Global Opportunities

At The St. Paul’s Schools, students have unique opportunities to develop cultural fluency skills critical to 21st-century leadership through our global partnerships, experiences, and exchanges. Shared learning experiences allow students in both the middle and upper schools at St. Paul’s School for Girls and St. Paul’s School for Boys to engage with other cultures, consider new perspectives, and immerse themselves in the languages they study. Students, faculty, and administrators who participate in these experiences share their knowledge with the school community and inspire others to think globally across disciplines.

With partner schools across four continents, upper school students can study in Japan, China, Germany, Spain, France, Argentina, or Australia through a global exchange. Students have experienced service-learning in Costa Rica and Panama, explored historical World War II sites across Europe, and participated in the Model UN conferences across the globe. The most recent one took them to Johannesburg, South Africa where both our boys and girls taking IB Global Politics took part in the African Leadership Academy's African Model Union.

For more information, contact Director for Global Programs Sarah Walker at swalker@stpaulsmd.org.

Video created by Aidan Eck ’21

Resource

Upper School Experiences

St. Paul's Choral Trip to Europe

Members of the Concert Chorale and Saints embark on an international choir tour, performing at many important and historic venues throughout Europe and beyond. While on tour, the choirs will perform, either in full concerts or smaller recitals, while also diving deep into their host cultures' rich history and artistic contributions through a variety of tours and other cultural explorations. Past tour destinations have included Spain, Morocco, Germany, Austria, Iceland, and the Czech Republic to name a few.

Click here for a gallery of images.

Remembering the World Wars Trip

Seniors from St. Paul’s School for Boys and St. Paul’s School for Girls can travel to France and the United Kingdom in May of each year as a part of St. Paul’s Remembering the World Wars trip. Partially funded by the W. James Price IV ’42 Endowment, this trip is designed to ensure that future generations continue to understand the sacrifices made by those who fought in World War I and II. Over the course of 10 days, students visit museums and historic sites in France and the United Kingdom to explores the history of the World Wars.

This global experience, last year, began in Paris where students visited Île de la Cité, Notre-Dame Cathedral, Île St. Louis, and the Latin Quarter. Students also participated in excursion where they visited the Drancy internment camp, Versailles, and museums such as Musée de l'Ordre de la Libération, a museum dedicated to the French military, and the Mémorial de la Shoah, a museum devoted to World War Two Jewish history.

After Paris, students traveled to Normandy, France to learn about and reflect on the sacrifices made by those who fought in World War II. While in the historically significant region, seniors spent time at the Normandy American Cemetery and on the beaches of Normandy. They also visited Sainte-Mère-Église Museum and the Utah Beach Museum.

Afterwards, students took the ferry from Normandy to Dover while enroute to London, United Kingdom. Once in London, students spent two days visiting iconic sites such as Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace, Tower Bridge, St. Paul’s Cathedral. They also visited the Imperial War Museum and the Churchill War Rooms. Through this experience, students learned about British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Britain’s critical role in fighting German occupation during the second World War.

Shakespeare at the Globe

The trip is an opportunity to engage with all the arts, culture, and history that London has to offer. While not an exhaustive trip to the city Samuel Johnson claimed contained “all that life can afford”, the experience focuses on a few meaningful highlights including, but not limited to, the British Museum, the Tower of London, Westminster Abbey, the West End, and more! As the trip is organized and sponsored by the St. Paul’s English Department, the centerpiece of the trip is a show at the Globe Theater—the near original site of Shakespeare’s playhouse. This is a great opportunity to explore and enrich the experiences of our own community!

Southwest Trip

Seville Trip

Seville, Spain

Students travel with St. Paul’s faculty to practice their knowledge of the Spanish language and immerse themselves in the culture of southern Spain. Students take classes at CentroMundo, tour Seville, explore the history of the Royal Palace and gardens, enjoy a flamenco show, try their hand at ceramics, and visit Granada and the famous Alhambra.

Venice Visual Arts Trip

Upper school students in our visual arts program have the opportunity to explore the history and techniques of art in Italy. In Venice, students explore the Guggenheim museum, take a trip to the tiny islands of Burano and Murano, enjoy a Gondola ride, and more. In Florence, students tour the Uffizi Gallery and participate in charcoal drawing and pasta making classes. From there, they head to to Rome where they experience the ancient city's rich culture and visit historic sites such as the Vatican, St. Peter’s Basilica, the Sistine Chapel, Pantheon, and the Trevi Fountain. Students bike the Appian way before ending the trip with a gelato making and tasting experience.

Singapore and Malaysia

Students will travel with faculty to practice their Chinese language skills while experiencing the culture and people of Singapore and Malaysia. Students will learn about the bumboats on Clark Quay then travel to Little India and on to Malacca where they visit the Nyonya and Baba Chinese communities. Students will finish their trip by traveling to Kuala Lumpur where they will tour the Bata Caves, market, and Royal Palace.

Upper School Exchanges

Argentina

St. George’s College, Buenos Aires, Argentina

SISTER SCHOOL SINCE 2011

Students in Spanish classes at St. Paul's have the opportunity each year to apply for the exchange opportunity to St. George's College in Buenos Aires, Argentina. This one-on-one exchange allows our students to put their Spanish skills into practice by hosting a St. George's student in February and then traveling to St. George's to live and attend school for the month of June. St. George’s College is a private, non-profit, bilingual, coeducational learning institution with a long tradition in providing a well-rounded and demanding education. It delivers an international curriculum of high standards, which seeks to develop strong ethical values and integrity in order to allow its students to become useful and successful citizens.

France

Germany

Pascal Gymnasium, Muenster, Germany

PARTNER WITH THE ST. PAUL’S SCHOOLS SINCE 1994

The St. Paul’s Schools have maintained the German Exchange Program with Pascal Gymnasium in Muenster, Germany for over 20 years. German students from The St. Paul’s Schools also have the opportunity to travel Pascal Gymnasium and host students from Pascal Gymnasium for three weeks in alternate years.

Bertha Von Suttner in Berlin, Germany

In a relationship forged through alumni connections, St. Paul’s and Bertha Von Suttner in Berlin, Germany, work together to provide an opportunity for one student from each school to participate in an exchange every other year. A St. Paul’s student is offered the opportunity to study in Berlin at BVS during the third quarter of odd years (2019, 2021, etc.). In exchange, a BVS student is invited to spend the first semester of odd years (2017, 2019, etc.) here at St. Paul’s.

Japan

Rikkyo School in Niiza, Japan

SHORT TERM

Rikkyo Senior High School is located in Niiza, Japan, just northwest of Tokyo. Founded as an Episcopal School and located just outside of Tokyo in the city of Niiza, Rikkyo Senior High School is also known in Japan as St. Paul’s School School for Boys. Students in our Japanese language program have the opportunity to experience life as a student in Japan for three weeks in June of odd years (2019, 2021, etc.).

Gakushuin School in Tokyo, Japan

LONG TERM

St. Paul’s and Gakushuin School in Tokyo, Japan, have enjoyed a long-standing relationship of more than 30 years. Drawing on a history and traditions which date back to the establishment of the first Gakushuin School in 1847 in Kyoto, Gakushuin today is a private educational institution that provides an integrated educational program. Each year St. Paul’s School for Boys welcomes a student from Gakushuin to study for the entirety of the school year. In exchange, a St. Paul’s student has the opportunity to travel to Tokyo to experience life as a student in Japan for the fourth quarter.