Italy High School Summer Abroad Program Overview

Our summer abroad program in Italy for high school students offers a five-week intensive immersion experience which includes a homestay with a local family, daily classes, and cultural and extracurricular activities. Included are field trips to Rome  where students will visit the Sistine Chapel, Colosseum, Roman Forum, Vatican Museums, Spanish Steps, Pantheon, etc. They will also become acquainted with various villages in Tuscia, the region surrounding Viterbo. There will be a longer trip to Florence, including visits to the Uffizi Gallery, Accademia Gallery (home to Michelangelo’s David), and the Boboli Gardens. The final week of the program is dedicated to Sicily’s Palermo, Monreale, Segesta, Cefalù, and an incredible experience of a No-Mafia tour with the volunteers of Addiopizzo.

Upon their arrival in Rome, students will go on a three-day orientation trip to a beach resort in Terracina to become acquainted and immerse themselves in Italy’s language and culture. Students will begin their study of Italian and Greco-Roman history and culture, enriched by visits to the emperor Tiberius’s villa and discussions of cultural  differences. After orientation, students will arrive in Viterbo, meet their host families, and spend a relaxing afternoon at a local resort with a swimming pool.

Students will take two mandatory courses: Italian and Art History. They may then take one of two electives: Classics or Global Studies. CoursesIn Italian, students will encounter the basic structure of Italian grammar and will be given specific vocabulary that will allow them to navigate most of the situations they will encounter. Students will work in the mornin
g class on the communicative situations they will experience during the rest of the day. Since language acquisition is essential to enjoying their experience in Italy, students are expected to try to use it in all occasions possible, both in and out of school.

In the Art History course, students will interact with Italian art by visiting the places and viewing the masterpieces for which Italy is world-famous. In addition, students will visit lesser-known, local sites such as an Etruscan necropolis. They will cap off their course by spending a week exploring some of the most spectacular sites of the gorgeous, multicultural island of Sicily. This class will be conducted both indoors and “in situ”, allowing the students to meet and interact with the art in person.

Classics is offered to all students as an elective. Those who have never encountered Latin before will receive a brief introduction to the language and culture of the ancient Romans, including shortcuts to understanding Latin inscriptions which they will encounter throughout their travels. More experienced Latin students will study excerpts from Latin authors that are related to the sites they will visit. Readings will be scaffolded so as to be accessible to intermediate and advanced students.

Global Studies Through the Lens of Italy - also an elective, will offer the students the chance to explore Italian culture by delving into Italy’s history and reflecting on anthropological aspects, such as local habits, social relations, religious influence and folk traditions. Students will study some of the most pressing global issues affecting Italy, including immigration, the sociopolitical and the geo-political impact of the Ukraine war, abortion, gender discrimination, and other topics proposed by students. 

To become further immersed in Italian culture, the students will be encouraged to engage with their Italian peers as they partake in activities and projects in order to guarantee an authentic experience.

Our approach is place-based and experiential. Teachers will use Viterbo and the sites we will visit as living classrooms for guiding the students to grow and make connections between their academic and non-academic Italian experiences.

A typical day:

• morning dedicated to class time 

• lunch

• afternoon

  • Activities with Italian peers: cooking class, hiking, soccer, etc.

  • Trip to nearby sites: Etruscan tombs in Tarquinia, Farnese Palace in Caprarola, Villa Lante in Bagnaia, Civita di Bagnoregio

  • Meetings with politicians, refugees, or experts in support of the Global Issues course 

  • Activities in Viterbo itself

• dinner and evening with host family

Some days are completely spent elsewhere, including Rome, Florence, Pompeii, and Sicily.

The SYA Italy Summer program is open to rising 10th-, 11th- and 12th-grade high school students. There is no language requirement.

Application for admission is considered complete when the following have been received:

• Online application and $50 application fee

• Language Teacher Recommendation (optional)

• Transcript (with fall semester grades)

Applications for Summer 2023 are now closed.

Daniele Gatti, Program Director

Daniele Gatti began working full-time with SYA in 2011 and currently teaches Italian Culture and Local Global Perspectives courses. Having earned a Bachelor's degree in Modern Literature and a specialization in Modern Philology, Daniele received a Pedagogical Qualification from the University of Viterbo, for teaching Italian, History and Geography. In 2009 he earned a degree from the University of Siena in teaching Italian to foreign students. In 2014, he received his Ph.D. in Scienze del testo with a study related to the world of reading, for which he collaborated with the University of Siena and several schools as a consultant. Daniele has taught at both public and private schools and has been a speaker at a number of international and national conferences and seminars.  In addition, Daniele is a graduate of the Conservatory of Terni in classical guitar, an instrument that he has taught for many years and, as a performer, has played in Italy and abroad.

Departure/Return: SYA organizes a chaperoned flight  from the East Coast to Rome. This chaperoned flight is optional; students are not required, but are encouraged to be on this flight. If students do not fly over on this chaperoned flight, but rather take a different flight, they must still arrive at the Rome airport at the group meeting time and location (date/time/location to be in included in acceptance materials).

After arriving in Rome, the group will board a chartered bus and travel to the orientation spot at a beach resort in Terracina. After a three-day orientation, the group will then travel by bus to Viterbo to meet their host families.

Please note: flights depart the day before each program starts abroad.

Students who are accepted to the program will receive details about the flight and all other arrival options.

Host families are an essential component of the SYA experience, therefore students will be asked to interact, talk and “use” their host family as a moment for enriching their understanding of the language, of the culture and for knowing each other better.

Almost all host families will have teenagers in the home. The students will have a private bedroom, but bathrooms are shared with host siblings or other family members.

Host families are carefully chosen and selected by the Program Director. They are not “professional” families who make a living by hosting foreign students. Their decision to host a student from the SYA summer program is a strong commitment on their part, and the whole family is involved in the process; therefore they expect the same commitment from the student. The family house is a place to live and to discover the culture from the inside. 

SYA Italy opened in 2001 and is located in Viterbo, 64 miles north west of Rome.

The school is housed in a palazzo decorated with a collection of beautiful 16th-century frescoes.

TUITION

Program fee for SYA Summer: Italy 2023: $9500
The summer fee is inclusive of tuition, homestay, meals, excursions and health insurance. Not included are round-trip airfare, personal expenses such as visa fees, travel insurance and spending money.

Duration: Five weeks 

SYA Summer reserves the right to cancel a summer program if minimum enrollment is not met by early March. In the event of cancellation, all deposits will be refunded.

DATES

Summer 2023 dates: June 21, 2023 - July 25, 2023

Application due date: February 1, 2023

FINANCIAL AID

SYA Summer has very limited need-based financial aid available. Less than 5% of our summer students will receive a grant, with no grant to exceed 50% of the tuition. Financial aid funds are awarded on a  first come, first served basis and are for families with demonstrated need.

To apply, check the financial aid box on the Summer Application and send a copy of your most recent tax returns to syasummer@sya.org. 

Payment Schedule/Refund Policy
A non-refundable deposit of $1,000 is due within two weeks of acceptance into the program, with the remainder of the balance due by May 15.  A refund of 50% will be granted to those who cancel before June 1; however, no refund will be offered for cancellations after June 1.

We'd love to hear from you! 

If you have questions about our SYA Summer in Italy  program, you can email us at syasummer@sya.org or give us a call at 978.722.6170.