August

Welcome! Thank you for hosting a CIEE student. Your student will be arriving this month. Expect your student to be tired and overwhelmed, as they’ve had many long days of travel and digested a lot of new information at CIEE orientation. We hope you’ve found your host family packet and manual helpful and encourage you to explore the resources section of our website. In the meantime, you may find the following topics helpful in the month of August as you and your student adjust to life together and your student starts school:

Topics

• Registering for high school: Make sure your student takes care of all your school’s requirements for registration. They will likely require proof of vaccination/immunization documentation. Click here for more information on vaccinations.
• First Day of School: Ask a guidance counselor to assign your student a buddy for the day to show them around school or to sit with him/her at lunch. Encourage your student to get involved in activities early on in order to make friends and adjust more quickly. When choosing classes make sure students are taking an English and American History course as well as two other academic classes. It is good to balance out the heavily academic courses with some lighter elective courses as well. Be sure to find out if there is a class that your student has a special interest in or needs to take in order to receive credit back home.
• Establish House Rules: Establish rules and expectations with your exchange student early on (fill out form together and put up on your fridge) and review CIEE rules and program policies in the CIEE handbook. Be sure to fill out the Computer Usage Expectations Worksheet as well.
• Adjustment: Many students go through feelings of homesickness when they arrive and experience highs and lows in their first few weeks or months. Your family will also notice adjustment issues as you take on a new family member. Click here to read the Top 10 Things All Families Should Know About Hosting, and be sure to visit our resource page on cultural adjustment.
• CIEE Insurance Info: Students with CIEE Insurance will receive their insurance information in their orientation folder upon arrival. Please go over all insurance information with your student when they arrive so that you are prepared in case of emergency. Visit our website to find a list of local doctors that they can use on DocFind as well as information about co-pays and claims.
• CIEE Support: Your Local Coordinator is your first point of contact if you or your student have any questions or issues during the exchange program. There is also a Support Coordinator at the CIEE main office in Portland, Maine who is available to resolve issues or answer questions. Please call us any time at 1-800-448-9944 or click here.

Topics Specific for Hosting Grants Students:

• Grants Student In-Community Orientation: All FLEX, A-SMYLE, and YES students are required by the Department of State to attend an In-Community Orientation upon arrival in their host communities. These orientations are organized and administered by Local Coordinators in cluster groups. During these meetings students will become acquainted with CIEE program rules as well as specific program requirements. Click here to find a list of topics that your Local Coordinator will cover with your student.
• Host Family Orientation and In-Person Interview for Grants Host Families: All Grants host families must be given an in-person interview prior to placement approval. Local Coordinators should also conduct a Host Family Orientation prior to student arrival. The host family orientation and host family interview must be two separate events.  
• Ramadan (July 8-August 7, 2013): Ramadan begins earlier this year. During Ramadan practicing Muslim students most likely fast from dawn to sunset, which means they will not ingest any food or water. If your student is participating in a sport during the month of Ramadan, they may be tired or dehydrated, so it is important to maintain communication during this time to make sure that the student isn’t over exerting him/herself. The two meals eaten during the day are extremely important as well, and this could be a great way to enjoy the holiday as a family with your student! See Quick Links above for more literature on hosting a Muslim student during Ramadan.
• Ramadan Ends: Ramadan comes to a close for practicing Muslim students. Local Coordinators and host families are encouraged to celebrate Eid al-Fitr (breaking of the fast) on Aug. 8th, 2013 with their students as a way to learn more about the Islamic religion and traditions. If available in your area, your student may want go to a local mosque or find an Eid al-Fitr celebration. We encourage you as a host family to attend this celebration as well!

September

September is a key month for your student—school starts, activities begin, and your student has settled into your home life! Here are some important topics for September.

