POINTS FOR CONSIDERATION

• There is a successive 3-year upper school, common foreign language graduation requirement at SSFS. Therefore, all new students to SSFS are required to fill out a foreign language questionnaire that, along with the academic transcript, serves as an initial synopsis of previous, if any, foreign language study, formal or otherwise.

• For most students with no previous foreign language experience, a decision needs to be made between the student and his/her family as to whether to begin the requirement with either French 1 or Spanish 1. Any new student entering SSFS after the 9th grade without previous high school French or Spanish experience will be required to take a common and consecutive language course for each year enrolled at SSFS.

• For those students with previous foreign language experience in either French or Spanish, a placement interview is scheduled between the student and a corresponding language-speaking member of our department to determine in which level said student should continue. For those students who, by virtue of a placement test, are asked to repeat a level for which they've already received credit at their former high school, the previous course(s) will count toward the satisfaction of said requirement regardless of placement.

• When assessing and assigning foreign language placement for new upper school students to SSFS, it’s important that everyone involved maintain sight of the myriad challenges they’ll face, linguistic and otherwise. In adjusting to a new school and program, some of these challenges include the academic demand increases and course load, along with various pressures, among them peer, parental and of course scholastic.

• Keep in mind that since there is an established successive 3-year upper school, common foreign language graduation requirement, that the SSFS foreign language evaluator, along with the student and in conjunction with families, need to be able to project three years ahead to see if that particular level course compliments both the abilities and desire of said student and how, realistically, this might impact their transcript.

• In ascending order, the Upper School currently offers the following language levels in both French and Spanish:
  
  1 – Foundations 1
  2 – Foundations 2
  3 – Advanced Grammatical Concepts
  4 – History, Geography & Culture
  5 – AP Language (by approval only)
  6 – AP Literature (by approval only)
  ** - Independent Study (by approval only)

• With rare exception, most SSFS 9th graders will likely qualify for either Level 1 or Level 2. Any SSFS 9th grader believed to be qualified for Level 3 needs Upper School departmental approval because the implication is that by their third year (Junior year) they will need to successfully complete Level 5, which is an AP course and requires special approval to pursue. Besides, a 9th grader in a Level 3 course presents some potential social/peer concerns. Students with documented language learning differences on file with the SSFS Learning Specialist may qualify to receive a SSFS foreign language waiver from the Department Head in consultation with the Head of the Upper School, department faculty, the Learning Specialist and Registrar. Nonetheless, most students at SSFS with documented language learning differences, despite the option of receiving a foreign language waiver, elect to attempt a foreign language; most go on to fulfill the graduation requirement; some will go as far as they can (Level 1 and/or 2) and have the waiver applied at a given saturation point in the future. To learn more about the Procedures & Criteria for Waiving the Foreign Language Graduation Requirement click here.

• Therefore the most common "track" for SSFS upper school students is either Levels 1, 2 & 3 or Levels 2, 3 & 4. Depending on the new student's particular circumstance, in these tracks they will find themselves generally among peers their own age. In the case of 9th graders, the possibility to continue beyond the graduation requirement exists come the 12th grade.

• It is not uncommon for there to be foreign language nomenclature discrepancies, attributed to many variables, from school to school. There should be absolutely no shame in being placed at a level other than the initially anticipated. Because of the luxury of our small class size the pace of our foreign language courses tends to be quite brisk with an emphasis on proficiency. In borderline placement cases, in fact, it might be strategically more sound to take a more conservative route and have a course in which he/she feels competent. Let’s not forget that most summers can wreak havoc on a child’s second language retention. At the same time, and on the opposite side of the coin, SSFS is not an immersion school. Therefore, new students(and families) coming to SSFS with such rich previous foreign language experiences should be conscious of the parameters of our proficiency-based, upper school foreign language program.

• Please keep all of the above in mind. Ultimately we want each student’s language experience to be fulfilling, challenging and fun. We don’t want anyone to slip through the cracks.