International Students

Information for International Students

Applying to Lancaster Country Day School

Lancaster Country Day School - An Institution with History and Tradition

Why Lancaster?

An Inviting and Engaged Community

Successful International Students - A Personal Story

Our International Team

Summer Preparation

information for international students

Moving from one culture to another always involves change, from food and fashions, to study and sports. We hope to make the transition as smooth as possible, and encourage students and parents to contact us with any questions.

International students at Lancaster Country Day School will find that their teachers, advisors, and coaches will be there to help them navigate their new school. We are proud of the broad range of nationalities and cultures in our student body and we look forward to helping you become a part of our community.

applying to lancaster country day school from china

For all Chinese candidates, we have an arrangement with a consulting firm called The Cambridge Institute (CIIE) to help families with the process. While our admission office makes decisions about every applicant, CIIE is our exclusive consulting representative in China and as such, collects and processes all applications from China until they are completely ready for us to review.

If you want to proceed with completing an application, please contact our CIIE Representative Marissa Johnson or click here to make an Inquiry with The Cambridge Institute. We look forward to hearing from you!

lcds - an institution with history and tradition

Lancaster Country Day School traces its roots to 1908. In 1943, Lancaster Country Day School was created as a blend of students from the Franklin and Marshall Academy for Boys, and the Shippen School - a girls school. Trustees arranged to relocate from downtown Lancaster to a more spacious area, one that would typify the philosophical purpose and character of a country day school. Land was purchased and in 1949, the doors were opened at our current location west of the city center.

Why Lancaster?

The Lancaster area is a highly popular vacation destination. The region is charming. Home to Franklin & Marshall College, a selective liberal arts college, the city of Lancaster has a rich history. Capital of the US for a day during the Revolutionary War, Lancaster was also home to celebrated anti-slavery leaders in the years leading up to the US Civil War.



Philadelphia, just 50 minutes away by train, is one of America's most historically significant cities. The Capital of the US during the Revolutionary War, Philadelphia is home to Independence Hall, the Ivy League's University of Pennsylvania, four major league sports teams, two of the nation's best known and best endowed museums, the Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra and many extraordinary cultural opportunities.

An equally short trip south would bring students to the city of Baltimore, Maryland. Also a deeply significant city historically and culturally, Baltimore has a highly popular Inner Harbor and many charming downtown districts. The city is home to the National Aquarium, Johns Hopkins University, the Baltimore Museum of Art, the Walters Art Gallery and two major league sports teams.

an inviting and engaged community

Lancaster Country Day School aspires to be a microcosm of the larger world. With a broad range of courses, extra-curricular activities, clubs and sports, LCDS offers the chance to live, study and play with students from a range of backgrounds. We want different cultures, languages and religions to influence daily life at our school.



Lancaster Country Day seeks to engage with the broader world, inviting celebrated speakers into our school to share their insights and perspectives.

LCDS students are encouraged to reach out as well. We annually send 16 students enrolled in our Model United Nations class to the Hague to participate in THIMUN (The Hague International Model United Nations) conference. Lancaster Country Day School is one of only six US schools to annually participate in this event, a wonderful way for our students to make connections between what they study in the classroom and how it relates to the world around them. In addition, we have many classes in which students travel abroad, to Rome to study art, to Scotland to perform in plays and to Spain and France to student Spanish and French culture.



During Spring Break 2010, seven LCDS Upper School students traveled with two LCDS teachers (Ms. Gottlieb and Mr. Michael Simpson, Upper

School Art & English teachers) across the United States in a school van as they traced the legacy of beat-generation writers including Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsburg. This lengthy travel was a component of their studies in their elective course My Witness is the Empty Sky: An Introduction to the Beat Poets. During that same break, nine of our advanced biology students who were enrolled in our Science of Hawaii course traveled to Hawaii to study the rather special geology, flora and fauna of the island.

Successful International Students - a personal story

Last year, one of our international students, Ms. Frieda Zhang, came to LCDS from Shanghai, China for her junior year of high school. She came to our school through the ASSIST program (see http://www.assist-inc.org/). Frieda had a wonderful year at LCDS. She joined sports teams, she had a significant role in one of our theatre productions, and she excelled in the classroom.



At an assembly for our Upper School students and faculty at the end of that first year, Frieda gave a wonderful presentation of her life back home and of the relationships she built here in the U.S. She gave a very moving "Thank You" speech at the end of her presentation. As it is for so many of our international students, we all knew this year had been very special to her. Frieda received a special recognition award at our annual awards ceremony at the end of the year.

Our International Team

Kerry Anderson
International Home Stay Coordinator
Mrs. Anderson helps students with questions related to home stay arrangements, coordinating communication between families, students and the school.

Elizabeth Heim and Sarah Julsonnet
International Student Coordinators
Mrs. Julsonnet and Mrs. Heim meet regularly with international students over lunch, answering questions and helping students get the most out of their LCDS experience. They also plan regular events that will introduce the students to our culture and create opportunities for them to share their culture with the rest of the LCDS community. Mrs. Julsonnet is responsible for administering the international student orientation program.

summer preparation

To help students transition academically, LCDS provides incoming 9th and 10th grade students a number of reading and writing assignments from our World Civilizations Courses. Students can expect to receive these materials in the late spring. Inquiries should be directed to Todd Trout, Assistant Head of the Upper School, at troutt@lancastercountryday.org.