Topics

• Set Guidelines and Expectations early on with your exchange student: Please review the expectations about your household rules with your student within the first week after your student arrives. CIEE has created a helpful document that can be used as a conversation guide. Please make time to review your house guidelines with every students soon after they arrive in order to set clear expectations for your 5-10 months together.
• Getting Involved: Focus on helping your student get involved in after school activities in order to meet people with common interests and make friends. Check to see if the host high school allows exchange students to participate in sports teams. Remember to sign your student up early to ensure he/she has a chance to try out or participate when he/she arrives. Also ask your guidance counselor to review the options of clubs at the school and encourage your student to pick one that interests him/her and go to their first meeting.
• Academics: Check in with the teachers and guidance counselor to insure that your student is doing well in school and is understanding English well enough. Help your student with his/her homework or contact your Local Coordinator if you think your student may benefit from tutoring. Some schools also offer free afterschool tutoring. Your CIEE Support Coordinator and Local Coordinator can also assist with setting up a paid tutor for your student (paid for by the student).
• High School Exchange Student “Buddy”: Ask the guidance office if there is an American student who would be willing to be your exchange student’s “buddy” for the first few days of school including showing the student around school, introducing him/her to new people and the school clubs activities, etc. This is a great way to help your student adjust to their new school environment.
• Cultural Adjustment: Your student will likely be experiencing culture shock. Culture shock can be expressed with a variety of different emotions depending on the individual. Some students may feel excited to start something new and happy about this new experience when they first arrive but after a few weeks of living in the U.S. and attending an American high school, they may start to feel anxious, shy, lonely, or hesitant to get involved. Assure your student that those feelings are natural and that they will pass. Remind them about how important it is to be open-minded about this experience, to be friendly with others, and willing to try new things. Reminding them about their reasons for coming on the program and their goals for the exchange year is important especially at times when your student is feeling down. Your student’s emotional response to his/her culture shock may come and go throughout your year—much like a roller coaster. It is important that you keep lines of communication open so that you can understand how he/she is feeling and so that you can find ways to support your student while they are here. Click here for further information on homesickness and culture shock.
• Traveling with your Student: If you are planning to travel with your student this fall, notify your Local Coordinator of your plans ahead of time and ask him or her if your student needs to get permission from CIEE before you depart. Click here to read what steps students need to take to gain permission.
• Support Coordinator contact with students: All students are assigned a Support Coordinator from the CIEE main office in Portland, Maine. Please go to our website to find your student’s Support Coordinator contact information by country and agency. The CIEE Support Team will be in contact with every CIEE High School exchange student during the month of September to check in and introduce themselves both to students and host families. So please inform your students about this contact and encourage them to call their Support Coordinator at 1-800-448-9944 during the month of September! Your Local Coordinator is both you and your student’s first point of contact but you can also contact the Support Coordinator if you have any questions or concerns throughout the program year.
• Belo USA Travel www.belousa.com: Belo USA Travel offers numerous travel opportunities for our exchange students to destinations such as Hawaii, New York, Washington D.C., California, and to other destinations on the east and west coast. If your student is interested in traveling please direct them to Belo’s website and encourage them to contact their support coordinator to inquire about getting approval to travel. Please click here to learn more about our independent travel policy.

October

The month of October is where the roller coaster of cultural adjustment can often start to dip for both students and host families. The initial excitement of settling in is over and the holidays are coming.

Topics

• Working Through Your Student’s Culture Shock: Your student may be feeling very homesick. Watch for signs of this including the student spending too much time alone in their room, on the phone with their natural family or friends from home, or on the computer. Set clear restrictions on computer and phone usage and encourage the student to be active with your family and in his or her school community. Some homesickness is natural but should abate with time and adaptation to the student’s new environment. CIEE recommends that students call their Natural Parents only two times per month especially when they first arrive to allow them time and energy to focus on adapting to their new life in the U.S. with your family. CIEE also recommends that you limit the student’s computer usage to 30 minutes to an hour of personal time per day. Click here for information about how to deal with homesickness and culture shock. You can also contact your Local Coordinator or Support Coordinator for assistance or advice at any time!

• Homecoming: Many schools have homecoming activities such as football games or dances. Encourage your student to get involved in the homecoming activities to enjoy school spirit. Homecoming can be a very memorable activity for exchange students, many of whom do not have homecoming in their home country schools.
• Working Through Your Family’s Adjustment: If you find yourself having some challenges with your student’s behavior while on the program please check out our frequently asked questions on our website to see if there are some helpful answers. Some students have a more difficult time adjusting than others but communication is key!! Talk to your student openly and make sure he or she knows the kind of behavior that you expect. Also remember to call your Local Coordinator or your Support Coordinator for assistance.
• Tutoring: Students should be starting to adjust to the language at this point of their stay and should better understand their classes. If your student is still struggling with English, you can suggest that they speak to their Local Coordinator about tutoring. Often schools have resources for students as well (that may be free) so students should discuss this with their teachers and guidance counselors.
• Getting Involved: Focus on helping your student get involved in after school activities in order to meet people with common interests and make friends. Check to see if the host high school allows exchange students to participate in sports teams. Remember to sign your student up early to ensure he/she has a chance to try out or participate when he/she arrives. Also ask your guidance counselor to review the options of clubs at the school and encourage your student to pick one that interests him/her and go to their first meeting. Also try spending quality time with your student: try cooking dinner together, watching a movie, doing outdoor activities, going to church, and/or sharing your own customs and traditions.
• Budgeting Money: CIEE program rules state that students should have access to a minimum of $150-$250 US dollars per month to cover personal expenses. Please remind your student to budget their money well so that they have enough money to last them through the month. Also please refrain from lending your student money or borrowing money from your student. The student and Natural Parents are responsible for making sure he or she has enough personal spending money throughout the entire program.
• Community Service Brainstorming: Now might be a great time to encourage your student to get started on their Community Service Project. Click here to read more.
• Contest for Grants Students—Better Understanding for a Better World (BUBW)
  CIEE will announce a contest for a chance for a Grants student to win a fully-paid trip to the Better Understanding for a Better World (BUBW) conference organized by Civilizations Exchange and Cooperation Foundation (CECF). Past students have had their winning contest entries posted on the CIEE Grants website! If you host a Grants student, please encourage them to participate.
• Belo USA Travel www.belousa.com: Belo USA Travel offers numerous travel opportunities for our exchange students to destinations such as Hawaii, New York, Washington D.C., California, and to other destinations on the east and west coast. If your student is interested in traveling please direct them to Belo’s website and encourage them to contact their support coordinator to inquire about getting approval to travel. Please click here to learn more about our independent travel policy.

