Dragon School Exchange

by Joy Hurd

On June 14th ten St. Bernard’s seventh grade boys and eight of their counterparts from Nightingale-Bamford took off for England to visit their friends at the Dragon School in Oxford.  Music teacher Mr. Mark Risinger, Nightingale librarian Ms. Lois Strell, and I joined the students as chaperones.  After enjoying little to no sleep on the overnight flight to Heathrow, we all charged ahead with an active day, taking in the city sights on a double-decker bus tour, visiting Buckingham Palace, and walking to Covent Garden, where we ate dinner before seeing a shriek-filled play, The Woman in Black.

The following day we visited Westminster Abbey, enjoyed a go-around on the London Eye, climbed to the tippy-top of St. Paul’s Cathedral, and took in a wonderful production of As You Like It at the Globe Theatre.  Perhaps the boys were able to pick up some tricks they can use in their own production of the play in December.  A visit to the British Museum the next day ended our somewhat rainy time in London, and then we were off to Oxford and the Dragon School.

Upon arrival in Oxford the boys and girls went off with their host families for the weekend.  After the weekend and in the remaining days in Oxford, Mr. Johnson joined us, as we toured the city of Oxford itself, Christ Church College, Blenheim Palace and its frustrating hedge maze, and the city of Bath, with its splendid ancient Roman baths museum.  On June 22nd we returned home to New York after our enjoyable trip to the UK.

The Dragon School Exchange will enter its tenth year next October, when boys and girls from the Dragon will visit New York and stay with seventh grade families from St. B’s and NBS.  The exchange offers students a great opportunity to make new friends and travel abroad.