Menlo News May 06, 2021

Middle School Heritage Spanish Program to Debut in 2021-22 School Year

Next year, Menlo Middle School will launch a new World Language class designed for students whose home language is Spanish, or who otherwise speak Spanish at a near-native level, such as students who attended Spanish immersion elementary school programs.

 

The pilot Heritage Spanish class, a mixed-age class for students in the 6th, 7th, and 8th grades, will be open to all Middle School students as well as incoming 6th graders. The class will be conducted 100% in Spanish. 

“We are super excited to launch the pilot Heritage Spanish program next year,” says Weixin Shi, department chair of Middle School World Language. “This new class is an answer to the shifting needs of an increasingly diverse student body at the Middle School.” 

Each year, the course will cover a new set of topics, beginning in the 2021-22 school year with subjects such as identity, globalization, Spanglish, prejudice, storytelling, and film studies. Using a differentiated approach to meet the needs of students at different levels, the class will engage in class discussions, essay and journal writing, and multimedia presentations. 

The course meets a key goal of Menlo’s World Language program: to prepare our students to become lifelong learners of languages who use their skills to connect with their community and the world. To that end, Weixin adds, “the Heritage Spanish program is a first step toward supporting our Spanish-speaking students who wish to expand their proficiency and develop deeper connections with their cultural and linguistic background.” 

Teacher Pris Schochet shares, “I can’t wait to continue teaching our students more of the Spanish language and culture in depth. As a Mexican immigrant woman of color, whose first language is Spanish and who has have lived in four countries and traveled to 30+ countries, I am eager to share my perspective— not only on the Hispanic world but also my global perspective—with our students.”

Want to learn more? Contact Weixin Shi