November

Wishing you the start to a happy holiday season from CIEE! November is an exciting month for exchange students. They just experienced Halloween for the first time and Thanksgiving is the next big American tradition to look forward to! We hope you enjoy this time sharing your family’s traditions with your host son or daughter!

Topics

• Honeymoon Phase Is over between Host Families and Students: At this point of the program, families may notice that their exchange student has become increasingly comfortable with life in the U.S., and the family too will be become accustomed to the student as a member of the family. Moving forward marks the end of the “honeymoon period”—your student knows you well; they are not at all a guest in your home, but truly a family member. With the increased comfort that you have developed with your student, you will likely notice that the communication is more open—this comes with lots of benefits, but challenges at times as well. On the one hand, your student should be integrating well within the family now and will seem like just another member of the family—joking, talking, and fully involved.
  
  Sometimes at this stage, you may notice that your student is also testing boundaries as teenagers do the world over! Be sure to remind your student of expectations at home when needed as well as ways to help out around the house. It is important that you are making sure to interact and treat your exchange student just as you would another member of the family. If you have concerns that your student has not adjusted well to your family, please be sure to communicate your concerns with your Local Coordinator, or contact your support coordinator for further assistance.
• Travel over the Holidays: As the Thanksgiving holiday approaches, your family may be thinking about taking family trip with your exchange student. It is important that when traveling with your exchange student, you make sure to notify your Local Coordinator and fill out the Student travel Form (PDF) if needed. Thanksgiving is an important American holiday that will be a new and exciting experience for your exchange student! We encourage students to spend the holiday with their host families whenever possible, learning about family holiday traditions and enjoying this very American experience.
• Scholarship Opportunity for American High School Students to Germany! Jointly funded by the German Bundestag and the U.S. Congress, the Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange Program (CBYX) is a full scholarship exchange program that offers young Americans the opportunity to live with a host family and attend high school in Germany for a year. CIEE sends 50 students each year to Germany chosen to represent the Southeast United States as a CBYX youth ambassador. Students spend a year living with a German host family, attending a German high school and return home having experienced a new culture and fluency in the German language. The deadline to apply is January 4th, 2013
• International Education Week (IEW): All Grants scholarship students are required to participate in IEW as part of their scholarship requirements. Each student should create a presentation about their home country and culture and can choose to present as many times as they like. They can present for their school classes, community members, or any other audience. This year International Education Week is from November 18th to November 22th, 2013.
• Leadership Plans for A-SMYLE Students: All A-SMYLE scholarship students are required to submit leadership plans to American Councils following a specific format. This is part of their leadership requirement throughout the year which includes joining a club and tracking their community involvement in their host communities. All Grants A-SMYLE students will be receiving emails with further instructions and deadlines.
• REMINDER: No Natural Family Visits Before January 1st: As the holidays are approaching, your student may also be talking with members of his or her Natural Family about visits. It is important to remember that CIEE does not permit students to receive visits from Natural Family member prior to January 1st. If your student is interested in traveling with members of his or her Natural Family, please be sure to talk with your Local Coordinator and review the Student travel Form (PDF).
• Student Leaving in January? If your student is leaving in January and received medical treatment, please be sure to contact CIEE at 1-888-268-6245 or insurance@ciee.org to confirm that all insurance related matters are finalized. Insurance issues tend to take a few weeks to review and process. CIEE recommends starting this process now, so all insurance matters are closed prior to departures in January.
• Safety Tips: With the holiday season already upon us, we hope that you’ll take the time to share a few safety tips with your student:
  
