Boarding schools in USA: Military schools.

Borja Pérez-Mínguez | Travel blog

In some of our latest trips to visit the best boarding schools in the United States, we traveled to the states of Alabama, California, Texas and Florida, where we were able to confirm a new growing spectacular alternative for international students looking for a more disciplined environment, the military boarding schools.

The options we selected are divided in 3 different categories:

1. Standard private boarding schools with additional military options, so regular students live at the same school as the military program students.
2. Mixed military schools.
3. Boys only military schools.

At any of the above mentioned alternatives of the academic year program the purpose is always the same: personal growth, leadership skills, discipline, and becoming part of something bigger than themselves.

Among all the students we met in our trips participating in these programs we founded all kind of alumns: some of them mentioned a military school was not their first choice and they were signed by their parents to redirect their low performance academic results. Others, on the other hand told us it had been their own personal choice since they came from military tradition families and backgrounds. The third type was students who studied at standard boarding schools but eventually joined the military programs some of them offered.

The most important feature that defines the military schools is the improvement capacity and personal growth the cadets experience. Thanks to the military different grades, the inculcated respect to their superiors, teamwork and the encouraged desire to improve their results, all students consider themselves as a part of the family and they will be eager to provide all needed help to any other recruit so they can all achive their full potential.

It’s essential to keep in mind all students are completely different and have their own motivations to participate in the programs, but even so they are all unlike the students from standard boarding schools. They all pointed out how much they had changed, the level of discipline and the leadership skills they learned while participating in the military programs they all also applied to their personal lives outside the school and with their own families.

Like any other of the programs we promote at International Academic Programs in order to select the perfect school for each candidate, we must know in advance the student’s profile, interests and type of program they are looking for. Some schools offer more traditional military programs just for boys located in rural environments and with modest facilities without unnecessary luxuries while other schools are designed for the students who struggle the most with their academic results and need more discipline. On a different note we can find another type of students, the ones who have great academic results and want to join aviation programs to become pilots in the future.

For a different kind of experience, there are other mixed schools with state of the art facilities located in warm areas close to the ocean like Florida or California, and offer spectacular water related programs like sailing, scuba diving and many other options. A great alternative for parents who want a military school but not as strict as the modest ones.

About weekend activities the students can practice paintball (as you will see in our report below), learn survivor skills, orientation, nature related activities, kajaking, hiking, etc.

Some of the most disciploned military schools offer important incentives to students for good behaviour or academic performace, keeping their bedrooms and the uniforms tidy, etc, so students can earn privileges like free hot dogs, burgers, pizzas, going to the movies, playing pool or ping pong. Thanks to the disciplined environment students show the best possible attitudes.

At the following link you will find all the details of the program: https://www.internationalacademicprograms.es/en/usa-boarding/

IM

Boarding schools in USA: Texas.

Borja Pérez-Mínguez | Travel blog

In one of our latest trips to the United States, we visited and selected the best private boarding schools for academic year programs in Texas, on the richest states in North America thanks to it’s strong economy, fuelled by the success of their business, industry and oil sector.

There is a saying in USA: Everything is bigger in Texas, and we verified they are not wrong!

Texas is undoubtedly one of the less known states for Europeans and the idea most people have about it has nothing to do with the reality since during the entire week we spent visiting the best schools in the state, we never shaw citizens with cowboy hats, horses or any kind of weapon like you could imagine by it’s reputation on movies. It’s important to keep in mind that Texas is one of the biggest states in North America, and it’s size is bigger than most European countries. Most of their schools are considered the safest in the USA and every single Texan citizen we met were by far the most polite Americans we have seen in a long time.

Another common feature they all share is being deeply respectful since at the time we spent in Texas, the former first lady Barbara Bush, wife of President George H.W. Bush (1989-1933) had recently passed away and all the schools had the American flag hanging half mast as a sign of mourning.

In every school we were lucky enough to meet international students from all over the world (China, Brazil, Ukraine, Korea, Switzerland, Japan, Spain), and they were all very happy and having a great experience and of course recommended it to any potential candidate interested in studying an academic year in Texas.

Among the schools we visited we could find all types of centers: catholic schools, secular schools, military schools (for students looking for a more disciplined environment), mixed schools, single sex schools or located in rural areas or urban environments close to major cities like Dallas, Austin, San Antonio or Houston.

