World Languages

Grades 9-12
Elective
Full Year
Prerequisites: none

French I is a novice-level language course. The main focus of this course is the interpretive mode where students will learn to understand the French that they read and hear.  With an introduction to high-frequency vocabulary, students will learn about their classroom community through interviews and class-created stories in French. Cultural topics include holidays in the Francophone world, regional French cuisine, and sports.

Grades 9-12
Elective
Full Year
Prerequisites: French I or equivalent

The main focus of this course is the interpretive mode where students will learn to understand the French that they read and hear, with a focus on speaking and writing in the second semester. Cultural topics include clothing and personal identity and how geography affects the sports one plays. This course draws from authentic texts, videos, and real-world sources to bring francophone cultures to life in the classroom.

Grades 9-12
Elective
Full Year
Prerequisites: French II or equivalent

French III is an intermediate mid-level language course taught entirely in French with the expectation that students communicate using French during class. In the third year of study, students shift from discussing personal interests and activities to giving opinions on more complex cultural topics with a particular focus on francophone Africa, colonialism, and immigration. This course draws from authentic texts, videos, and real-world sources to bring francophone cultures to life in the classroom.

Grades 9-12
Elective
Full Year
Prerequisites: French III or equivalent

This is a pre-AP course that is taught in French. Students will enhance their competence in the spoken and written language as they explore universal elements in storytelling. This unit culminates in students creating their own short story in French. Students will then read a French novel and use its themes as a springboard for discussion and shared reflections. By the end of French IV, students develop a more abstract level of language and learn to work with more extended discourse. This course draws from authentic texts, videos, and real-world sources to bring francophone cultures to life in the classroom.

Grades 9-12
Elective
Full Year
Prerequisites: French IV or equivalent

This course emphasizes strategies for advanced oral and written communication in French. Students will live in a francophone microcosm within the confines of our campus; they are expected to communicate entirely in the language with the teacher in and out of the classroom. Students will also gain further experience and be evaluated on development of their listening and reading skills of resources intended for heritage French speakers. According to the guidelines for the AP Examination in French Language and Culture, the course will address six themes: global challenges, science and technology, contemporary life, personal and public identities, family and community, and beauty and aesthetics. Whereas the overall course goal is to attain higher levels of language proficiency, critical thinking skills and cultural awareness on a global scale, the preeminent purpose is to foster a desire to apply that language proficiency and cultural knowledge in meaningful ways in the future.

Grade 12
Elective
Full Year
Prerequisites: French V or equivalent

This course is for students who desire to build their language skills at a more advanced level by using authentic cultural resources that include films and such supplemental material as traditional literature, television shows, and popular culture. There will be an emphasis on francophone history, contemporary issues in the francophone world, and pedagogical approaches to second language acquisition. Writing and conversation will be emphasized. They will also engage in conversational activities that require critical thinking, creativity, and presentational skills.

Grades 9-12
Elective
Full Year
Prerequisites: none

This course provides students with the fundamental language skills necessary for communication. Guided exposure to comprehensible language input serves as the vehicle of language acquisition, and as such, listening and reading skills are highly emphasized. Students acquire basic vocabulary and structures through exposure to simple, slow, and repetitive language in a variety of familiar contexts. This course is uniquely designed to use the students themselves (daily life, interests, personalities, ideas) as the core content of our discussions and activities. Cultural topics and current global events are interwoven throughout the year in mini-lessons on topics such as The Running of the Bulls, the Castells tradition of Catalunya, and the Spanish Civil War. 

Grades 9-12
Elective
Full Year
Prerequisites: Spanish I or equivalent

The course of study for the second-year student of Spanish will focus on activities geared toward increasing proficiency in speaking Spanish and deepening understanding of Hispanic cultures. Level two builds language skills through the methodology of Teaching with Comprehensible Input (TCI), using high-frequency vocabulary, structures and expressions. Listening, reading and basic conversation skills are emphasized at this level. The class uses carefully scaffolded story-telling techniques such as ‘movie talk’ and ‘story ask’ to build comprehension and fluency. Students will read two second year graded novels, one each semester. The two Spanish past tenses are introduced and reinforced throughout the second semester. Cultural topics include the regions of Galica, Asturias and Castilla as well as current events in Spain and Latin America.