  Transportation Safety
  
  
  • Always wear your seat belt
  • Discourage friends from texting or talking on the phone while driving
  • Avoid riding in cars with too many people
  • Never get into a car with someone you suspect has been drinking or using drugs
  • Discuss household transportation rules with your host family
  • Be extra cautious if operating an ATV, snow mobile, or other vehicle
  
  Fall and Winter Safety
  
  
  • Never ski or snowboard alone
  • Always wear a helmet when skiing, snowboarding, or participating in other high-impact dangerous sports or activities
  • If sledding, always choose a location away from vehicles or trees
  • Avoid locations where hunting may occur

December

The Christmas and Hanukah holiday season is finally upon us! This is one of the most enjoyable times of year for both exchange students and host families. We hope that you and your student are able to share in the many special traditions that come during this holiday season. Students will be excited to experience your family’s traditions and also to share with you holiday traditions that they might have from home.

Topics

• Share Holiday Traditions! While this is a very special time of sharing between students and host families, don’t be surprised if you notice times throughout this season when your students seem a little sad. For many students, while they feel excitement about experiencing new holiday traditions, it can be hard for them to be so far from their own families during this important time of year. You may notice your student is experiencing signs of homesickness, which can include withdrawal or isolation, wanting to contact home frequently or often comparing things often to home, etc. Some ways to help them with their feelings of homesickness are to try to get your student involved in many activities throughout the holiday season. With the school break, students may not know what to do with their time and offering suggestions can help. Also, try to ask them about their family’s holiday traditions and find ways to incorporate these into your holiday season. This might help your student feel more at home during the holidays. If you are hosting a Muslim student, you may want to read Christmas from the Islamic Perspective (PDF).
• Holiday Homesickness: While students may be tempted to contact home frequently during this time, we encourage students to limit their phone calls home to the natural family. Communicating often with home tends to only worsens feelings of homesickness. If you need assistance in managing problems with homesickness, please contact your Local Coordinator or Support Coordinator.
• Scholarship Opportunity for American High School Students to Germany! Jointly funded by the German Bundestag and the U.S. Congress, the Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange Program (CBYX) is a full scholarship exchange program that offers young Americans the opportunity to live with a host family and attend high school in Germany for a year. CIEE sends 50 students each year to Germany chosen to represent the Southeast United States as a CBYX youth ambassador. Students do not need to speak Germany, but become fluent in German after a year in a German high school and living with a host family, and return home having learned about another culture! Deadline to apply is December 21st, 2012.
• Convalidation Tips for Host Families of Five Month Exchange Students: Exchange students from Ecuador, Brazil, Italy, Korea, Japan, Mexico, Spain and Venezuela are typically required to convalidate for their American grades. Convalidation is when an exchange student translates the grades and credit, which they have received during their exchange at the host high school, for credit from their home high schools. Students seeking convalidation are generally required to submit official, signed, and sealed school transcripts to certain identified agencies in order to receive a seal of validation, certifying their grades as authentic. It is the students’ responsibility to take care of their own convalidation process. If they have questions about this process please encourage them to visit our website and ask their Local Coordinator or the Support Coordinator for guidance.
• Participating in Winter Sports: Many of our students will experience their first snowfall here in the U.S. and may want to try winter sports. Recreational downhill skiing, snowboarding, skating, sledding and cross country skiing are all covered winter sports on the CIEE Insurance plan. There are some sports that are not covered and we encourage you to review the insurance website for a list of excluded activities.
• Travel Over the Holidays: School vacations and holidays are upon us. Please visit our traveling Resource page for students for more information about CIEE policies. If you plan to go on vacation with your student out of the US, please be sure to notify CIEE. The CIEE insurance plan covers students in the US, Canada, Mexico, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands. If they visit a country not listed above, they will need to purchase additional insurance to cover any possible medical situations.
• Community Service: Remind your student to submit half of their required community service hours to CIEE at communityproject@ciee.org by January 1st!
  Visit our community service projects page for more information.

January

Happy New Year from CIEE!

