Since becoming sister cities in 2017, Palo Alto and Heidelberg have had a regular student exchange program between the respective BEAM (Business, Entrepreneurship and Math) programs at Gunn High School and secondary schools in Heidelberg.
Each spring students from Heidelberg come to Palo Alto where they collaborate in classes at Gunn and explore the surrounding area. Included have been visits to the campuses and business schools at Stanford and Santa Clara universities, tours of innovative technology businesses in the area, exploration of the California coastal redwood groves and sightseeing in San Francisco. Where possible, they stay with host families in the Gunn community.
Students from the Gunn Business program have the opportunity to travel to Heidelberg where they are hosted by local families, attend the business classes at the host school, explore Heidelberg University, walk through the mile-long Old Town pedestrian zone with its shops and cafes, and visit German technology businesses in the surrounding area. Visits are arranged during spring break or early June following Gunn graduation.
For more details about Heidelberg and current student exchange trips, contact Bruce McLeod, Neighbors Abroad VP for Heidelberg at bmcleod@neighborsabroad.org