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry and narrow mindedness…” Indeed, travel is expansive and creates inclusive spaces along with the possibility of deep intellectual growth. Combined, all of these elements will bring together members of our global community to learn from one another, preparing each of us as leaders in our interconnected world.

Questions about Global Academic Programs?

Mary Cortes Alindato, Co-Director of Global Academic Programs

E: mary.alindato@gcds.net

Dr. Niki Kiviat, Co-Director of Global Academic Programs

E: niki.kiviat@gcds.net

Global Academic Programs 2024-2025

The 2024-2025 Global Academic Programs will be announced in late February. Information about these opportunities and application materials will be posted on this site.

Independent Travel + Semester Abroad

Should students wish to explore semester abroad programs that are administered by organizations outside of GCDS they should first speak with their academic advisor and then contact the Academic Dean. The Academic Dean's Office, in partnership with the College Counseling Office and the Head of the Upper School will assist families in vetting Semester Abroad programs. The Academic Dean can provide families with a list of pre-approved programs, for which GCDS accepts course credit. Generally, families should initiate this process during Semester I of the academic year prior to proposed travel.

Previous Global Academic Programs

SENEGAL (January 2024)

The 2023 Global Academic Service Program with Lycée Mariama Ba on Îl Goré in Senegal (a UNESCO World Heritage site) is a true integrative learning experience for students and educators.

Students will work on a recycling campaign and the planting of mangroves along the side of the boarding school to prevent erosion. GCDS students will spend their Intersession attending classes and participating in the co-curricular activities at the Lycée. The culminating project will include a video recycling commercial and a policy presentation to UNESCO Senegal.

PURPOSE + OBJECTIVE

This program will offer GCDS students an immersion into the language and culture of Senegal, and provide an opportunity for knowledge and cultural exchange to occur between the students of GCDS and Lycee Mariama Ba.

Lycée Mariama Ba is a private, all girls high school located on the historical world heritage site of Goree Island, which bears the name of a famous Senegalese women writer. In the past, girls' education has long been a major concern for the government of Senegal. In 1978 the education center was created, by presidential decree No. 78.973 by President Léopold Sédar Senghor, a general female education establishment comprising the middle and secondary cycles called ‘Maison d’Education de l’ordre national du Lion’ (M.E.O.N.L).

It promises to be academically, socially, and environmentally focused as students will attend classes at their grade level at Lycee Mariama Ba in addition to experiencing how the intersectionality of economics, education, and skill building comes into play in policy. They will have ample opportunity to learn about the environment of Senegal, strengthen their linguistic skills, as well as enhance their cultural awareness. Participation in the Intersession portion of the program may meet the immersion requirement for the World Languages Diploma.

GCDS and Mariama Ba students will complete an interdisciplinary public commercial campaign on the importance of recycling and develop a policy proposal to present to UNESCO Senegal and or Paris at the end of the trip. A personal documentary reflection of learning will be shared during the third week of the second semester. They will share their reflections with the Upper School during a Tiger Talk in early February.

RWANDA (January 2024)

School of Leadership Afghanistan (SOLA) in Rwanda

This Intersession will unfold at School of Leadership, Afghanistan – better known as SOLA. SOLA is a school for mostly Afghan (but also Iranian, Pakistani, and Uzbek) girls in grades 6-10, who have escaped the Taliban to pursue an education. Rwanda extended a warm welcome to these girls, where a gated luxury hotel was repurposed as the new SOLA campus. Most of these students will eventually enroll in boarding schools and, later, universities across the United States, with the hope of one day returning to their native Afghanistan as engineers, surgeons, or business leaders.

GCDS will take a cohort of eight to 10 girls to the SOLA campus in Rwanda, where they will discover the strength and resilience of not only these amazing girls but also their host country of Rwanda and how far this tiny East African nation has come in 30 years. The 3-week trip is both intra- and extramural: besides shadowing students at SOLA, we are planning an overnight safari, team-building activities at a ropes & ziplining course, and, most meaningfully, tours of the Genocide Memorials in Kigali. All of these experiences will lay the grounds for our cohort’s reflective and cultural work, as we construct narratives of contemporary womanhood across the United States, Afghanistan, and Rwanda.

The learning of our Intersession will unfold at School of Leadership, Afghanistan – better known as SOLA. SOLA is a school for mostly Afghan, but also Iranian, Pakistani, and Uzbek girls in grades 6-10, who have come to Rwanda for an international education. Afghanistan, as SOLA founder Shabana Basij-Rasikh recently emphasized in an episode of 60 Minutes. Basij-Rasikh established a campus in Kabul against a decree against women’s education, and some of her girls even cross-dressed as boys to enter SOLA and practice skills in literacy and STEAM. When the United States pulled out of Afghanistan in the spring/summer of 2021, however, Kabul was in turmoil; Basij-Rasikh appealed to a number of nations willing to host a “satellite SOLA,” a school of leadership away from the violence building in Afghanistan. Rwanda extended a warm welcome to these girls, where a gated luxury hotel was repurposed as the new SOLA campus. Most of these students will eventually enroll in boarding schools and, later, universities across the United States, with the hope of one day returning to their native Afghanistan as engineers, surgeons, or business leaders.