Out with the old and in with the new! Now that the holidays are over, January often gets blamed for bringing on the winter doldrums—keep reading for host family tips in the month of January…

Topics

• Winter Doldrums - Half Way There, Half Way to Go! Returning to school after the excitement of the winter holidays can be hard on everyone. Students may seem to feel in a slump at this time of year. They are half way into the program, and may feel that there is a long way to go before they get to return home, or they may feel the “winter blues”. This is a great time of year for students to find activities to keep them involved and active. Encourage your student to join a club or sport in winter to stay involved and to avoid feeling cooped up or stagnant.
• Natural Family Visits and Independent Travel: At this time of year, students are permitted to receive visits from members of the Natural Family. If your student plans to have a visit from a relative, your student must inform and receive approval from the CIEE Support Team. Please make sure your student notifies his/her Local Coordinator and Support Coordinator prior to the natural parent’s arrival. If the student is traveling somewhere with his or her family member, please work with the Natural Family to coordinate a time when it will not have an impact on the student’s school or on your family and ask your Local Coordinator for the CIEE travel form to fill out and submit to the CIEE main office 30 days prior to travel in order to receive approval for this trip.)
  
  Sometimes the spring break or winter breaks in January and February can be good opportunities for natural family visits, but these visits should be pre-approved by the CIEE support department, coordinated with the host family and should not interfere with other host family plans.
• Travel Over the Holidays: School Vacations and Holidays are upon us. Please visit our traveling resource page for students for more information about CIEE policies. If you plan to go on vacation with your student out of the U.S., please be sure to notify CIEE. The CIEE insurance plan covers students in the US, Canada, Mexico, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. If they visit a country not listed above, they will need to purchase additional insurance to cover any possible medical situations.
• Participating in Winter Sports: Many of our students will experience their first snowfall here in the U.S. and may want to try winter sports. Recreational downhill skiing, snowboarding, skating, sledding and cross country skiing are all covered winter sports on the CIEE Insurance plan. There are some sports that are not covered and we encourage you to review the insurance website at for a list of excluded activities.
• Claiming Your Tax Deduction: Although not a large sum of money, the U.S. Government appreciates your commitment to international exchange! You can claim a flat $50 per month tax deduction as an American host family for the coming tax year. Click here for more information.
• Midyear Seminar for Grants Students: Midyear seminar is a mandatory requirement for all Grants students. This will take place between January 1 and February 28, 2011. The mid-year seminar is an opportunity for students and their Local Coordinators to come together half way through their year in the United States. This is a time to “check in” and survey the students’ integration into their families, communities and schools. Your Local Coordinator will organize the meetings with regards to student and host family schedules. Please contact your local coordinator for more information on this.

February

Welcome to February! We hope you are all enjoying the winter months. Did you know that your host son or daughter is expected to complete at least eight to ten hours of community service per semester in their community? It’s their responsibility, but you can help get them started!

Topics

• Return Flights for Your Exchange Student: Students have to arrange their end of program return flights in cooperation with their agency in their home country. We would like the students to get started on these arrangements well in advance to ensure ticket availability and in order to avoid last minute stress for students and for host families. The student’s home agency should be in contact with your student soon to inquire about their return flight date preferences. Please make time to discuss with your student about his/her return flight and make sure that you agree upon a final date that works well for both your family and for the student. Remember, CIEE program rules state, “The program terminates within two weeks after the last day of school, and arrangements mush be made to return home within this time.” Please contact your Local Coordinator or your Support Coordinator (1-800-448-9944) if you have any additional questions or concerns regarding this.
• Community Service: Community service is an important and fun part of the USA High School Program for students and their community, and if your host son or daughter has not yet chosen a project, we ask that you encourage them to start thinking about how they want to participate. Your student can leave a lasting impact on their host community by donating his/her time, energy, and skills to a specific cause. In addition, the community service project enables your student to get immersed in American culture and form meaningful connections with those around you. It is necessary for your student to complete their Community Service Project in order to receive the Certificate of Completion for the CIEE USA High School Program. All students are required to complete a minimum of 16 hours of volunteer community service while on the program. However, grants students are required to complete a minimum of 20 hours. We have a great resources page with advice for students—click here to visit!
• Spring Break Travel or Independent Travel Information:If your student wishes to travel independently (without his/her host family, school group or Local Coordinator) or internationally or on an airplane, he/she needs to contact the Local Coordinator and fill out a travel form which must be submitted to the CIEE support department via email Support@ciee.org or faxed to 207-553-5299 for approval 28 days prior to the proposed date of travel. For more information, please visit the Travel page.
• Midyear Evaluations for Grants Students: If you are hosting a Grants student, they will be contacted in February by their Local Coordinator to complete an evaluation.
• Participating in Winter Sports: Many of our students will experience their first snowfall here in the U.S. and may want to try winter sports. Recreational downhill skiing, snowboarding, skating, sledding and cross country skiing are all covered winter sports on the CIEE Insurance plan. There are some sports that are not covered and we encourage you to review the insurance website at for a list of excluded activities.

