Is It Normal For Schools To Offer International Trips Across Continents? A Parent’s Perspective
I was idling in the car line last Tuesday, waiting for my 8th grader to get out, windshield wipers slapping away a steady April rain, when Lila opened the door and tossed her backpack on the back seat, waving a crumpled neon pink flyer in my face. “Mom, look. The school is doing a trip to Costa Rica next spring. And 10th graders get to go to Japan, 12th graders to Portugal. All the way across the world. Is this not weird?” I unfolded the flyer, squinting at photos of sloths hanging from tree branches and kids laughing at a coffee farm. The price tag at the bottom said $1,795, not including spending money or travel insurance. My first thought, same as hers, was: Is this even normal? I don’t remember anything like this when I was in middle school. Back then, the farthest our school ever took us was the state capitol, two hours away, for a 4-H convention.
I texted the parent group chat right there in the parking lot. Half a dozen replies popped up before I even pulled out of the lot. One mom whose oldest goes to the local high school said they offer a trip to Morocco every other year. Another said her kid’s elementary school does a long weekend trip to Vancouver, Canada, for 5th graders. A dad whose kid goes to a private school across town said they do a service trip to Kenya every summer, but he was surprised our public midwestern middle school was offering intercontinental trips for 13-year-olds. That got me thinking more: when did this become a thing, and is this actually standard now?
I went to the parent info night for the Costa Rica trip the following week, coffee in hand, ready to ask the chaperone straight up. Ms. Henderson, the Spanish teacher who’s led the trip four times now, laughed when I asked my question. She said it’s definitely become normal over the past 10 years. Back when she started teaching 18 years ago, only the high school Spanish club did an occasional trip across the border to Mexico, and only 3 or 4 kids went. Now, she said, most tour companies partner with schools to get bulk discounts on flights, lodging, and activities, so the price isn’t as outrageous as it used to be. She said a recent survey of state public schools found that almost 60% of middle and high schools now offer at least one optional intercontinental trip every two to three years. So yeah, it’s normal now—just a new normal most of us didn’t grow up with.
She also laid out the details I hadn’t thought to check first: all trips are 100% optional. No one gets penalized for not going, it doesn’t affect grades, and it’s strictly an extra-curricular opportunity. The school runs three big fundraisers every year for the trip, and 40% of all fundraising money goes into a need-based scholarship fund, so kids from lower-income households can get partial or full coverage. Last year, three out of the 18 kids who went got full scholarships. That’s a far cry from the exclusive trips I remember hearing about when I was a kid, that only the wealthy kids got to go on.
Of course, even with that, it’s still a big expense. We can’t swing the full cost for Lila this year—we’re saving for her braces and a family trip to visit my mom in Arizona next summer, and that takes priority. I’ve talked to a lot of parents who panic when they get that flyer, because they think they’re doing something wrong if they can’t afford to send their kid. I think that’s the biggest thing people don’t talk about enough: just because the school offers it doesn’t mean you have to say yes. When I told Lila we couldn’t go this year, I didn’t just say “we can’t afford it” and leave it at that. We sat down together and went through the whole itinerary. We picked one activity from each day of the trip to replicate at home: we found a gallo pinto recipe online and made it for dinner, we watched a documentary about Costa Rican reforestation, and she’s been practicing her Spanish vocabulary for farm and rainforest words on her phone every night. We also started a little glass jar for the 10th grade Japan trip, and we put $20 in it every month, so if she still wants to go in two years, we’ll have a head start on the cost.
It’s fair to worry that these trips create a divide between kids who can go and kids who can’t, and that’s a valid conversation to have with your school’s PTA if you’re concerned. I’ve pushed our PTA to make sure the scholarship fund is advertised more widely in newsletters and at parent-teacher conferences, so more families know it’s an option instead of assuming it’s only for people who can pay full price. It’s also okay to decide it’s just not worth the cost, or that your kid isn’t ready for a two-week trip across the world without you—no one will fault you for that.
Last week, Lila brought her gallo pinto to show and tell in Spanish class, and Ms. Henderson said it was better than the version she had in Costa Rica last year. We’re still undecided about the Japan trip in two years. A lot can change between now and then, and I still don’t have all the answers about whether these trips are worth the hype long-term. Some kids come back raving about how much they grew, others just say it was fun but nothing life-changing. But I can say this: if you just got a flyer for an intercontinental school trip and you’re wondering if this is normal, it is. It’s just the new normal, and you get to decide what works for your family, no pressure required.
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