For weekend activities the students get to choose among many different options like trips to major cities, going to the movies, shopping, restaurants, museums and all kind of sports events like NBA games, (Phoenix Suns and San Antonio Spurs), American Football, (Dallas Cowboys), soccer games of the MLS, ice hockey options with top teams of the NHL, or even Formula 1 or Moto GP races.

One of the principal features all schools shared was the reduced class sizes of around 10-15 students so the attention studentes receive is much personalized, with a very practical academic system and a very close relation between teachers and alumns so they can all achieve their full potential.

The academic results the students earn at these schools are exceptional and allow them to secure places at the best universities in the USA. Just as all the other private boarding schools we promote at International Academic Programs, every boarding school in Texas is a College Prep center and therefore offers specialized guidence to their students by their College Counselors to guide them through the entire process of universitiy selection and applications according to the students academic results.

Every school also had state of the art facilities and each one had their own espectacular campus with cutting edge classes, labs, music and art programs with some of the best sport fields we have seen in the States: soccer, football, golf, swimming, tennis, basketball, or lacrosse programs with very good results every year at regional and even national championships.

Finally we have to mention the warm weather the state offers when we compare it to the cold winters of the east coast states so it becomes a great choice for students without ski or snowboarding interests.

At the following link you will find all the details of the program: https://www.internationalacademicprograms.es/en/usa-boarding/

Who we are: International Academic Programs.

Borja Pérez-Mínguez | Travel blog

International Academic Programs is born with the firm conviction of offering the best possible service to parents looking to send their children to study abroad at the best schools in ther world for academic year programs.

The academic year abroad program results as a life turning point for every student participating since they not only acquire a bilingual English level (crucial in their professional careers), but also the level of maturity, self confidence and personal growth the students obtain after completing the program, way ahead their classmates left at their home countries.

Studying an academic year program away from their parents makes students get out of their comfort zone and start to make their own decisions and choices. For the first time in their lives, students will learn how to do things on their own not having their parents monitoring every single step they take. In order to do so, the students must overcome themselves, and improve their self esteem in order to learn a series of essential skills they will apply not only at the school, but also while in university or later in life at their jobs.

When I was 17 years old I studied myself my 12th grade in the Unitades States in year 2000, the last academic year program before college and lived there for an entire year with an American family. Due to this knowledge I know first hand what actually means to participate in an academic year program abroad and every single aspect of the experience.

Selecting the perfect program, destination and school for each candidate it’s essential to guarantee the success of the experience and in order to do so we will based the selection on a series of key parameters like: academic performance, English level, envorinment, and sports, music and arts interests.

In order to select the best schools in each destination we promote at International Academic Programs: USA, Canada, England and Ireland, every year I travel and visit myself every school and area to customize a list of the best schools in the world. You will find all the details, photos and reports of each area at the interactive map included at the website section called Travel Blog (enlace a la sección en inglés).

There you will find every single report we have done so far for each area of the United States like our last September’s visit to the best private schools in Florida, with boarding and homestay options, and all our trips to New England, New York, California, Texas, Arizona, Alabama, New Hampshire or Hawaii.

In Canada you will also be able to check our trips to the cities of Vancouver in British Columbia, Calgary in Alberta, or St. Johns in Newfoundland.

Regarding European destinations you can review our boarding schools in England report, or the one for public schools in Ireland.

During my entire professional career with over 7 years of experience at the international education field, I have selected the best schools, arranged VISAS and transfers for hundreds of students in every country we promote at International Academic Programs. In all these years I have stablished a close relation with every school and their admissions directors, teachers and staff members, so I can provide a very efficient, close and familiar service.

Unlike any other big company in the field, every student and parent will always have my personal email and phone number to reach me at any moment they need during the entire length of the program.

Furthermore, it’s essential and a complete differential factor to emphasise the experince I also have as a host family: For over 19 years and still today, I host at my house American Students for semester academic programs in Madrid, Spain. Thanks to these experience I also know every need students have while studying abroad and how to fulfil their expectations as international students.

For parents, their main concern is having the conviction their children are in the best possible hands and therefore, our main priority will always be selecting the best possible school for each individual candidate to guarantee the success of every single aspect of the program.