March

As March “comes in like a lion and goes out like lamb” we want to make sure you and your student are getting the most out of the exchange experience. Students will begin to think about their return trip and your family will begin to plan out their summer vacations so it we want to ensure the experience ends on the best of grounds!

Topics

Spring Break Travel Information: If any travel is planned for this spring, please make sure your student contacts his/her Local Coordinator to ask if any travel forms need to be completed.

Returning Home Flight information: Each partner agency has a slightly different process for rescheduling our student’s return flights home. It is highly recommended that students confirm their return flight arrangements with their agency as soon as possible due to ticket availability.

It is CIEE policy to ask students to leave the country within two weeks after the host school finishes. If you would like your student to stay longer, please make sure that you communicate this with the Local Coordinator and that your student communicates these requests to their home agency as well as his/her Natural Parents. This will avoid help to avoid scheduling conflicts.

In general this is how the process should work for all high school students except GRANT students:

• First: Students should talk with you, their host family, to determine a date that works best for your family which is two weeks after their last day of school.
• Second: Once you have agreed upon a date, your student should check with his/her natural parents to see if that date works for them for arrival.
• Third: Your student and/or the Natural Parents should then contact the agency to start the process of rebooking their return flight.
• Please note: The international portion of their flight should already have a return trip to their home country, generally with a “made up” date as the return flight. In many cases students are only allowed to change the date of their return flight ONE time without a charge or a penalty.
• IMPORTANT INFORMATION: Some agencies book both the domestic and the international legs of the students return flight home, while some agencies only book the international leg and require that the student purchase a one way domestic ticket to the same US departure city that they arrived into. (Students must fly back out of the same international gateway airport as they arrived into.) If students are expected to book their own one way domestic tickets then they are also required to pay for this ticket out of their own money unless they have made other arrangements with their agents back home.

If you or your student have any complications or concerns please contact your Support Coordinator at 1-800-448-9944 in the CIEE main office to assist you.

If you have questions regarding return flights for your CIEE Grants student please tell your student to contact his/her Local Coordinator.

A Word from Insurance: Each year we have host families contact us with insurance and billing issues at the very end of the program. Once students go home in June, it is very difficult to resolve these issues for host families.

We are asking you to contact the CIEE Insurance Department by calling us at 1-888-268-6245 or by emailing us at insurance@ciee.org for any of the following reasons:

1. A denial has been received from the insurance company

2. A bill has been received by a doctor or hospital and is in the host families or students’ name

3. A reimbursement check has not been issued by early May

4. You’ve received a request for additional information from Aetna

We all know that insurance in the U.S. is time consuming and often bureaucratic, that is why CIEE has a team to help assist you with these insurance issues. We are here to help, that being said it can take four to six weeks to resolve outstanding issues and get reimbursement checks issued. It is important that we are contacted as soon as possible if any insurance issues are still outstanding and need assistance in resolving. Our goal is to have as many insurance issues resolved before students depart for their home countries as possible.

If you have recently made a visit to the hospital or doctor and no bills have been received at this time, please be sure to contact the doctor’s office and confirm the insurance information is on file by the end of April.

April

As the flowers bloom and dances and ceremonies begin students and families alike are increasingly busy. Nevertheless, CIEE wants to touch base on the questions, concerns, and issues your student or family may be experiencing.

It is also important to remind your student about local and state laws and the CIEE program rules, most specifically the “3Ds”: No drinking alcohol, no driving any type of motorized vehicle and no drug use while on our program. Please report any incidents to your Local Coordinator and to CIEE support immediately! Help your student find ways to celebrate safely and responsibly.

Topics

• Three Months Left: As the end of the program approaches, we would like to thank you for opening your heart and your home to an exchange student. We hope that this experience has been a positive one and that you take advantage of the remaining time you have together as a family. We also understand that hosting an exchange student can present host families with some unique challenges. CIEE is here to help you with these challenges! If you have any unanswered questions or concerns regarding your exchange student, please contact your Local Coordinator or Support Coordinator at support@ciee.org or 1-800-448-9944.
• Preparing for Prom, Graduation and/or End of Year Parties: Remind your student to budget wisely to insure that they have saved enough money to spend on a prom dress, tuxedo, corsage, dinner, a yearbook, etc. If your student is allowed to participate in their school’s graduation, make sure they have enough money to purchase a cap and gown for the ceremony.
  
