From China to Pontiac

Students from China once again to be on campus at Notre Dame this year, school says still a need for host families.

When the Chinese New Year began in late January, some of the staff at Notre Dame shared a celebration with seven of the school’s visiting students from China.

When students return to campus for the fall semester, the halls of Notre Dame Prep will once again include students from China. According to school administrators and officials from the Cambridge Network, a Boston-based organization that works with nearly 300 other private schools nationwide to provide housing for international students, six from China have enrolled thus far at NDP.

A number of the students still need host families, however, said Anekka Hawthorne Bajrami of the Cambridge Network. “I am working with Notre Dame to place their international students with families in the Rochester Hills or Auburn Hills area,” she said. “I am still looking for host families for four of the six students from China.”

Yilun Zhou will be a senior at Notre Dame Prep when school begins again in late August.

She said she’s looking for Notre Dame families or couples who are over 25 years old and can share an extra room with a student as well as provide three nutritious meals a day plus school transportation. She said Cambridge Network handles everything else. She also said there is a monthly stipend to help offset the costs associated with hosting a student and that preference is given to couples and families with no pets.

Hawthorne Bajrami said that Cambridge collects data and photographs of U.S. schools in its program and markets them to foreign students. She said the company does all the screening, checking student transcripts and level of English language proficiency.

“I would also like to say how incredibly overjoyed our students were last year with their experience at Notre Dame,” Hawthorne Bajrami added. “Our students were extremely happy with their education and the way they were included in everything this past year.”

Besides a great experience with school, Yilun Zhou, who will be a senior this year at Notre Dame Prep, noted that her host family had to be the best ever.

“I would like to nominate my host mom Leah Lenk's family for the most loving family of the year,” Yilun said. “With a huge amount of school work and the high expectations I have for myself, the year at Notre Dame was extremely busy and stressful. But I was so lucky to have Leah Lenk's family as my host family and cheer me up when I felt upset and lonely. My host mom was my friend and we talked about everything. She was always there when I needed help and she always tried her best to help me out. She gave me advice for college as well as many other things in my life.”

Families or couples interested in being a host family this coming school year at Notre Dame can call Anekka Hawthorne Bajrami of the Cambridge Network at 239-888-5268 or email her at anekka.hawthorne@thecambridgenetwork.com for more information.

Comments or questions? mkelly@ndpma.org.

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About Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy
Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy is a private, Catholic, independent, coeducational day school located in Oakland County. The school's upper division enrolls students in grades nine through twelve and has been named one of the nation's best 50 Catholic high schools (Acton Institute) four times since 2005. Notre Dame's middle and lower divisions enroll students in jr. kindergarten through grade eight. All three divisions are International Baccalaureate "World Schools." NDPMA is conducted by the Marist Fathers and Brothers and is accredited by the Independent Schools Association of the Central States and the North Central Association Commission on Accreditation and School Improvement. For more on Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy, visit the school's home page at www.ndpma.org.