Bishop Blanchet High School

Frequently Asked Questions

BBHS is approaching its sixth year with an international program! Each year, 10-12 students from around the world come to Blanchet with the intention of studying full time. Separate from a semester exchange program, these students stay at Blanchet for their entire high school career and graduate as a Brave. International students live with host families who help them integrate into American life and help improve their English proficiency immensely. These students become quite involved at BBHS - from football, to lacrosse, the spring musical, to the dance team, and so much more. Many of our international students go on to universities in the U.S., such as the University of Washington, Washington State University, Loyola Marymount University, University of California at Los Angeles, Northwestern University, Georgetown University and many other great higher education institutions!

Despite the pandemic, we continue to have interest in our well respected international program. If you have questions about how COVID-19 may impact your decision to study with us, or for homestay families who are interested in hosting students, please reach out directly to our Director of International Programs, Janah Valenzuela.

List of 7 frequently asked questions.

Q. Is there a stipend to help offset the cost of hosting?

Absolutely! For 2020-21, host families will receive $1,125 each month for the ten months they are asked to host.
Q. Are we obligated to host every year?

While we hope that you and your student end up wanting to continue living together, both parties are only committed to living with each other for one school year (10 months). You can decide at the end of each school year if you would like to host again and who you would like to host.
Q. How long do we need to host for?

We ask each family to commit to a 10 month agreement. Students usually move-in in late August and return home for the summer in late June.
Q. Where are the students from?

Since the inception of our program, we have enrolled students from Chile, China, Germany, Italy, Spain, Taiwan and Vietnam. As consistent with international education trends, many of the students seeking full-time education through graduation in the U.S. come from Asia, whereas students who visit us for short-term exchanges tend to come from Europe.
Q. What are the expectations from a host family?

We ask that you can provide the student with their own bedroom and a quiet place to study, daily meals, and transportation to and from school (whether by car or bus). All academic and college advising is handled through our International Program Director, so families need only focus on providing a caring home for the student to be part of!
Q. What if I go on vacation and can’t watch my student during that time?

No problem! We have families in our network who can help with short-term placement. So long as you give us advanced notice, we can often coordinate a short-term placement plan with another host family in our network while you are away.
Q. What language level do the international students come in with?

Since BBHS is a college prep school, we require international students to come in with a higher language proficiency level in order to keep up with the mainstream classes they will be put in. BBHS does not offer a full ELL (English Language Learner) program, so we are careful to screen students with a higher English proficiency level.

International Program Staff