(Former) Principal Lawrence Mayer wrote about the Exchange:

"Darien High School is truly honored to be among seven schools, nationwide, to have been selected to participate in the United States/China Youth Exchange Program.

The goal of the program is to advance mutual understanding between the youth of the United States and The People’s Republic of China, and to increase student participation in community affairs.  The project is sponsored by AFS, an international educational exchange agency and is funded, in part, by The Department of State of the United States of America.  Ultimately, 9 - 12 Darien High School students and two teachers will engage in a cooperative internet collaboration, an extensive project and the three to five week cultural exchange which will enable them to visit our sister school in Shanghai. As part of the endeavor, our students and our community will host a group of students from our sister school at some point during the project.

The impact of this project goes far beyond the direct involvement on the part Darien High School staff and students.  We are committed to providing opportunities for participation of both the school and the community in a variety of aspects of this exciting international connection.  Our school is indebted to the support that it has received from our Superintendent, Dr. Darrell Lund and the members of the Board of Education.  Many members of our community were also instrumental in preparing the application and seeing it through to a successful conclusion.  Darien High School staff members, Ann Armiger, Nancy Herman, Marcia Kleinman, Jean Shortliffe and Lynda Sorensen took a leadership role in information gathering and the actual preparation of the application.  We’re delighted that the collective effort of a great many dedicated and committed people has resulted in our being selected.  We look forward to the exchange with great enthusiasm and anticipation."