SYA India, located on the campus of Visakha Valley School in Visakhapatnam, will open its doors in 2008 with a one-semester program. While SYA India will share fundamental characteristics with its sister schools -- rigorous classes, college counseling and testing, second language acquisition, home-stay, educational travel, and careful attention to health and safety - the academic focus will be on economics and environmental science as ways to begin to understand a developing nation.

Step off the plane at any airport in India and you will know that you have arrived in a different world. The stimuli begin at the baggage carousel and only grow in intensity when you step outside to feel the warmth of South Asia, hear first-hand the buzz and hum of a booming economy, and observe the crush of traffic on streets where late-model SUVs vie for lane space with taxis, scooters, elaborately painted trucks, cows and the occasional ox-drawn cart.

Mark Twain said, "India is the cradle of the human race, the birthplace of human speech, the mother of history, the grandmother of legend, and the great-grandmother of tradition." Since he wrote those words the country with a land mass one third the size of the U.S. and population of approximately 1.1 billion has also become the world's largest democracy and fourth largest economy. Only China boasts a faster growing economy or receives more direct foreign investment.

Already a major player on the world stage, India will continue to grow in importance and influence during the lifetime of our students. We believe young Americans should be working now to understand it.

SYA students will live the culture of India in a host family, learn one of IndiaÕs scores of languages (Hindi, the third-most spoken language in the world), and work to acquire the intellectual tools to understand how economies develop. This new program will introduce students to economics and environmental science, important disciplines many have not yet studied, to a part of the world most have not explored and to human challenges they almost never see.

The curriculum will include English, math, Hindi and Indian history, in addition to AP-level courses in global economics and environmental sciences. Tutoring in Spanish and French may also be offered.

There is no language pre-requisite for this program.