SAE Host Families come in all shapes and sizes and can include working parents, empty nesters, single parents, and singles, from varied economic, religious and racial backgrounds, located across all 50 states, and from rural, suburban and city areas. Host families are volunteers and simply required to provide the student with room and board, as well as a loving family environment. Students are fully insured and come with their own spending money to cover personal expenses, such as school supplies, clothing, haircuts, etc. Students may share a bedroom with a host sibling of the same gender who is at least 12 years of age. The student must, however, have his/her own bed.

SAE students are from around the globe. Many of our students hail from Asia and Europe, like Spain, Italy, Germany, Thailand, China, Taiwan and more. Most SAE students will attend a full academic school year of 10 months, typically September through June. We do have a few students every year hoping to attend for only the spring or fall semester, a five month program.

Families host to enrich their family, local high school, and community with new ideas and perspectives, to teach a teenager from another country about American culture, to learn about another culture and to create a meaningful friendship with a new son or daughter that will last a lifetime.

The first step is to fill out the Host Family Application form, and then we will schedule a personal interview with you at a time that is convenient. This allows us to get acquainted, and it also gives you the opportunity to ask any questions you might have. Once you have been accepted, we will make every effort to find a student that is a perfect match for your family based on your lifestyle, family dynamics, hobbies, and interests.

Hosting exchange students with SAE for the past 4 years has been an amazing experience for our family! The program has given us the opportunity to meet and develop relationships with four amazing kids (and their families) from Spain and Germany and we have been able to continue those relationships even after the kids have returned home.

We are a small family of three, composed of myself, my husband, and our 8 year old daughter. As an only child, our daughter has been very excited to have older “siblings” and often refers to our exchanges students as her “Spanish sister” or “German brother.” Since the students have been coming and staying with us, we’ve seen our daughter really come out of her shell and be more confident in meeting new people and talking and listening with others. She also says that she is going to learn Spanish and go be an exchange student in Spain when she is in high school. 

Having the students has also been a wonderful experience for myself and my husband as well. Each student has brought their unique personalities and interests. It has been such fun to get to know them and see our “normal” experiences through new eyes, as well as be able to do new activities that they suggest. Every one of our students has chosen to engage in Spartan obstacle courses with my husband and joined in on Black Friday shopping excursions with our extended family!

Things are not always perfect, and there are challenges (think sibling squabbles…they really do become like siblings for better or worse), but the kids that come to our home do become our extended family throughout the world. I would 100% recommend this experience and encourage you to be open to extending your own family internationally!