  As the end of the school year and the end of the program approaches, it is a time for celebration and often involves many social gatherings. This is a time that we hope many of you are celebrating your exchange student’s achievements and successes over the past seven or eight months. It is also a time when your student may be invited to teen age parties where there could be drugs and alcohol present. Please make sure to remind your student about your host family rules regarding attending parties, parental supervision, and appropriate responsible behavior. It is also important to remind your student about local and state laws and the CIEE program rules, most specifically the 3 Ds : No drinking of alcohol, no driving of any type of motorized vehicle and no drug use while on our program. Help your student find ways to celebrate safely and responsibly!!
• School Work: It is an important time to encourage your student to continue to put effort into their school work and to keep their grades up to at least a C+ average or higher (CIEE program rule) even though the school year is coming to a close. While it may be tempting to take time off to travel and see the USA before they return to their home country, it is important to finish their school year on a good note and to put all the effort they can into their academic performance.
• Early Re-entry Orientations: All Grant students are required to attend a mandatory Re-entry Orientation in community, with their Local Coordinators before returning to their home countries. Some FLEX students may depart as early as April because of exams. In this case their Local Coordinator will organize a meeting in April to discuss re-entry topics such as closure and reverse culture shock.
• Community Service Requirements Fulfilled: CIEE USA High School students are required to complete 16 hours of community service during their year in the United States. CIEE Grant Students are required to complete 20 hours because they are in the U.S. on a scholarship. Students must complete community service forms and send them to CIEE before they return home. Community Service forms can be found here on the CIEE website.
  
  Grant students should send their community service essays to: grants@ciee.org
  
  USA High School students should send their community service essays to: communityproject@ciee.org

May

As the spring heats up and the summer months are just around the corner CIEE wants to again make sure that you and your student are having the best exchange experience possible! Keep reading for our May support topics:

Topics

• Anticipation of Going Home—Importance of Staying Focused on the Present: Many students start to think about going home months in advance and sometimes can lose their focus on their last few weeks with your family. While it is important to plan ahead and prepare, it is also important to stay present and make the most of the last few weeks on the exchange program. If you notice that your exchange student is spending lot of time talking to his/her Natural Parents or if they are starting to disengage from your family, remind them to reconnect with you in order to fully enjoy your time together before he/she departs and return to their home country.
• Convalidation tips for Host Families: Exchange students from Brazil, Italy, Korea, Japan, Mexico, Spain and Ecuador are typically required to convalidate for their American grades.
  
  Convalidation is when exchange students translate the grades and credit, which they have received during their exchange at the host high school, for credit from their home high schools. Students seeking convalidation are generally required to submit official, signed, and sealed school transcripts to certain identified agencies in order to receive a seal of validation, certifying their grades as authentic. It is the students’ responsibility to take care of their own convalidation process. If they have questions about this process please encourage them to ask their Local Coordinator or the Support Coordinator for guidance or go to our website for more information.
• Transcript Collection: please remind your student to collect their official high school transcript before leaving the USA!
• Grants Students: In-Community Re-entry Orientations: Local Coordinators will organize re-entry orientations in cluster groups and often combine this with an enhancement activity which focuses on the goals of their programs. Local Coordinators are provided re-entry manuals to assist them in the planning of these meetings.
• Early Re-entry Orientations: All Grants students are required to attend a mandatory Re-entry Orientation in community, with their Local Coordinators before returning to their home countries. Some FLEX students may depart as early as April because of exams. In this case their Local Coordinator will organize a meeting in April to discuss Re-Entry topics such as closure and reverse culture shock.
• Bringing Your Exchange Students to the Airport: Please make sure to bring your student to the airport for his/her return flight and to help them check in AT LEAST 3 HOURS ahead of time in order to allow ample time for your student to check in for his/her flight. Do NOT put a student on the plane without his/her luggage! If your student has a cell phone, please make sure they have the charger with them in their carry-on luggage and that their cell phone is fully charged in case of emergencies, flight delays or cancelations. Also please make sure your student has extra money in order to pay for extra baggage fees or any other unexpected expenses while en-route to their home country. Lastly, please make sure to tell your student to contact CIEE at 1-800-448-9944 if they have any flight issues or cancelations during their return trip home.
• Community Project Requirements: CIEE USA High School students are required to complete 16 hours of service during their year in the United States. CIEE Grant Students are required to complete 20 hours because they are in the U.S. on a scholarship. Students must complete all forms and essays and send them to CIEE before they return home. Please note that students’ Certificates of Completion will not be issued if community project requirements are not fulfilled by the following deadlines:
  • USA High School students must submit at least 16 hours of service by Saturday, June 1st, 2013.
  • Grants students must submit at least 20 hours of service by Wednesday, May 1st, 2013. For those students aiming to receive a Community Service Award from CIEE and the Department of State for completing 100s service hours or more this year, students must submit their hours to CIEE by Monday, April 29th (for those students departing the U.S. before June 10th) or by Wednesday, May 29th (for those students departing the U.S. on or after June 10th).
  
