Pre-College Enrichment Florence 14 Days
Courses Offered In:
Study abroad in Florence, one of Europe’s most beautiful and historically rich cities. Filled with amazing art, world-class restaurants, and breathtaking scenery, it’s no wonder Florence is such a preeminent student travel destination. This Italy Pre-College Program is designed to prepare high school students for the academic and personal challenges that come with the transition to college while also experiencing an unforgettable summer discovering Italy. What’s more, you’ll have the chance to meet new people and create lasting friendships in a tight-knit group environment. This summer program provides a true taste of the college experience with a unique balance of independence and structure for high school students, where learning happens both in the classroom and beyond!
This is the 14-day version of this Florence high school summer program. There are also 21-day and 28-day versions available.
Experience college life with the balance of engaging courses, group excursions, and free time.
Receive a letter certifying the completion of your courses. Letters of recommendation are also available.
All classes are private to Westcoast Connection students only.
Courses taught by experienced university-level faculty, instructors, and local professionals.
The Social Hub Florence Residence
Complimentary access to a state-of-the-art gym and rooftop pool.
Includes breakfast and dinner daily. Enjoy a variety of options at nearby cafés and local restaurants.
Exciting day trips are included.
Private motor coach and public transportation.
We can accommodate most dietary preferences and allergies.
History of Art
Develop an understanding of the cultural revolution of the Renaissance. Through on-site visits, you will become familiar with the Romanesque and Gothic styles in which the first Renaissance painters, sculptors and architects had their roots and from which they were dramatically to diverge. The focus will be on Florentine artists including Donatello, Botticelli, Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo.
Cooking: The Food and Culture of Italy
For students with an interest in Italian cooking, classes are interactive and hands-on, and focus on the different aspects of regional food in Italy and the preparation of dishes that distinguish traditional Italian cuisine. During practical cooking lessons, you are introduced to cooking methods, techniques and preparations utilized in Italian cuisine and learn how to use different ingredients to prepare Italian dishes.
* A supplementary fee of $220 applies.
Florence Studio Arts: Drawing and Painting
This course offers you the chance to navigate the artistic process under the mentorship of teachers who will cover drawing, color theory and painting. You will find inspiration from the vibrant city around you, as well as from previous artists who have made Florence the artistic center it is today.
Architectural Design of Florence
This course introduces students to the analysis and interpretation of architecture and urban design as they learn to apply technical sketching methods and render architectural observational drawings. Students will also develop their understanding of the history of architecture and the visionaries who shaped the skyline of Florence.
Travel Writing & Journalism
Develop your creative writing skills by focusing on the genre of travel writing. There’s no better place to do so than in Florence! Students will read and discuss extracts from the great classics of travel writing as well as current travel journalism published in newspapers, magazines, and online. The focus is on developing an individual voice, and honing ideas through revision and drafting. Topics will cover how to write for different audiences and publishing formats. Students will have the opportunity to interact with the journalism activities of Blending, the magazine and newsletter of FUA's (Florence University of The Arts) campus press Ingorda.
Digital Photography: Florence
There are few better places to master the art of photography than Florence. With your smartphone or digital camera in hand, this photography course will teach various digital photography techniques including imaging scanning, color digital printing, printing digital negatives, basic darkroom techniques and Adobe Photoshop. Creativity mixes with practical skills and culminates in an individual final photography project completed by the end of the course.
*A smartphone or a traditional digital camera can be used for this course.
Florentine Art Walks
This course examines the city of Florence with themed walks offering a comprehensive approach to the city as an open-air cultural, historical, and artistic research site from its Roman foundation to its contemporary Zeitgeist. Students will learn the history of the city through its art: they will understand how buildings, streets, squares, and monuments can be mapped as living traces of multiple, overlapping layers of a complex past, and how to encode them in their personal appropriation of the city. Starting from learning how to decode the artistic environment of the city and to unveil its traces, both visible and invisible! The course aims at understanding the main social and cultural reasons underlying the existing shape of the city.
Fashion: Florence Retail Management
Learn what it takes to successfully manage a fashion retail enterprise. Whether you’re trying to open a boutique business or a large-scale store, you’ll soon have the tools to get started! This course offers hands-on experiences working with industry professionals, drafting your own sketches and designs, and sharing new, creative ideas and business solutions for a real fashion enterprise. You’ll contribute to the fast-paced decision making inherent to successful merchandising; foster your own creative fashion solutions; brainstorm with experienced industry professionals; and more! Enjoy site visits to well-known Italian luxury brands in Florence like Ferragamo, Gucci, and Cavalli (companies may change according to availability), and special guest lectures from local prominent emerging designers.
