November 14, 2024
Dear 6th Grade Students and Parents,
On Thursday, November 21st, all 6th graders will participate in an assembly to learn about our World Language Program. We currently offer four different language programs: French, Italian, Spanish, and Native Spanish. Our French, Italian, and Spanish programs are designed for students that have had little to no exposure to these languages, while our Native Spanish course is designed for students who speak Spanish at home.
Our special assembly will kick off our Language Selection Week, where students can consider their different options and discuss them at home with their families. The link to submit language selections will be posted the Friday after Thanksgiving, giving everyone a chance to discuss this important decision during the break. The language selection link will be posted on all 6th Grade English class Google Classrooms and will be live from November 29th through December 2nd. Students interested in pursuing our Native Spanish track will be assessed individually at a later date for proper placement.
Carefully selecting your top two choices is very important as switching languages is not possible. New York State guidelines require students to study a language for two years at the middle school level and two more years at the high school level for an Advanced Regents Diploma. Students interested in more than one language can always add on another language as an elective when they enter our high school. Please be advised that students must select two different choices. While we are almost always able to give students their first choice, we need a second choice in the event that we cannot accommodate their first choice.
As an added resource to help students make their selection, students may wish to sign up to use the program, Pronunciator, which is available for free through the Baldwin Public Library website. Another popular app that can be download to a phone or ipad is Duolingo. Families that wish to view the language selection presentation and the video together with their children before submitting their selection can click on the following link. World Language Presentation 2024
Should you have any questions, please feel free to contact me.
Sincerely,
Dr. Jimmy Kalamaras
Director of ENL and World Languages