Global Education at SSSAS

A Wide-Angle Lens

At SSSAS we want students to do more than stare out at the world. We want them to see its cultures, histories, landscapes, and perspectives—like and unlike their own—and to explore, collaborate, respect, serve, and engage with them.

Students develop this global understanding in age-appropriate ways. While lower schoolers play math games with local Spanish-speaking preschoolers, upper schoolers discuss refugees and migration with their Danish sister school on Skype. (We have partnerships with schools worldwide, including a longstanding relationship with St. Paul’s School in Haiti.)

Beginning in JK, language instruction—with ultimate options in Chinese, French, Latin, and Spanish—fosters cross-cultural communication, but it doesn’t stop there. Throughout the grades and the curriculum, classes address global issues, assess international information sources, connect with peers abroad, and encourage students to ditch their goggles to embrace different ways of seeing and knowing.

Our most visible global programs are our international trips, available to middle and upper schoolers on spring break and during the summer. Some are exchange programs, some involve service learning, some have a significant academic component, and some are designed to improve language skills. Many are offered through Students Shoulder to Shoulder, a consortium of schools dedicated to teaching ethical responsibility and leadership. But all of our trips are eye-opening and life-changing—not just because students are immersed in a destination, but because they are well prepared to get the most from the experience and bring it back with them.

Our cosmopolitan enrollment and capital area location also create opportunities for students to expand their worldview, and they seize them. Whether on field trips or in student organizations like Model UN and the Global Citizens Club, students—and graduates—are ready to explore the world wherever they are.

Preparing for the Journey

List of 6 items.

International Exchange/Student Programs
- Spring break trips offered for Upper School students every year. Students go to places like Costa Rica, China, Madrid, Greece, Croatia, Argentina, France, and Romania.
- Normandy, France student exchange program
- Spanish exchange program
- Host to Danish students and teachers
- Model Organization of American States
- Middle School Model United Nations
Multicultural Education and Training
- New Faculty Multicultural Workshop
- JK-12 Multicultural Committee, Retreat, and Faculty Workshop
- Anti-Bias Program for students
- Multicultural Nights in all three divisions
- Courageous Conversations group
- Three student multicultural committees
Language Offerings
- French (AP offered) (starting in 4th grade)
- Latin
- Mandarin (starting in 8th grade)
- Spanish (AP offered) (starting in JK)
- Study of the modern and traditional cultures of Chinese, French, and Spanish-speaking countries
Cross-Curricular Connections
- Middle School students explored the essential question of "How does where you live shape your identity?" by interacting with peers their age in Ecuador, Japan, Vietnam, and The Ivory Coast through a video sharing platform called Flipgrid. Students then wrote a reflection on the project where they shared how this project challenged them to see how their upbringing in the U.S. compares to people their age in other parts of the globe, and it helped them see how the history they have studied has really shaped their outlook and opinions.
- Seventh grade poetry exchange with students overseas
- Live chats/exchanges via SKYPE with students in Morocco and a poet in the UK
- Lower School Travel Convention
- Middle School participates in World Maths Day
- Upper School Oral History Project
Addressing Global Issues
- Sustainability education and activities
- Lower School World Vision Walk for Water
- Green Cup Challenge
- Discovering energy sources worldwide
Curriculum Offerings

Lower School Singapore Math

Get Out There!

SSSAS leads about 10 annual international trips. Destinations change slightly from year to year, but a good number are consistent, thanks to established relationships with community partners for sustained impact. Recent years have seen trips to:

Argentina

Bahamas

China

Costa Rica

Croatia

Cuba

Denmark

France (Normandy)

Greece

Haiti

Italy

Kenya

Panama

Romania

Spain (Madrid)

U.S./Mexico border (San Diego–Tijuana)

Partnership With St. Paul's in Haiti

In 2011, St. Stephen's and St. Agnes formed a relationship with St. Paul’s, and members of our religion department made two visits to the school that summer. During one of the visits, SSSAS was able to deliver 20 laptop computers that were no longer being used by our faculty to St. Paul’s for student use. These laptops were the first computers St. Paul’s School had ever been given. And since then, faculty and students have visited St. Paul’s at least once a year. To learn more about our partnership, read this article from the SSSAS Magazine.

In 2016 Father Walin, the head of our Haitian sister school and parish St. Paul's Episcopal School in Montrouis, Haiti, to our school. He attended chapel on each campus, shadowed various members of the faculty, and visited classrooms to answer questions from students. Watch Father Walin deliver a powerful message at our Upper School chapel.

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