Now Accepting Enrollments for January 2008

The MexArt high school semester is a boarding program for international students to learn Spanish by attending a Mexican private school only two blocks away.  Students live in Casa Crayola with the director, Carly Cross and her staff, receiving full academic credit for their semester courses.  To help with homework and language acquisition, students receive after-school tutoring as needed. After a semester of living in Mexico and attending school, students achieve a very high level of Spanish fluency.

Student Life:

The semester program is open to 4-6 students who reside at Casa Crayola, several students per room. A common room for meals, homework, and hanging out is provided with wireless internet access for students with WiFi equipped laptops.  Carly and staff members check in with students frequently and provide supervision.  Students help themselves to breakfast and lunch from our community kitchen.  Food for making sandwiches, quesadillas, salads, soups, etc... are always on hand.  The evening meal is eaten together as a group. Students and staff take turns participating in preparing and cleaning up from the evening meal. Student rooms are equipped with kitchenettes with refrigerators for between-meal snacks.

All students have keys to Casa Crayola and come and go as they please during the day. Each student must have keys and a cell phone when leaving the property. If running late or having trouble, students can call and likewise, students can be located at any time.  Curfews are discussed with parents individually, but a weekday curfew of 10pm and a weekend curfew of 11pm is recommended.

During the first month, students are exhausted after school. Listening and speaking another language fo7 hours is draining!  But students need tutoring in Spanish toward the beginning of the semester to help understand what has been covered in classes at school, to fill any language grammar gaps that the student may have, and to help with written school assignments. 

After school activities include music lessons in piano, voice, guitar, violin or cello, photography classes, other art classes, dance classes or school-based extracurricular activities like soccer, basketball, chorus, or cheerleading. Weekends are left open and students may entertain themselves, explore San Miguel, get together with friends from school, work on school homework, or just RELAX!

High School:

At Colegio Fray Pedro, all classes are taught in Spanish.  Students quickly learn Spanish through attending and participating in classes.  High school (preparatoria) courses include:  math, science, literature and writing, word etymology, history, physical education, English, French, and ethics and values.  With about 30 students per grade level, small classes ensure that new students make friends quickly and are easily integrated into the school and San Miguel environment. The school runs from 7:00 am to 2:30 pm and is located just a 3-minute walk from Casa Crayola. All students wear uniforms daily. 

Fray Pedro is a private Catholic school in San Miguel but students of all religions are welcome to attend. Religion is not practiced throughout the school day: a morning prayer is offered before school hours and a religion course is taught an hour a week.  Most Mexicans are Catholic and as a result, many of the schools are also Catholic.  Through attendance at Fray Pedro, students will learn to understand this aspect of Mexico and its culture.

Eligibility:  Open to students in good academic standing enrolled in the 8th through 12th grades. Must have at least one year of Spanish.

Credits:  Credits earned are awarded through the Mexican SEP department of education. It is the responsibility of parents to assure that these credits can be transferred back to home schools. Most schools recognize the credits and documents are supplied to home schools: descriptions of course work completed, accreditation of the school, transcripts.

College Admissions: 99% of the students at Fray Pedro continue on to attend university. Students who complete the MexArt semester have this distinguishing study abroad experience that separates them from other applicants in the college admissions process. Students who have completed semester study abroad programs are recognized by colleges and universities for their maturity, language abilities, cultural sensitivity, independence, self motivation, and autonomous study skills.