Grades 9-12
Elective
Full Year
Prerequisites: Spanish II or equivalent

In the third year of study, students shift from discussing personal interests and activities to giving opinions on more complex cultural topics that stem from current events, songs, and stories from the Hispanic world. Through the continued use of Comprehensible Input methodology, students focus on the development of abstract thought in Spanish as well as stylistic functions of language such as transition words and metaphor. Students will read one third-year graded novel and begin to increase the amount of speaking and writing produced in the language.

Grades 9-12
Elective
Full Year
Prerequisites: Spanish III or equivalent

This course offers students an opportunity to advance as successful communicators in an encouraging and safe space in which open discussion is heavily emphasized. Daily engagement in conversation allows students to develop a deeper, more sophisticated level of language acquisition impossible to obtain solely by memorizing vocabulary and grammar. While the foundation of this course is sharing and exploring experiences (one’s own and one another’s), students also enjoy free choice reading, exchanging letters with Spanish pen pals, and a variety of authentic, culturally relevant resources. Each semester culminates with an open-ended inquiry project that mindfully aligns with forthcoming AP themes. By the end of Spanish IV, students emerge as confident and empathic Spanish-speaking raconteurs.

Grades 9-12
Elective
Full Year
Prerequisites: Spanish IV or equivalent

This course emphasizes strategies for advanced oral and written communication in Spanish. The class is taught entirely in Spanish, and students are expected to use only Spanish while communicating with both the teacher and classmates. Students will also gain experience and be evaluated on development of their listening, reading and writing skills. According to the guidelines for the AP Examination in Spanish Language and Culture, the course will address six themes: global challenges, science and technology, contemporary life, personal and public identities, family and community, and beauty and aesthetics. Whereas the overall course goal is to attain higher levels of language proficiency, critical thinking skills and cultural awareness on a global scale, the preeminent purpose is to foster a desire to apply that language proficiency and cultural knowledge in meaningful ways in the future.

Grades 11-12
Elective
Full Year
Prerequisites: Spanish V or equivalent

This course is for students who desire to build their language skills at a more advanced level by using authentic cultural resources that include films and supplemental material such as traditional literature, television shows, and popular culture. There will be an emphasis on Spanish and Latin American history and contemporary issues in the Spanish-speaking world. Writing and conversation will be emphasized. They will also engage in conversational activities that require critical thinking, creativity, and presentational skills. The class will be conducted entirely in Spanish.

Grades 9-12
Elective
Full Year
Prerequisites: none

Latin I guides the student in their first steps into exploring the ancient world through Latin. Students begin with basic greetings, likes and dislikes, and other tools for communication. With these skills, we explore Roman myth and history through games and stories. Through communication, students will develop a strong linguistic foundation for exploring the rich Latin literary tradition at later levels. Rather than making Latin “fun,” Latin I seeks to have “fun” in Latin. Board games, parlor games, gladiator fights, role-playing games, and Roman military reenactment provide excellent opportunities for high repetitions of important vocabulary and community building, with extra supports that allow for metacognition and review of the material.

Grades 9-12
Elective
Full Year
Prerequisites: Latin I or equivalent

The primary focus of Latin II is building student reading skills. Beginning with board games, parlor games, gladiator fights, role-playing games, and Roman military reenactment, supplemented with talking about those games, we transition in the second semester to reading about history. We learn about the wider historical contexts through presentations, as well as about the authors, whose adapted texts serve as the backbone of the curriculum. As we read, we discuss any number of topics from author credibility to reflections on the modern world. Our study of the Black Plague also provides an exciting window to discuss the ways that the Latin language changed through history and its lasting impact. Our exploration of the Punic Wars gives students a chance to think strategically and try to outsmart a Roman General in Rome: Total War, using their evaluations of the different soldiers and strategies employed by Carthage. We also explore and attempt to complicate long-held stereotypes and engage with modern scholarship on Roman women and who they were as individuals and how they interacted with society.

