On March 28, Italian exchange students from the Liceo Cambi school left Jackson-Reed, marking the last year of the Italian exchange program that was started 19 years ago.

The Italian exchange students arrived in DC on March 22 to spend a week with host families at Jackson-Reed. During their time here, they went to the Calleva ropes course, a U Street walking tour, a Wizards game, and a biking tour of the National Mall. The students attended many different classes during the school day and ate breakfast with the first period Italian classes. 

The exchange trip started in 2006 when Valeria Gallerani, a teacher at Liceo Cambi, sought out JR as the school for one of her students who was on an American exchange. Social studies teacher and trip sponsor Robert Geremia said, “for years, we’ve really done this partnership as a favor to her.” However, this was the last year of the exchange trip, as Gallerani is retiring. 

In past years, students have travelled to Italy to stay with host families in Falconara, where Liceo Cambi is located. During their trips they have toured parts of Italy and gotten to experience the culture of Italian school. They often visit the beach in Falconara and get to eat Italian food. 

Along with Gallerani’s retirement, recent changes in DCPS field trip guidelines have affected exchange trips and were a secondary reason for the program’s end. The guideline changes made staying in the homes of the students more challenging, forcing the program to go through approved companies that charge students more in order to protect DCPS from liabilities. 

“Putting together an international trip takes a year of behind the scenes planning,” Geremia said. He started planning this trip last July and said that DCPS changing policies in the middle of the approval process made it very complicated. 

Geremia was unsure if the exchange trip would start up again in the future or if another trip would replace it. “I think a lot of us need about a year to figure out what that looks like,” Geremia said. •