Staying at ‘home’ on Long Island

To broaden its student population, Lawrence Woodmere Academy seeks out international students and uses the help of Boston-based gphomestay to place them in suitable local homes where they stay while attending the school.
Arthur Zuan, 18, is a sophomore from China who lives with his host family in Lynbrook and attends LWA. He chose this host family because he feels safe staying with them, and they’re a “very nice, very kind” family from Italy. He chose LWA because he thinks it’s a beautiful school.
“LWA has a good student to teacher ratio,” he said. “I like the computers and the library. Some books I can’t find in China, I can find here. I also like the teachers.”
Carmen Rao, a 17-year-old junior, is also from China. She lives with her host family in Levittown. “I chose LWA and coming to the New York City area because it is one of the most prosperous cities in the world,” she said. “I can broaden my horizons here. I receive more attention from my teachers here, as they are very patient. The students are kind here, and I’ve made lots of friends. The school offers lots of activities, too.”
The process for becoming a host family or an international student is a fairly lengthy, beginning with the online application and a screening over the phone. Then a background check on everyone living in the host home is done, said Kelly Russell, the domestic marketing coordinator gphomestay. Enrollment in the program has nearly doubled from last school year to this on, she said.
“The total students currently enrolled for the 2014-2015 academic year (includes roughly 530 re-enrollments) is 1,198,” Russell said. “Traditionally, 88 percent of our students choose to re-enroll in the same school program the following year. Lawrence Woodmere Academy currently has 30 gphomestay students, and seven additional students through our sister company, the Cambridge Institute.”