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Sorry guys, but your posts seem extremely complicated to me.

My understanding is that the question was much much simpler: ncbelle is coming with 30 or so teenagers and just wanted to know if he/she can stay connected to the outside world on the school trip. The answer is yes.

You should have 5 euros on your card when you buy it. Incoming calls will not be charged while you are in Italy, and while it's true that phone calls to mobile numbers in Italy are more expensive than calls to fixed numbers (even calling from the states), I think I understand taht this should not be a problem for you: the parents calling you can then call directly their children at the hotel, right?

I am not sure you can buy the sim card at the Rome airport, though. Another problem you might have is to buy the sim card without the "Codice Fiscale" which is supposed to be required. In the worst case scenario, I know for sure that the Vodafone shop in central rome (via del corso) will sell you a sim without Codice Fiscale (they just insert a fiscal code that they obtain through a software).

Otherwise, you could seek the help of Andrea and Effendi

Anyway if you need a Wind card in advance we can get it for you without the usual problems with "codice fiscale" and registration; http://www.prepaidgsm.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=888.