All nine of Spiral’s 12th graders at East Lyme High School applied to American colleges in December, and every one of them was accepted! One student even received a large scholarship. Most of the students will be enrolling in regular first-year courses, although a couple of them have been admitted to “pathway” programs. 
Pathway programs are designed for international students with lower English skills. These students receive conditional admittance from an American university where they combine Academic English classes and regular-content courses and earn university credit for both. After 1 to 3 semesters, they are ready to transfer into the regular degree program where many complete their degree in the usual 4 years.
In addition to their college acceptance success, SPIRAL’s East Lyme students are happy and increasingly at ease with their host families. They have gained so much confidence, and their English has improved tremendously, in part thanks to the American friendships they’ve made. They chat, eat lunch, and even go to parties with the other East Lyme students.
Other local high schools have heard about the success of East Lyme High School’s Chinese program and are interested in setting up something similar. Candice Carlson, a member of the East Lyme Board of Education, has made presentations to nearby school boards, assisted by SPIRAL student Feng Cheng (Victoria) who appeared quite comfortable speaking English in front of a group. What progress!