|
 Escuela Fonteras’ high school program allows your group of students to experience South America first hand while they improve their Spanish. Students take morning Spanish lessons at the school located in the charming Providencia neighborhood of Santiago, and then afternoons are filled with touring the city, extra curricular activities and learning more about Chilean culture. The students will be paired with a Chilean host family so they can truly be immersed.
Homestay
The immersion experience not only involves classes and afternoon excursions, but through loving homestays, students will live a real immersion experience. We arrange accommodation with local families who have been selected by our experienced staff with the help of a psychologist. The families that host our students go through a very thorough selection process and receive constant training to keep them educated on areas where students may need help, such as with cultural shock issues and problem-solving techniques.
 Our families will provide the care and help necessary to making each student’s immersion experience complete and they are committed to treating their guests as part of their family. Just like your family, each of our host families has an interesting history that goes hand in hand with the history of our country.
Besides their care, love, help with Spanish and support at all times, our families offer:
- Shared room (with a fellow student)
- Bathroom
- Two meals per day at the house: Breakfast and dinner (healthy & nutritious local food)
o We also cater to special dietary requirements such as vegetarians or gluten-free.
- Laundry
- Cable TV
- Internet access and/or WiFi
- Non-smoking environment
- Telephone access to receive calls from their relatives and friends
- Pet-free families available upon request
All our host families live within 30 minutes from the school (by public transportation or
walking distance), in Providencia and Las Condes, near metro stations and bus routes.
Excursions
During the weekend we will escape the bustling city and explore other unique parts of Chile. Our excursions are designed to introduce your students to all that Chile has to offer, whether they want to get out into nature or live with an indigenous culture, each option is sure to leave them with new insight and life long memories. We have designed the following options that you may choose from, however if you want something specific we can design an outing based on your ideas as well.
* All meals, ground transportation and accommodations will be provided each day of the excursion.
Spanish Lessons
 Every weekday morning students will have 4 hours of Spanish lessons at our school. On the first day of classes, each student will take a placement test in order to assure they are placed the the appropriate level. Our classes are capped at 6 students in order to maximize oral practice and individual attention. The classes are 25% of theory and 75% of practice in order to promote rapid learning.
All students are provided with an authentic course book (not photocopies), a notebook and a pen. Class materials play a key role in conjunction with the teacher and our class methodology. They are the basis for a coherent curriculum and a productive class. We believe that providing each student with authentic course books and accompanying audio CDs is essential to this process.
All our teachers are native speakers who hold university degrees in Education, Spanish,
Linguistics and/or Literature. Our curriculum developers and Academic Director have graduate degrees in Teaching Spanish as a foreign language and our teachers have gone through our strict selection process and are given continuing training on the latest teaching techniques and material development. We encourage them to attend seminars and events related to ELE and also to improve their knowledge by taking more classes and courses.
At the end of each school day, lunch will be provided at the school while Breakfast and dinner will be made available at the student's homestay.
Itinerary
| Date | Morning | Afternoon |
| Sunday | Free Morning | Arrive in Santiago and settle into homestays |
| Monday | Spanish Class | Visit Cerro Santa Lucia and surroundings |
| Tuesday | Spanish Class | Merengue lessons |
| Wednesday | Spanish Class | Visit Museum La Memoria |
| Thursday | Spanish Class | Visit a local high school and make some new friends! |
| Friday | Spanish Class | Leave for weekend excursion |
| Saturday | FULL DAY EXCURSION |
| Sunday | FULL DAY EXCURSION |
| Monday | Spanish Class | Visit Los Dominicos to see the work of local artisans |
| Tuesday | Spanish Class | Salsa lessons |
| Wednesday | Spanish Class | Picnic at Cerro San Cristobal |
| Thursday | Spanish Class | Visit Museo de Arte Precolombino |
| Friday | Spanish Class | Farewell Party |
| Saturday | Free morning | Departure Santiago airport |
* This is a sample itinerary. Individual items can be changed or adjusted to meet the goals of your trip.
24/7 Staff Support
A staff member from our school will be your group's contact person and will be available at all times for emergencies. Each chaperone will be given, free of charge, a local cell phone while students may optionally rent a local cell phone from the school for $10.00 usd for the two week period.
|
Kevin Mason Ireland