Jul 16, 2015 2 min read

As the 2015-2016 school year approaches, Educatius International, an organization dedicated to helping international high school or college students study in the United States, is looking for families in the Mt. Lebanon School District to host four exchange students – three from Brazil and one from China.

Host families will receive a $600 monthly stipend to offset the cost of housing a student. Students are responsible for their own spending money; host families are not responsible for purchasing clothing or school supplies for their students, said Tina Raspanti, local Educatius representative and social studies teacher at Mt. Lebanon High School.

Potential families start the process by filling out a form on Educatius’ website. Once the family has cleared a background check, Raspanti will do a home visit. “They want to see a photo of the bedroom that the student will be in – the student needs to have their own bed and desk,” Raspanti said.

While there are only four host families currently needed, Raspanti said that there are likely more students that would like to come study at Mt. Lebanon High School, but can’t without a host family to house them. “We would like to build up a bank of families that are interested in hosting,” Raspanti said.

Raspanti also said that for the Educatius students, learning about different cultures is a two-way street. “Having international students gives our students more exposure. We learn from them, and they learn from us.”