The Foreign Language curriculum currently offers three languages, with five levels each: French, Latin and Spanish.The fifth level of each language is an Advanced Placement course. Upper school students are required to complete the third level of a foreign language, or to complete two years of Latin plus two or more years of a modern language. The vast majority of our students continue studying a second language through their senior year, allowing them to be well prepared for collegiate requirements that lie ahead. Because our seven-period day allows for the study of elective courses, a number of students opt to pursue more than one language simultaneously.

By every measure, our upper-school language program has had great success: Students continue language studies beyond the required minimum, achieve strong results on national tests such as the Achievement Tests and the Advanced Placement exams of the College Board, compete well in language contests on the regional and national level, regularly qualify for prestigious programs such as the Governor’s School Language Academies, and report back that they have had little difficulty in their college studies. Of the seventy-five students in the class of 2006, approximately eighty-three percent continued their language studies during the senior year.In addition to the academic aspect of our foreign language program, there is a strong extra-curricular component as well. Students have the opportunity to participate in language clubs, may be invited to join language honor societies, and have the chance to travel to the countries of the various target languages through school-sponsored trips abroad.