My son attended World Programs - Japan his junior year of high school and had such an incredible experience that attending the Italy trip was not a hard choice. He enjoyed the opportunity to have a more authentic experience than visiting for a vacation. Spending weeks in the community, local shops, and adventures with the instructors were a highlight. He is determined to move aboard and a lot of this has come from his experience with this incredible team of professionals. Life changing experiences!

I highly recommend this program. The staff was amazing, and the groups were not too large. They truly cared about the students, and it was organized and planned perfectly on every detail. Not an easy feat! The main thing was that they were in a very safe environment the whole time. They truly did an amazing job of mixing learning with enjoying the culture and having fun.

It was also high quality from start to finish. The accommodations, food, and excursions were all of really good quality. The staff cared more about the students than making money from the program, for sure!

As an adventurous and curious teenager who loves everything to do with the Renaissance, Florence Italy with World Class Programs was a dream. Florence itself feels like you're going back to the time of the Renaissance. There are masterpieces everywhere, and it's such a small and welcoming city that you can get familiar with easily. For me, it felt like home. The program itself, first of all, is not a boring and formulaic program that will remind you of school. I know I was worried about papers and homework, because honestly after a long school year, everyone needs a break from that. Yet, without being assigned a single paper through the entire program, or a single homework assignment, I learned more than an entire years' worth of a school course. The program is extremely immersive, and when learning, it's very likely you'll be standing right in front of whatever your topic is. Whether it be looking up at the David, or admiring a Medici's palace, you're learning simply by seeing and experiencing the culture of Italy, not counting the staff's instruction as well. I've also learned so much about the Italian culture, cuisine, and lifestyle, simply because I was given a taste of it for 3 weeks. And you're constantly around local Italians as well, it's not all just tourists. Almost every Italian speaks English by the way, so don't worry about that. This experience is so new if you haven't been out of the country, and so enlightening. After it, I feel everyone needs to go to Italy at least once in their lifetime. It doesn't matter if you're not interested in history or the old masters of Italian art, or even in their delicious coffee and pasta, you'll still be blown away. There's something for everyone there. World Class Programs is also extremely lenient, and balances the schedule for students to have time to explore Florence with at least one other student/staff. (And trust me, you'll make friends if you want to. I made friends with groups of people who were a lot different than me, and I'm so glad to have met every single one of them) Exploring Florence without the direction of a staff member allows for a freedom that separates this program from others. You can be independent, shop, eat gelato, or sift through souvenir shops. You'll never run out of things to do in Florence, and I barely crossed off half the things on my list. As for the staff members, they were all so sweet, and work for you to have an amazing time 24/7. All in all, this program was easily the highlight of not only my summer, but the past years as well. It is definitely adventurous, and entails a lot of walking and exploring, but at least you have a home base in Florence, and the food makes it all worth it.

I really enjoyed this program and learned a lot it is very fun with a good amount of structure from the classes the students take throughout it. I would say this is a good fit if you enjoy traveling and doing activities just be aware this takes a lot of walking and a certain amount of maturity as you will be without your parents and living in apartment style conditions for a significantly part of it. I was able to do a lot of things I would not otherwise be able to do and meat people I deeply connected with on this program.

This trip to Italy has truly been Amazing! We saw SO many cool landmarks and historical sights as well as incredible old art and statues including the David! The food there is incredible and so much better than in the states. The staff are also really helpful and supportive and genuinely care about each and every students safety and wellbeing and do their best to make sure everyone has a good time. If you choose to go on this trip you will have an AMAZING time!!! My favorite part of this trip is was when we got to ride bicycles on the old wall in Luca! It was an amazing view and just an incredible experience. I highly recommend this trip!

This trip was genuinely something I didn’t expect. Going to Italy and experiencing things like a local would was surreal. We went to so many places and the history is so compelling. Even when we were walking a lot, it was never not worth it. The people and staff were amazing and unforgettable. The apartments were lovely and the environment always felt cozy and nice. Florence was definitely my favorite of the trip. It’s so small yet there’s so much to explore. Being able to navigate and find cool things was amazing. I would also love to mention the staff for being amazing. They were genuinely there to teach and have fun. Never have I laughed more with staff. I loved the trip and the people and I am eternally grateful.

This is still my favorite trip I’ve ever been on in my life. I was worried going there that the staff would run the trip like a school field trip and not let us really explore or enjoy the trip. World Class Programs run by Derek was so well put together. The staff did an excellent job at balancing planned activities and free exploring. I always felt safe and without any worries I got to see all the sites I wanted to see while still getting to explore with other students freely and enjoy the different cities. The food was great the whole trip and the housing space was better than expected. Overall really well planned out wish I could do again with Derek as the guide.

My 16 year old took their first trip abroad with World Class Programs and it was an incredible experience. Staff was so fun, kind, and thoughtful with the students and truly loved sharing their passion for Italy with the kids. They were great at keeping parents in the loop with weekly emails that detailed everything they had been up to during the week and lots of photos. It was wonderful to see how much my child gained in terms of confidence, as well as passion for a new culture. We can't wait to take another trip with World Class Programs!