Bronxville Students Travel to France for Immersive Cultural Exchange

A group of 17 students from Bronxville High School recently traveled to France to immerse themselves in the French language and culture. The experience was part of the French Exchange program at Bronxville, which for the last 30 years has provided students with the opportunity to go beyond the classroom through an exchange program with a high school in France.

Bronxville High School French teacher Toby Gillen collaborated this year with English teacher Raquel Granda from Lycée Jules Froment to continue the legacy.

“The French Exchange program is a transformational experience that embodies everything that our Bronxville Promise stands for – taking risks; teaching our students what it means to represent your school, your state and your country; and to imagine the possibilities beyond this one-square mile,” Gillen said. “I feel like I say this every time, but what may look like just two weeks on a calendar to someone else is an indelible memory that these students will hold onto for the rest of their lives.”

Twenty-one Bronxville families hosted a French student from Lycée Jules Froment in Aubenas for two weeks this fall. The visiting students attended school and discovered New York through field trips to the Statue of Liberty and the United Nations, as well as navigating the subway for the first time. The exchange continued in the spring when the Bronxville students traveled to Paris for an intensive four-day cultural immersion before heading south to Aubenas. While living with host families for 12 days, attending school and navigating daily life entirely in French, the students strengthened their language skills in authentic contexts, developing both confidence and independence. Visits to Grotte Chauvet, home to 36,000-year-old cave paintings, and Avignon challenged the students to think critically about history, art and global perspectives, while interactions with local artisans highlighted innovation rooted in tradition.

“The French Exchange has helped me with my conversational skills,” junior Charlotte Haller said. “Before the Exchange, I would translate the sentence in my head word-by-word before being able to respond. Now, I am able to answer faster and more smoothly.”

Through the Exchange, the students learned to communicate in unfamiliar situations and reflect on their own identities within a global context.

“It is more important than ever for students to get to know each other across cultures to spread the message of peace,” Gillen said.