Kristine Lin

Students from Townley Grammar School in Bexleyheath eat lunch and engage in conversation Wednesday with the Principal’s Advisory Committee members at Palo Alto High School. The visitors came to see how schools operate in an environment surrounded by technology. According to Townley Grammar School junior Ayo Thompson, schools in the U.K. are dissimilar to those in the U.S. “The difference is very interesting, and I’m getting a wider perspective on how education is in different parts of the world,” Thompson said.

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Kristine Lin

Students from Townley Grammar School in Bexleyheath eat lunch and engage in conversation Wednesday with the Principal's Advisory Committee members at Palo Alto High School. The visitors came to see how schools operate in an environment surrounded by technology. According to Townley Grammar School junior Ayo Thompson, schools in the U.K. are dissimilar to those in the U.S. “The difference is very interesting, and I'm getting a wider perspective on how education is in different parts of the world,” Thompson said.

Students from Townley Grammar School in Bexleyheath, England, are bringing a new vision of education back to the U.K. after a visit to Palo Alto High School’s MAC on Wednesday.

Townley Grammar School is an all-girls school that offers a rich STEM program with diverse opportunities, including a trip to Paly.

According to TGS junior Ayo Thompson, the TGS students are visiting the Bay Area due to its large technology culture.

“Everyone on this trip has either studied or is studying computer science or engineering,” Thompson said. “The whole sort of technology culture is very wide in San Francisco, so coming here for education, we get a wider perspective on all the different aspects of computer science and tech industries and such.”

TGS teacher Hita Shetty said the students are visiting Paly because they are interested in STEM jobs.

“They [the students] are here because they’re looking at careers in STEM, and as part of the trip, we’re looking at universities, schools as well as industries,” Shetty said. “Today is the exciting time when they actually get to … see what it is like to be in America in an American high school, so that’s what they’re looking to see today to engage with young people”

According to Thompson, TGS and Paly are different, but she was able to find some similarities in the communities.

“Our school in the U.K. is so much smaller than this, and I feel like it’s a lot more interconnected,” Thompson said. “But from what I’ve seen of Palo Alto so far, the school has many different buildings, and there are not just so many students, but so many different students. The community seems very different and interconnected.”

TGS sophomore Tiara Osakwe said that there are a lot of differences in the school culture.

“Apparently you guys pick five classes or something,” Osakwe said. “We have to take 11 subjects in total for school, and sometimes you guys get to leave early. We always have a strict schedule of six periods every day.”