Exchange programs allow upper school students to experience daily life in Peru, France and Italy.
By: Rachel Silverman
This spring break, about 3,600 miles from the Ivy League, tree-lined streets of Princeton, a few local students spent a quiet afternoon together in a small, Peruvian church.
There, inside the decrepit walls of Parroquía San Genaro, the girls of Stuart Country Day School of the Sacred Heart taught songs, played games and delivered presents to a group of impoverished Peruvian children.
"It really put faces to the struggle of poverty in the Third World," Stuart Spanish teacher and trip leader Mary Anne Guerrero said, speaking about the group’s exercise in community service.
This service project, and the trip’s other, equally engaging and eye-opening activities, came as part of a two-week foreign language trip to Peru.
South America, in fact, was actually just one of three trip destinations to which upper school students ventured over spring break.
While Stuart Spanish speakers steeped themselves in Peruvian culture, their French-speaking peers sipped frothy cappuccinos and explored the quaint, cobblestone villages throughout the French countryside. Meanwhile, their Latin-learning classmates trekked across Italy to toss coins in Rome’s famous Trevi fountain and gaze in wonder at the many sites of faded, ancient grandeur.
But despite their varied locales, all three trips maintained the same core philosophy about the nature of foreign travel.
"I’ve always been a stickler for having the trip be more than a bed-and-breakfast thing, more than just a tour and seeing things without reflecting on them," said Ms. Guerrero, whose Peruvian husband, Jorge, also chaperoned the trip.
For this reason, students on the Peru trip wasted no time immersing themselves in native traditions and exploring the country’s varied landscape.
"We went to Las Islas Ballestas, where we saw a huge variety of different birds, penguins and sea lions," Ms. Guerrero said. "We climbed the ruins of Machu Picchu. … We went to Mass at the Hacienda San Jose to celebrate St. Joseph’s Day. … We took a dance lesson in Marinera, a traditional dance with partners and handkerchiefs.
"It was a fantastic experience," she added enthusiastically.
For French- and Italian-speaking students, the spring break school trips proved equally stimulating.
"The French students spent a week going around the countryside of France," said Laura Novia, director of public relations for the school. "They spent time in Provence and the French Riviera before heading for Paris for a 10-day stay in Paris, where they were hosted by families of students at the L’Institute Notre Dame des Oiseaux.
"The Latin trip was a touring experience. Students went to Rome, Florence, Milan and Venice. They also got to see original pictures of the Mater," Ms. Novia continued.
"They are all three well-established programs for upper school students," she said, noting that the program is actually an exchange where foreign students have the opportunity to spend time with their Stuart peers in Princeton as well.
"The French students came to the U.S. this fall," Ms. Novia said. "They were hosted by our families. The first time the Peruvian students could not get papers. There were political issues, they could not get here. But last year, they came to Stuart and did a big performance here."
The exchange seems not only to have left a positive impression on the foreign visitors, but also to have imparted a lasting influence on the Stuart community as well.
"In two weeks, you can’t expect students will come back fluent," Ms. Guerrero admitted. "But what happens is they gain a self-confidence when they’re staying with families and out of their comfort zone," she said. "They begin to speak more openly and readily in class afterwards. It gives them such self-confidence."

