Host families needed as stream of K-12 international students continues

Both English school boards in Windsor-Essex have noticed a substantial increase in the number of international students attending their schools in the last four years.

The public school board expects about six times the amount of international students to be inside classrooms next week compared to when the program started in the 2015-2016 school year. 

The Windsor-Essex Catholic District School Board expects it'll have about five times the number of students it had during the school year four years ago. 

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"This is our busiest time of the year," said Michelle Marcuz, the International Students Program lead for the Greater Essex County District School Board. ​

Marcuz oversees the sorting of around 245 new and returning students from 19 countries into classrooms at 21 different elementary and secondary schools in the GECDSB. 

"We're being very intentional about where we're recruiting and how many students we recruit," said Terry Lyons, director of education at the Windsor-Essex Catholic District School Board. 

He says WECDSB expects to see 350 international students enrolled this year, a sizeable jump from around 70 students in 2015.

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Both boards believe that Windsor-Essex is an attractive location for families who want their students to attend a school in Canada because of its relatively small size.

"It's a smaller city, less busy but it provides the same opportunities. And we have complete access over to the United States and Detroit as well to provide all the big city atmosphere should they want it," said Lyons. 

Family connection

While some students come to Windsor-Essex with their parents or stay with family members in the area, others spend the school year with host families.

"It was exhilarating for me to show them what makes Canada tick," said Colleen Campbell, who hosted two boys from China last year while they completed grade nine. 

Campbell remembers setting up tours of museums, canning factories and regional attractions like Point Pelee so the boys would get the complete Windsor-Essex experience.

"It was really a lot of fun," said Campbell, who now helps an agency connect international students with host families in the area. ​

It's a smaller city, less busy but it provides the same opportunities and we have complete access over to the United States and Detroit as well, to provide all the big city atmosphere should they want it,- Terry Lyons, Director of Education at the Windsor-Essex Catholic District School Board.

As of the end of August, she said there were still students who needed a place to stay: five in South Windsor, one in Belle River, one in Leamington and another in Amherstburg. 

"I truly believe that us as Windsorites, we're all going to band together and we're going to find homes for these kids," said Campbell, who added that host families are paid to take in students. 

She said that families need to provide each student with a room that has a bed and a desk, as well as food for three meals a day.