We are delighted to begin our 13th season armed with another year’s worth of knowledge under our belt, along with the energy, enthusiasm and professionalism of our dedicated and completely amazing staff.

What’s new for 2010? Well we, like many of you, can finally feel a renewed sense of hope amidst early but unmistakable signs of a stabilizing economy. Most of us look at others, and yes, even at ourselves, very differently these days. We take less for granted. We appreciate what we have. We know what is truly important and realize we must all come together as a global community to create our legacy and shape the future of the 21st century, the one we give to our precious children, and their children... and so forth.

While the road ahead will clearly be uneven, challenging, and probably even a bit rocky, we continue to believe that the most rewarding endeavors in the world are often not easy ones. Which brings us back to the journey we began in 1998, the journey to provide life changing and authentic language and cultural travel experiences for young people. This mission poses inherent challenges, especially when fostering independence is one of our fundamental goals, and ensuring safety is our highest priority.

With this in mind, during the summer of 2009, we implemented a revised evening policy in Spain and France. Rather than independent time to explore after dark, we included fully chaperoned nighttime activities in all of our itineraries, allowing ECI students to experience European nighttime culture, but in fun and absolutely safe ways. Since one member of each chaperone team always lives in the town in which the program is based, plans for these activities are based on an in-depth knowledge of local culture and current events.

Also new for this past summer, ECI students were required to sign a personal responsibility contract that highlighted their intention to watch out for themselves as well as their trip mates. These contracts focused on important safety issues, including the dangers of alcohol and being on one’s own. The goal was to help reinforce responsible student behavior, and put in place a defined agreement that could serve as a foundation for growth in positive, appropriate and mature decision-making.

ECI is thrilled to report that our new evening activity policy and personal responsibility contract were extremely effective and constructive additions to our programs. Overall, our study abroad participants were more thoughtful than ever before in making responsible, safe choices. They practiced language, absorbed culture, built life-long friendships, took numerous steps outside of their comfort zones, and thus made remarkable strides in self-confidence and independence - reminding us yet again, through their life-changing success stories, why we do what we do.

We are also happy to report continued, overwhelmingly positive feedback for our Host Family Immersion Week, which once again proved to be one of the most popular and powerful components of our study abroad experience, and is consistently cited by our students and parents as a key factor in deciding to choose an ECI program. Another ECI original feature that maintains its popularity among our students is our Language Partner Program. Students really enjoy, and benefit greatly from, the opportunity to spend quality, structured time practicing Spanish and French with local young people.

We warmly welcome you - the student, the parent, the teacher - to our website, to our programs, and to what we feel to be our very special ECI team.

Please call or email us anytime with questions or feedback. On behalf of all of us here at ECI, we invite you to explore our website and the world with us! See you out there!

Marie and Phyllis
ECI