Charlotte and Hannah chose a girls’ boarding and day school, Stoneleigh-Burnham School, founded in 1869 and nestled in the beautiful Pioneer Valley in Massachusetts. The girls describe their Stateside exchange experience, 

“Stoneleigh-Burnham is a very warm and welcoming community and everyone was really kind and helped us to settle in quickly. It is a small school with a very close-knit community. Lessons were really interesting and it was challenging to take classes such as Psychology which we had never studied before.” 

Charlotte said, “The School is home to over 50 horses, privately and School-owned and we were allowed to go and feed and pet them whenever we wanted. Riding is one of Stoneleigh-Burnham’s main sports which I participated in every day. My Global Exchange Buddy, Kate, took me to Boston where we went on a Duck Tour. We saw the famous hotel where the ‘Sweet life of Zack and Cody’ was filmed, famous places like the Boston Library and Quincy Market, and went on a trip on the Charles River. Kate was super nice and welcoming and I’m looking forward to her visit to the UK to experience life at Downe House.”

Hannah said, “I played lacrosse with the Stoneleigh-Burnham team. Although I didn’t get to play a match, it was still really fun and exciting to train with a new team. On our second weekend, I went into Boston to visit MIT and Boston University. They were both amazing and I enjoyed seeing the city from a college student’s perspective as well as that of a tourist. 

Together we visited one of Massachusetts’s most prestigious colleges, Smith College. We saw a plastic-waste exhibition which is travelling across the world and we were lucky enough to see it in Boston. We also went to see our art teacher’s work in an all-female-run art gallery in downtown Greenfield. On our last weekend in America, we went to Boston and visited the Prudential Centre and the Boston Public Gardens which offered a great view of the city. Our time in America was unforgettable and we made many lifelong friends who we hope to see again very soon.”