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Susquehanna Township reviews TAFE Wales international exchange experience
Summary
District staff and visiting educators described a weeklong cultural and educational exchange with schools in Wales, funded by the Welsh government and focused on secondary-level collaboration and teacher leadership.
District staff and visiting educators presented on the TAFE Wales international exchange that brought Welsh educators and students to Susquehanna Township and sent district staff to Wales.
Middle-school Principal Ryan Evans summarized a year of virtual collaboration and a weeklong visit. He said the partnership targeted secondary-level programs and vocational and adult education links and emphasized that participation was funded by the Welsh government at no cost to the district. Evans described mutual takeaways: educators compared approaches to MTSS, PBIS, dual enrollment and vocational pathways and noted similarities in demographic challenges. He said host schools in Wales were diverse, largely admissions-based, often uniformed and sometimes lacked extracurricular resources common in the U.S.
Evans and other presenters described school visits, a conference appearance, and a sixth-form college visit (the U.K. equivalent of post‑16 college). The visitors will return in November to continue the exchange, he said. Board members asked about cost and confirmed that district participation was paid by the TAFE program and Welsh government rather than the district.
Speakers framed the exchange as a professional-development and cultural opportunity rather than a policy change. The board did not vote on any action tied to the exchange; presenters asked only for the board to note the partnership and the returning visit by Welsh colleagues later in the year.