TAIWAN (January 2024)

The 2024 Global Program to Taiwan is a 3 - week language and cultural immersion in partnership with a local school in Taiwan. Through a homestay, travel, and a collaboration with the school, students will delve into Chinese language and Taiwanese history and culture. Guided by GCDS Design Principles, students will discover how Taiwan transformed from a rural agricultural society to a modern, globalized technological nation. The cost of the program is not yet finalized but will likely be between $6,000-$6,500, with a site visit of the program planned this summer to confirm. Participation in the Taiwan Intersession may meet the immersion requirement of the World Language Diploma or one of the elective requirements of the Visual Arts Diploma.

Program Layout

During their 17 day stay in Taiwan, students will achieve

5 important curricular goals:

Through a homestay, classwork and daily interactions with Taiwanese, students will improve their understanding of written and spoken Chinese language.
Develop a more thorough and complete understanding of not only both Taiwan and Chinese history and culture, but also that of East Asia.
Based on their personal interests, students will develop classroom activities to teach students in Taiwan.
By attending classes in math and science students will gain the knowledge and understanding to compare and contrast our learning systems with that of a large Taiwanese school.
Through research and travel throughout the island students will develop a project to present as part of a Tiger Talk. We will work with students to develop a project where they can delve into a personal passion related to their experiences in Taiwan whether it be in the arts, sports, gastronomy, or climate politics.

Students begin their immersive, cross cultural exploration in September, 2023. Selected students will take a weekly elective course, during the flex or lunch periods, to prepare them for their upcoming experience in Taiwan. In addition to reinforcing language skills, students will have in-depth discussions about the unique history, culture, and environment of Taiwan. Students will also have the opportunity to engage with their student partners at the school either asynchronously or during an evening Zoom call.

And, while in Taiwan, students will have the immersive experience of a lifetime. A homestay, time spent in school and friendly, inquisitive Taiwanese will embolden students to communicate in another language. Often considered “China before Mao,” Taiwan is a culturally rich country in terms of its people, its history, its religions and its art allowing students to engage in a wealth of cross curricular activities. Students will visit such sites as the National Palace Museum which houses the world’s most famous collection of Chinese art and artifacts (amassed from China’s Forbidden City in 1949), and bring their knowledge to life exploring classes such as brush painting, ceramic making and Tai Chi. During their stay in Taiwan students will be able to enjoy both the urban metropolis and amazing outdoor activities fully appreciating why the Portuguese named this tropical island “Ilha Formosa'' (Beautiful Island). In and around Taipei students can join Taiwanese to explore Yamingsham National Park or even steps away from Taipei 101 on Xiangshan Mountain. While in Hualien hiking and biking in and around Taroko Gorge students will witness both the natural beauty of the area and the impact climate change has had in the form of larger and more frequent typhoons. Throughout their stay in Taiwan students will fully appreciate how food is an essential part of the country’s culture, history and national pride. When Taiwanese greet each other, they say “Chi bao mei?” which means “Have you eaten?” While traveling in Taiwan students will certainly have the opportunity to sample such specialties as stinky tofu, beef noodles, three cup chicken, and mango shaved ice, but more importantly, students will begin to understand the historical, regional and health attributes of each dish they experience.

After their 17 day journey throughout Taiwan, students most certainly become more adept with their Chinese language skills, but more importantly, they will become better and more knowledgeable global citizens. They will establish friendships with Taiwanese students, develop first hand knowledge of Taiwanese history and culture, and fully appreciate why Taiwan remains in many ways Ilha Formosa.

PAST PROGRAM: Key West, Florida - January Intersession 2023

The Global Program to South Florida is a 3-week immersive experience during intersession designed to introduce students to conservation strategies and research opportunities in Miami and the Florida Keys.

VLOG LINK

PAST PROGRAM: Guatemala - January Intersession 2023

The Global Program to Guatemala is a 2 ½ week immersive experience during intersession designed to collaborate with high school students of the Antigua Green School in the historic UNESCO World Heritage town of Antigua, Guatemala. Antigua Green School, a bilingual English/Spanish school, located on a 70-acre coffee farm, offers students a unique opportunity to connect with the natural world.

VLOG REFLECTIONS

Guatemala 2023

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