Foreign Exchange Students

Our district welcomes foreign exchange students who come to us for one academic year through an established foreign exchange company, service club or non-profit organization/institution approved by the Council on Standards for International Educational Travel (CSIET). The exchange company is responsible for finding a host family for the student in Pinellas County and for processing a J-1 visa. Applications are completed through the exchange company and submitted to the Pinellas County Schools' World Languages Department by June 1st each year. Host family information, official transcripts and health and immunization records are also required.

Important notes: Foreign exchange students are not guaranteed admittance to any particular school; they are admitted for one full academic year only; no foreign exchange student shall be admitted to Pinellas County Schools following the tenth day of the first semester or at any time during the second semester of a school year. In addition, foreign exchange students should not expect to be registered as "seniors" nor to graduate and receive a diploma from Pinellas County Schools. Foreign exchange student placement is contingent on space availability at schools. If schools are full, exchange students may not be admitted. 

Exchange students are placed in ”Zoned Schools”.“Zoned” school assignment is made based on the address of the host family and seats available at the time of registration. Having a host sibling in a magnet program at a particular school does not mean an exchange student will be placed in the general population of that school.