For most of Wheaton Academy\u2019s 165-year history, it was a boarding school. Boarding was ended in the 1980s, then brought back\u2014structured as host families\u2014in 2006.<\/p>\n
\u201cChina had just started its student visas a year or two before,\u201d said Brenda Vishanoff, vice principal for student services and student learning. The first year, the Christian high school near Chicago had two international students\u2014one from China and one from the Central African Republic. In later years, the number jumped to 8, then 16, then 37.<\/p>\n
Soon, Wheaton Academy had more international students than it could take, so it opened a network to place them with other Christian schools. Most of those students\u2014including 45 of the 60 enrolled there this year\u2014have been from China.<\/p>\n
The growth reflects a national trend. From 2004 to 2016, the number of international high school students in the United States more than tripled, according to a recent report by the Institute of International Education (IIE). Nearly three-quarters of international students enrolled on an F-1 visa (good until graduation) in 2016; of those, more than half were Chinese (58%).<\/p>\n
Read it all<\/a>.<\/p>\n Hundreds of families from around the world are sending their children to Western, Christian schools\u2014and their kids are meeting Christhttps:\/\/t.co\/ROSY9LLYUe<\/a><\/p>\n — Christianity Today (@CTmagazine) April 15, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n