Grades 11-12
Elective
Full Year
Prerequisites: Latin II or equivalent

This course is intended to develop the student’s ability to read Latin with fluency and confidence and is designed as a precursor to the AP course. As a precursor to AP Latin, Latin III seeks to build a foundation in Roman literary culture and analysis. Latin III begins to take on the qualities of a university-level Latin class to prepare students for AP Latin with more open discussions of the texts, with time provided for important context to deepen the discussion and analysis. Where in previous classes the objective was comprehension, Latin III begins to ask students to think more deeply about texts and reflect on them. We will explore literary conventions and the ways that following or subverting them can change a reader’s perception of a story as well as the ways the content of literature and how and where it is used can affect culture, society, and politics. We will read selected poems from Catullus, selections from Cicero’s Pro Caelio, Plautus’ Mostellaria, Odo de Cerinton’s Narrationes, Gesta Romanorum, Historia Apolonii Regis Tyrii as well as modern works like Megillius and Perseus et Rex Malus.

Grades 9-12
Elective
Full Year
Prerequisites: Latin III or equivalent

AP Latin is designed to provide advanced high school students with a rich and rigorous Latin course, approximately equivalent to an intermediate (typically third semester) college or university Latin course. Students who successfully complete the course are able to read, understand, translate, and analyze Latin prose and poetry. Using Caesar’s De Bello Gallico and Vergil’s Aeneid as a base, students prepare and translate the required Latin readings with an accuracy that reflects precise understanding of Latin in all its details; they also read and comprehend passages at sight, even if not with full understanding of every detail. With explicit attention to developing skills for reading, translating, and analyzing Latin texts, the AP Latin course helps students reach beyond translation to read with critical, historical, and literary sensitivity. English readings from the two texts are also included in the required syllabus in order to put the Latin excerpts in a significant context.

Grades 9-12
Elective
Full Year
Prerequisites: none

This course is designed to lay a groundwork for those who are interested in communicating with Chinese people and understanding Chinese culture.  Its objective is to develop students’ overall competence in speaking, listening, reading and writing.  It also will provide students with opportunities to apply the language in appropriate social/cultural contexts.  Students will have the opportunity to talk about their lives, perform skits, give short speeches and presentations, and sing simple Chinese songs. Authentic materials also will be used to promote learning effectiveness and cultural understanding.  All activities are created to achieve the Five C’s of foreign language education – Communication, Culture, Connections, Comparisons, and Communities.

Grades 10-12
Elective
Full Year
Prerequisites: Chinese I or equivalent

Chinese II is designed to further students’ learning of the Chinese language and culture. Students will engage in a variety of activities to enhance their communicative skills and their proficiency in speaking, listening, reading and writing, and increase their knowledge and appreciation of Chinese culture.  Activities include performing skits, role playing, giving speeches, making presentations, reciting Chinese poems, and singing Chinese songs. Furthermore, the use of authentic materials will foster learning effectiveness and cultural awareness.  All activities are created to achieve the Five C’s of foreign language education – Communication, Culture, Connections, Comparisons, and Communities.

Grades 11-12
Elective
Full Year
Prerequisites: Chinese II or equivalent

In Chinese III, the students continue to advance their oral and aural skills and put more emphasis on their reading and writing skills. They also will be exposed to more complex grammatical structures and language patterns.  Formal written vocabulary and idioms will be introduced.  Activities include skits, speeches, presentations, and writing.  Authentic materials will enhance a more subtle understanding of the culture.  All activities will be created to achieve the Five C’s of foreign language education – Communication, Culture, Connections, Comparisons, and Communities.

Grades 11-12
Elective
Full Year
Prerequisites: Chinese III or equivalent

Chinese IV expands on vocabulary, grammatical structures, and language patterns to advance students’ reading and writing proficiency.  Lessons are designed for the students to communicate effectively in Chinese, gain knowledge and understanding of the Chinese culture, connect with other disciplines and acquire new information, and develop insight into the nature of language and culture.  Visual materials are utilized to promote students’ communication skills and cultural understanding.  Students participate in various activities, including role-plays, skits, individual oral presentations and writing compositions.  All activities are created to achieve the Five C’s of foreign language education – Communication, Culture, Connections, Comparisons, and Communities.