Italian Language
Develop your conversational, reading and writing skills. An equal focus is given to grammatical structures, vocabulary and conversational skills. Vocabulary is intended to engage in simple, but useful, everyday conversations to enhance and support your Italian experience.
Workshop: Basic Italian Phrases
Learn basic phrases to help your daily interactions with the locals.
The Italian Gastronomy Experience
Visit the central food market and historic cafés and food vendors. With tastings of local products, gain an overview of the social and cultural aspects of typical Italian food such as extra virgin olive oil and prosciutto.
Fashion: Made in Italy
On a walking tour of Via Tornabuoni, the high-end fashion area of Florence, journey through Italian fashion history, with an emphasis on Italian design and designers from the 1950s to the present: Gucci, Ferragamo, Cavalli and Tod’s. Visit the Salvatore Ferragamo Museum.
Climb the Duomo Tower
This magnificent Renaissance dome was designed by Filippo Brunelleschi and its cathedral is named in honor of Santa Maria del Fiore. The best way to see the dome, and all of Florence, is to climb to the top of the cupola. Get ready to climb the 463 steps to the top, with close views of the interior of the dome and Giorgio Vasari’s The Last Judgment fresco painting being featured along the way!
Uffizi Museum Visit
The Uffizi Gallery displays a variety of masterpieces, roughly in chronological order, along a U-shaped Renaissance building. The collections feature a series of Gothic and Renaissance works from artists such as Botticelli and Giotto. Michelangelo, Raphael and Leonardo da Vinci are among the many artists who boast artwork in the Uffizi’s halls. Maybe this visit will inspire you to become the Uffizi’s next upcoming artist!
Florence Leather Demonstration and Market Visit
See products being made and a short lesson on leather quality. This visit is followed by free time to check out the leather market.
Explore the Boboli Gardens
The Boboli gardens are considered to be Florence’s best open-air museum. Neighboring the Pitti Palace, the Boboli Gardens host centuries-old oak trees, sculptures and fountains. You may even notice that, in time, these gardens have inspired many royal European gardens, including Versailles.
Galleria dell’Accademia Guided Tour
This gallery is Florence’s second most visited museum, after the Uffizi Gallery. Within the gallery resides the original statue of Michelangelo’s famous David, which has become the most admired work of art in all of Florence’s museums. Also, don’t miss out on admiring the many Florentine paintings from the 13th and 16th centuries.
Make Your Own Pasta Italian Dinner
We know how important pasta is in the Italian Diet; enjoy this hands-on workshop on how to make fresh egg pasta with various accompanying sauces. Students will work in groups to prepare the menu and dine on their creations at the end of the lesson.
Guided City Tour to Include:
Piazza della Repubblica
In modern-day Florence, this square comes alive with a variation of street artists and shows, especially during the evenings. It is home to several historical cafés that were important meeting spots for many of the city’s artists and writers in the past. The plaza was predominantly designed in a Medieval style which is still evident today.
Piazza della Signoria
This plaza was actually home to Michelangelo’s David before it was moved to the Galleria dell’Accademia. It has been the center of political life in Florence since the 14th century. Many notable sculptures adorn the plaza, such as a replica of Michelangelo’s David, Baccio Bandinello’s Hercules and Cacus and the Neptune Fountain.
Ponte Vecchio
The Ponte Vecchio, or Old Bridge, is known as an everlasting symbol of Florence. Considered to be one of the most famous bridges in the world, it is a Medieval stone three-arch bridge over the River Arno with shops built along it.
Medici Riccardi Palace
Visit the first Renaissance building to be constructed in Florence! The Medici family lived at Palazzo Medici until 1540 and the next residents to move in were the Riccardi family. In 1489, this is where 14-year-old Michelangelo came to live as a teenage artist under the mentorship of Lorenzo de Medici. If you love artwork, the palace itself is filled with iconic frescoes, sculptures and grandiose décor.
Cinque Terre
Marvel at coastal views of unparalleled beauty. The “five lands” are made up of quaint fishing villages built into the clifftops overlooking the sea. Soak up the sun, eat some pesto or hike in the protected UNESCO National Park that joins one village to another.
Pisa
Take pictures and be intrigued by the famous Leaning Tower.
Viareggio
Spend the afternoon at the beach while visiting this beautiful seaside city. Enjoy dinner at an outdoor local café for a traditional Tuscan meal as you take in the views of the sea.
Choose one morning course and enjoy afternoon highlights.
