Life in an International Village
Story appeared in the 2013 issue of QMS Connections Magazine.
BY LEANNE SCHULTZ, OPERATIONS & HR MANAGER
Leaving home to come to a boarding school can be scary, but arriving in Residence where there are 19 languages spoken and students from 17 different cultures can be downright terrifying!
Ivy Zhao and Michelle Zhang at Bright Angel Park
Fortunately, the professional staff in the QMS Residence is experienced in working with teenage girls and understands the challenges and successes that will face each student. In addition, caring and knowledge-able housemothers, a full time nurse, and a counselor are on hand to help students.
Kym Wen tried to stay dry during last year’s Spring Break boarding trip to France and Spain.
Queen Margaret’s School embraces its multicultural community, and students are encouraged to take ad-vantage of opportunities to share their perspectives, values, and differences. Boarding students have an even greater opportunity to share cultures with each other: roommates are as-signed, when possible, to reflect a cultural learning opportunity; students from the same country work together with Food Services to help plan and prepare a dinner from their culture or country to share with their peers and staff; English-only zones are promoted throughout the residence for students of different backgrounds to both de-velop relations with each other and practice English language skills.
The connections and friendships that QMS Residence students make last a lifetime and are invaluable. When students graduate from Queen Margaret’s School and leave Resi-dence for the last time, they do so with a world of knowledge already under their belts.
Fortunately, the professional staff in the QMS Residence is experienced in working with teenage girls and understands the challenges and successes that will face each student. In addition, caring and knowledge-able housemothers, a full time nurse, and a counselor are on hand to help students.
Each year, our QMS residence welcomes a wonderful group of students from Mexico for their year abroad.
Queen Margaret’s School embraces its multicultural community, and students are encouraged to take ad-vantage of opportunities to share their perspectives, values, and differences. Boarding students have an even greater opportunity to share cultures with each other: roommates are as-signed, when possible, to reflect a cultural learning opportunity; students from the same country work together with Food Services to help plan and prepare a dinner from their culture or country to share with their peers and staff; English-only zones are promoted throughout the residence for students of different backgrounds to both develop relations with each other and practice English language skills.
The connections and friendships that QMS Residence students make last a lifetime and are invaluable. When students graduate from Queen Margaret’s School and leave Residence for the last time, they do so with a world of knowledge already under their belts.