Pictured is a community room at Springwood School’s International House in Lanett. This is one of the room where students eat meals, engage in games or
relax to socialize.
for residential students was much different from recruit-
ing for homestay students.
“There’s so much more involved with the process,”
Hixon said.
She’s referring to the student Visa process and approv-
ing the students for education in the U.S. So, the school
partnered with an outside firm to get started, and now
Springwood has a network of organizations to recruit
international students from several countries to Lanett.
Currently, Springwood has 31 international students
enrolled in grades nine through twelve, which makes up
44 • LAGRANGE LIVING | FEB. 2020/MARCH 2020
22 percent of the high-school population. Hixon said
21 students live in the international house, seven are in
homestays and three are living with family members in
the community.
“Currently, we are recruiting for the residential pro-
gram and diminishing the homestay program,” Hixon
said. “That has taken place over the last several years.”
Hixon said the process of recruiting international
students does mean a lot of time in airplanes, visiting
student’s home countries. She said two years ago, she
went to China, Vietnam and Thailand. This past year,