School Year Abroad

School Year Abroad (SYA) places American high school juniors and seniors in one of four independently operated schools in China, Italy, France or Spain for a full academic year. Students intensively learn the respective language of their country and live with a carefully selected host family. The program includes extensive cultural immersion, select courses taught in the native language and requisite subjects such as math and English taught in English. The program provides academic advisors, college counseling services, and administers the AP, SAT, SAT II, and PSAT tests at each school. Students earn U.S. high school credits while attending SYA and preparing for selective U.S. colleges and universities.

Spanish teacher Clark Vaughan conceived of the idea, which was founded at Phillips Academy (Andover, MA) and its founding charter member schools are Phillips Exeter Academy (Exeter, NH), and St. Paul's School (Concord, NH), although it operates independently of these, and its 43 member schools. SYA's Home Office is located in North Andover, MA.

SYA celebrated its 50th anniversary on 2015.

The program in Spain is SYA's oldest. The original incarnation was "Schoolboys Abroad" and consisted of 11 students accompanied by founder Clark Vaughan and his wife Polly, plus two more teachers, who in 1964, traveled by ship on the MS Aurelia to study in Barcelona, Spain. Polly Vaughan chose the symbol that continues to serve as the logo for the program. Their son Christopher was in the fourth Andover class to participate in SYA.

Though founded in Barcelona, the program relocated to Zaragoza in 1999. The move took place in order to facilitate the ease with which students learned and heard Castilian Spanish spoke around them. As the program grew in Barcelona, it became clear that the proliferation of Catalan, as well as the number of tourists, detracted from the immersion of the students. The move to Zaragoza, the fifth largest city in Spain, provided students with a city environment with less tourist attraction, making it necessary for Castilian Spanish to be spoken throughout the city.

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