International Student Exchange is accepting applications for local families to host international students participating in our high school cultural exchange program.

The program is currently looking to place nine students.

ISE is the leading not-for-profit sponsor of J-1 exchange students and has been finding homes for international and American exchange students for over 30 years. ISE places students from over 40 countries for semester-long and academic year-long programs.

There’s no typical host family, our host families reflect the wide diversity of families in the US.

The students that participate in the ISE program have their own insurance, bring their own spending money, and speak English. They are between 15 and 18 years old and wish to attend your local high school in order to make friends, learn more about American culture, participate in sports, student activities, volunteer in the local community, and most of all – become a lasting member of your family.

The idea is the student becomes part of the family. Students and their host families often maintain lifelong bonds. Host families visit students in their home country. Students integrate into the schools as if they have always been their. 

The importance of students in the schools works both ways not only for the exchange student but for the American students as well. When I asked an American student the benefit for them he stated " It introduces new cultures to students in school which would otherwise never be able to experience it their lifetime" 

Currently ISE has thirty students in 4 counties that gave more than 900 hours of community service hours across all of Northern NY. Though it is a requirement of their program to give five hours of their time while they are here, each of the students went above and beyond for such programs as  Boy Scouts, Lights on the River, PJ’s for Xmas, , Polar Plunge, Beaver Camp, the elderly, at their school, their family churches and so much more.