At the following link you will find all the details: https://www.internationalacademicprograms.es/en/who-we-are/

Borja Pérez-Mínguez Escobar

Founder and CEO International Academic Programs

Private boarding schools in England.

Borja Pérez-Mínguez | Travel blog

Studying an academic year program at a boarding school in England constitutes a true turning point for the students who participate in it. After completing the program, all parents can verify their child’s personal growth and acquired self confidence.

The key aspects of the program in the British academic system are the prestige of their institutions with hundreds of years of tradition, the high level of supervision and formality administered by teachers and staff members, and the state of the art facilities in academics, sports, arts and music programs. These features combined with the proximity of England’s main airports (London, Liverpool or Birmingham) to any European country make the program one of the best destinations for students wishing to study abroad for academic programs.

All the private boarding schools we have selected at International Academic Programs share similar trademarks like being located in very safe environments, having great feedback from former international students and offering all kind of cutting edge programs according to the student’s main interests. The possibilities are endless since we can find small sized schools where everybody knows each other, big schools with plenty of different offerings, mixed schools, single sex schools, located in rural settings or close to major cities like London, Birmingham, Liverpool, Oxford, Bath or Manchester, to name a few.

The academic year program at the best private boarding schools in England is undoubtedly a spectacular choice for young students who haven’t traveled abroad on their own yet (summer programs) or for the kind of candidate whose parents want to keep in a traditional and well supervised environment very close to their home countries with just a couple of hours away by direct flights.

Every student we met at the school’s visits highly recommended the experience they were having since they had all mentioned a vast improvement in their self confidence and personal growth thanks to the amazing wide range of opportunities they had in academics, sports, music and arts programs, much superior to the ones the schools had at their home countries. Many of them were involved in outstanding equestrian, robotics, programming or coding programs. Like at any of our programs, we will select the best school possible according to the candidate’s main interests.

In order to do so it’s completely essential to know in advance the main parameters we should base on to select the perfect mach for each specific canidate. Some students are looking for strong soccer programs, others prefer tennis, swimming or golf options, and others are more interested in performing arts or proximity to main cities for weekend activities. Anyhow, all the schools we promote have been selected as the best in each area so they all share state of the art facilities in every specialty so students can pursuit their passions and get out of their comfort zone to reach their true potential.

Thanks to all the trips we have done to England, we have selected the best private boarding schools at the following areas, London, Birmingham, Liverpool, Bath, Bristol and Brighton and you can see in detail the results of our visits at the following photo and video report.

At the following link you will find all the details of the program: https://www.internationalacademicprograms.es/en/england/

Public schools with host family in Canada: Vancouver.

Borja Pérez-Mínguez | Travel blog

British Columbia is undoubtedly one of our favourite destinations for the academic year programs in Canada. Their climate is the warmest in the entire country with very mild winters, and the unparalleled environment combines medium size safe and quiet towns surrounded by spectacular beaches, forests, lakes and ski resorts located barely 30 minutes away to the center Vancouver.

Thanks to this idyllic location, every kind of student can participate in the academic year programs since we get to choose the type of environment, school population, academic subjects, sports, proximity to the city, etc.  The schools are also located at amazing nature settings and therefore we always recommend parents to visit their children while they study in Canada so they get to see the incredible sourroundings of this amazing country.

Regarding the centers we have selected at International Academic Programs,  all schools offer state of the art facilities in academics, sports, music and arts programs, so we can find science labs, interactive boards, 3D printers, laser cuts, and cutting edge technologies like robotics, engineering, drone design, etc.

About sports the wide range of opportunities each school offer in British Columbia includes the best facilities you can find at any public school program: soccer, rugby and football fields, tennis courts, basketball and volleyball programs, badminton, golf and some schools even offer olympic size pools with incredible swimming or water polo programs.

For students with arts interests all schools offer amazing performing arts options with incredible drama programs and famous plays like: The Wizard of Oz, Cats, Chicago, Beauty and the beast, etc. Some students are comfortable performing, others prefer costume design, and others want to be involved with the broadcasting, video editing, etc.

One of the suggestions we always make to our students is going out of their comfort zone and try new programs such as theater, or even oratory classes like public speaking since those have proven to be a great way for students to experience a great personal growth and also to improve their self confidence.

At the following link you will find all the details of the program: https://www.internationalacademicprograms.es/en/canada/