Discover the Heart of Normandy-Rouen, France Summer Program

Wow! What an amazing summer! My husband & I honestly tried to talk our son out of going on a study abroad trip. We are what you might call "the helicopter parents" that were afraid of sending him so far away in a foreign country. Well let me tell you, we hit the absolute JACKPOT with World Class Programs! The Managing Director Derek Tano is amazing I don’t have words to adequately tell all parents. He is always available to take my call no matter where they were in the world & he is so relatable to the students & earns their respect immediately! He is very down to Earth & safety & education are clearly number one for all of the World Class Programs staff. I am so blessed that I found World Class Programs and this summer program was the time of my sons life!

World Class Programs is a company filled with fun and educated staff who want nothing more than to create incredible experiences that last a lifetime for their students! I am proud to say that I am one of those students! I was lucky enough to be part of the Paris, France program, and it CHANGED MY LIFE for the better. Through all of the museum visits, classes, activities, and weekend trips, I became more confident in myself to navigate any situation that I am put in for the future! I had never traveled out of the country before, so I was a little nervous, and was glad it was only going to be two weeks. However, after the first few days, I couldn’t believe how fast the time was going! I wished it was longer! The staff created memorable experiences for us to get to know each other, and I felt like we became a family by the end! My favorite part of the trip is hard to pick, but I would probably have to say climbing the Eiffel Tower because of the incredible view from the top! We also got to walk through the gardens of the Palace of Versailles, visit the Chateau de Monte Cristo! (the home of Alexander Dumas! I would recommend this trip to anyone, because you learn so much about the world, and the staff are so caring, hilarious, and make learning fun!

Last winter my child came to me proposing that instead of a traditional post graduation senior week at the beach she would like do do an educational tour abroad. She and a friend did their own research and felt that World Class Programs offered an option that seemed to be the perfect balance of education and tourism, free time and structure. We read reviews online like this one and since the organization is relatively new, we called and spoke with the director as well before applying. From the beginning of our interactions with the staff of the program we got the sense that their passion is planning the perfect travel experiences for students (rather than making a profit), and they have been top notch in terms of responsiveness and communication. As a parent I especially liked that we had a parent/child Zoom planning meeting before the trip, and during the trip the Director sent us detailed updates as to what the group was up to. My daughter checked in frequently and was just loving everything about the trip every time she called or texted. I wanted to take the time to write a review so that future parents researching programs can hear about our experience and have confidence in this newer organization.