From Kobe to Alexandria: Japanese Students Spend a Day at Hayfield
A student exchange dating to 2014 brought cultural presentations, classroom visits and new international friendships to Telegraph Road.
ALEXANDRIA, VA — Before approximately 130 to 150 ninth-graders traveled from Kobe, Japan, to Hayfield Secondary School, some of the students had already begun getting to know their Alexandria counterparts by email.
When the Suma Gakuen students arrived, those messages became face-to-face conversations. The visitors shared cultural presentations, toured Hayfield and joined their American partners in regular classes, experiencing a day of school life beyond what either group might know from television or social media.
The visit was part of an exchange relationship dating to 2014 that typically brings approximately 130 to 150 Suma Gakuen ninth-graders to Hayfield each year. The program paused from 2020 through 2024 because of the COVID-19 pandemic before resuming, Fairfax County Superintendent Dr. Michelle Reid wrote in her weekly newsletter.
Reid, who visited Hayfield during the exchange, noted that seeing an American school in person is especially exciting for Japanese students who have watched American schools portrayed in movies and television.
A School Day Across Cultures
Earlier exchanges show how substantial the visits can be. During the 2019 program, 129 Japanese students attended classes and lunch at Hayfield, watched the school’s Step Team, shared presentations and sang a Japanese song with Hayfield orchestra students.
“The friendships begin even before the visit, as students connect by email, and some continue to stay in touch after graduation,” Reid wrote.
She also thanked Hayfield’s students, teachers and staff for warmly welcoming their guests and “making this meaningful exchange possible.”
That lasting connection is what makes the program more than a school tour. Hayfield students have an opportunity to ask questions directly, compare routines and discover where teenage life in Alexandria and Kobe is different—and where it is remarkably similar.
Alexandria Students Meet the Wider World
Hayfield Secondary is located at 7630 Telegraph Road in Alexandria. An international exchange brings the wider world into its classrooms without requiring every participating local student to travel abroad.
For visiting students, the experience offers a close look at American public-school life. For Hayfield students, it provides direct experience communicating across language and cultural differences—skills increasingly important in college, work and civic life.
The warmest version of the story may be found in the emails sent before the plane landed: What did the students ask one another? What surprised them when they finally met? And will they still be writing years from now?
Hayfield contact information is available on the school’s official website. An official account of the 2019 exchange provides additional program history.