  Supervisor’s Community Project Evaluation Forms can be found here on the CIEE website.
  
  Remind your student to submit their written essay about their community service project by June 1st to communityproject@ciee.org. Visit our community service projects page for more information.

June

Summer is here! Students are beginning to return home and goodbyes are a challenging thing for everyone. Students will experience highs and lows with their enthusiasm of returning home and the sadness of leaving all of their new friends and family in your community, as will your family in saying goodbye!

CIEE would like to take a moment to express our sincere thanks to you and your family for opening your hearts and your homes to one or more of our CIEE exchange students for the past 5-10 months. We know that you invested a lot of time and energy into making this experience a positive one for your student. We sincerely hope that you and your student have learned and grown together and that you have developed a strong relationship that will last a lifetime!

Please share some of your highlights through quick excerpts, photos, or videos on our Facebook page.

If you are interested in hosting again in coming year with CIEE, or if you know a family in your area who is interested in hosting, please contact your Local Coordinator immediately to get the process started or go to our website to fill out a new host family application.

In the meantime, we leave you with the final updates of the season:

Topics

• Confronting Reverse Culture Shock and Saying Goodbye: The school year is coming to a close and soon your exchange student will be returning to his or her home country. They will be reuniting with friends and relatives who they have not seen in a year! While they may be excited about returning home, they may also be a bit nervous and sad to leave their life in the U.S.
  
  Going home is often accompanied by something called reverse culture shock. After spending 10 months in the U.S. living in a new environment your student may now face challenging feelings of disorientation and adaptation when they return to their home country. Reverse culture shock is similar to culture shock, but it occurs when you return to an environment that you once knew well. Among other things, symptoms can include fatigue, frustration, homesickness for the US and your family. Sometimes students are overcome by feelings of displacement.
  
  How do you support your exchange student through his or her transition home? How do you help them say goodbye to friends that they have made while they were here? What if everything at home has changed for them? What if they have changed? To find out more about ways to deal with reverse culture shock please read the CIEE policy gram on reverse culture shock on our website.
• Resolving Outstanding Issues (i.e. Phone Bills, Borrowed Items): Before your student leaves your home it is extremely important to resolve any outstanding issues such as unpaid phone bills that may have been in the host family’s name, insurance bills and have them return any borrowed items before they pack to leave the U.S. Make sure you are clear with them about what items may have been gifts and what items you may have loaned them but expect to get back before they depart from your home.
• Shipping Boxes Home, Buying Gifts for Family (i.e. iPods, Laptops, Cell Phones): Many students end up buying lots of gifts for their family and friends back home before they leave the US and then ship them home ahead of time. If you notice that your student is spending a lot of money on iPods, laptops or cell phones, you should talk to your student and remind them to budget wisely. If you have any concerns about your student’s lack of finances or their overspending, please bring this to your Local Coordinator’s attention so that he or she can inform CIEE. We will then check with the student’s Natural Parents to make sure that they have enough money to spend each month.
• Luggage Fees at Airport: Please remind your student to take cash or a credit card with them to the airport when they depart so that they can pay the appropriate amount for their international luggage fee. Check with your student’s airline in order to know how much money they can expect to pay and then help your student plan ahead.
• Bringing Your Exchange Students to the Airport: Please make sure to bring your student to the airport for his/her return flight and to help them check in AT LEAST 3 HOURS ahead of time in order to allow ample time for your student to check in for his/her flight. Do NOT put a student on the plane without his/her luggage! If your student has a cell phone, please make sure they have the charger with them in their carry-on luggage and that their cell phone is fully charged in case of emergencies, flight delays or cancelations. Also please make sure your student has extra money in order to pay for extra baggage fees or any other unexpected expenses while en-route to their home country. Lastly, please make sure to tell your student to contact CIEE at 1-800-448-9944 if they have any flight issues or cancelations during their return trip home.
• Grants Students’ Re-entry Orientations and Return Travel: All Grants students are required to attend a mandatory Re-entry Orientation in community, with their Local Coordinators before returning to their home countries. Local Coordinators will organize re-entry orientations in cluster groups and often combine this with an enhancement activity which focuses on the goals of their programs. Local Coordinators are provided re-entry manuals to assist them in the planning of these meetings. Some FLEX students may depart as early as April because of exams. In this case their Local Coordinator will organize a meeting in April to discuss Re-Entry topics such as closure and reverse culture shock.