French & Spanish

Department Philosophy Statement

The World Languages department’s philosophy reflects the core values of the school’s mission and vision.  The program serves the learning needs of students from a variety of linguistic and cultural backgrounds who traditionally enroll in the school. We strive to educate and inspire all students to become effective communicators and global citizens in the context of the 21st century. 

From the program values: Our program is only offered in MS and HS.    

The acquisition of an additional language while maintaining a home language and cultural heritage 

• instruction that are aligned to standards and benchmarks 
• individualized learning opportunities for addressing diverse learning needs 
• multi-literacy skills for communication, study, work and leisure pursuits in a variety of authentic contexts    
• contributions to local and global communities 
• lifelong interest in and enjoyment of language learning and literature 

      

We believe that students learn a language best when they: 

• are provided with opportunities to integrate their learning with other subject areas 
• engage in a broad range of experiences to learn from the historical, social and cultural perspectives 
• utilize 21st century skills as they develop their linguistic and cultural competencies 
• apply language skills to authentic tasks 
• connect and engage meaningfully with the local and global communities through their own personal lens