The Social Hub, Florence
This historic palazzo recently reconstructed into a hotel is not your typical dorm. The Social Hub Florence is just a short walk to Florence’s Duomo and is surrounded by cafés, boutiques and parks. Rooms are single occupancy and feature air conditioning, flat-screen TV’s, Wi-Fi, private bathrooms and personal work stations. This hotel also includes laundry facilities, a game room, 24/7 security as well as a coffee shop, restaurant and “pop-up” food booths. Click here to be “WOWed” by our residence.
Stay Active: Gym & Pool
Receive complimentary access to The Social Hub Florence’s incredible state-of-the-art gym and awesome rooftop pool with expansive views of the city.
Positive Social Experience
This program is designed to give you a taste of the excitement and independence you will experience in college. Just like in college, you will be part of a large group of students, live in a residence, and have your choice of classes. And like in college, you will enjoy a warm, family environment within your residence where you enjoy many opportunities to socialize with other students.
Prestigious Academic Partners
We have partnered with some of the finest teaching institutions in Florence to bring you the best selection of engaging courses possible. Our university-level courses are taught at the state-of-the-art teaching facilities of Leonardo da Vinci School of Art and Culture and Florence University of The Arts. Cooking is taught at In Tavola Cooking School, a cutting-edge culinary school just steps from the Ponte Vecchio.
Flight to Florence, Italy
Participants on this program have the option to fly overseas on our chaperoned flight that leaves in the evening from the New York area to Florence. Our staff will be with you from the time you check in onward. For the many travelers from outside the New York area, you can choose to join the chaperoned flight and we are happy to assist you with arranging connecting flights at suitable times into New York; or if you prefer, you may meet us in Florence and we will help you coordinate your flight and times and greet you after you proceed through immigration and customs.
Return Flight Home from Florence, Italy
For the 14-day program return flight from Florence, our leaders help you to check in and remain in the airport until flights in designated times have departed. They remain in Italy for the duration of the longer program. Depending on the number of students departing after 14 days, one staff may chaperone that flight home.
Food & Meals
A big part of your Pre-College Enrichment program’s success depends on how well you eat. We are proud of the fact that year after year we are complimented for our quality, quantity and choice of food! Breakfasts are eaten in the residence. For dinners, there will be occasions when the whole group eats together at the same restaurant. When not dining together, we will divide into smaller groups to sample some smaller authentic restaurants and a variety of cuisines. For lunches, you enjoy the choice of eating in smaller groups and choosing from local cafés and restaurants. Food options are varied and plentiful; taste fresh pasta, mouthwatering pizza, delightful gelato, fresh fruits and vegetables and so much more. But don’t worry, they also have North American style options on the menu.
We have satisfied the choosiest of eaters and gladly accommodate most special dietary requests including vegetarian, food allergies, lactose intolerance, celiac disease, and kosher style. We welcome discussing your individual requirements with you and have extensive experience in this area.
Laundry
You will only need one week’s worth of clothing as outlined in the packing list that will be sent to you prior to departure. You will have the opportunity to do laundry at your convenience by either dropping off your laundry at a local wash and fold service and then pick it up clean, folded and ready to go or you may do laundry in your residence.
What’s Included
Included in your program tuition is all lodging, breakfast and dinner daily, recreation & entertainment listed, day and weekend excursions, application fee, fitness club and pool club membership, Wi-Fi in residence, campus identification fee, classes (supplementary fees may apply for some courses) airport transfers in designated times, gratuities & taxes.
Not included is transportation to and from the program, lunches, snacks, personal spending money for souvenirs, and laundry. We also make available optional travel insurance that is not included, but highly recommended.
Please contact us with any questions. We are happy to hear from you!
Will attending one of your programs help me get into college?
Attending a summer program is an incredible opportunity to learn and grow into a more well-rounded, mature individual. No matter what type of program you choose, the personal development and experience gained over the course of the summer are valuable resources that could help you with your college essays and applications. If your goal for the summer is to get a head start on college prep, a Career Experience or Pre-College Enrichment program could be just what you need. So while attending any particular summer program will not necessarily get you into your choice school, what you get from it can make a difference!
Who are the staff and what are their qualifications?
Our staff are educators, guidance counselors, coaches, college and university students, former camp counselors, residence life coordinators, community volunteers, world travelers, and other leaders with diverse backgrounds. Many are former participants themselves who couldn’t get enough of the Westcoast experience! Learn more about our summer leaders.
When do I choose my courses?
For fall enrollments, we will send you a course choice preference form around November 10. You will be able to select your first and second course preferences. Your course choices will be confirmed in the spring.
For enrollments after November 10, we will send you a course choice preference form upon receipt of your application for enrollment. Your course choices will be confirmed in the spring.
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