Submitted by tenured World Language teachers at Greenwich High School
Dear Members of the Board of Education,
With a vote on the FY27 Board of Education budget looming this Thursday evening, we, the tenured World Language teachers at Greenwich High School have serious concerns about the 6.5 FTE scheduled to be eliminated from GHS. Acquisition of a second language (or more) is of inestimable value to our students. In fact, the State of Connecticut has chosen to emphasize the importance of second language acquisition by creating a State issued Seal of Biliteracy that can be earned by students achieving a certain level of proficiency in at least two languages. We are incredibly proud of the nearly 100 non-AP language learners who have earned this award, in addition to the many who earned it through their AP test scores, since GHS began participating in the Seal of Biliteracy program.
Greenwich High School offers studies in six World Languages, and they are a core component of the richness of the academic experience at GHS, which differentiates Greenwich High School from its peers in Fairfield County. The GHS website emphasizes the importance of our World Language program by highlighting the 6 Advanced Placement World Language courses offered. World Language APs make up 19 percent of the AP courses at GHS. The German AP Language course is also offered under the auspices of the Early College Education (ECE) program, enabling students to earn 6 college credits issued by the University of Connecticut. It is one of only 7 courses of this type offered at GHS. The elimination of even two or three of those opportunities would result in a nearly 10 percent reduction in total college level courses offered at GHS. In the increasingly competitive college application landscape, it is imperative that GHS not compromise students’ ability to set themselves apart from other applicants.
The K-12 World Language program has suffered cuts over the past few years. Last year, the weekly instructional minutes in our elementary school program (FLES) were severely reduced: Kindergarten and grades 4 and 5 were cut by 40%, Grades 1 and 2 lost 33%, and Grade 3 lessened by 25%. This decrease in instructional minutes can only result in slowing down the learning curve for our elementary language students, thus, impacting their future study at the secondary level. However, Greenwich High School continues to have world language study as a graduation requirement, and many colleges want to see world language study beyond what GHS requires. Any reduction of FTE at the high school level would decrease opportunities to fulfill these requirements.
That being said, learning a world language is about more than college preparation and creating an attractive transcript. Research has proven that language learning fosters other skills, including reading, writing, problem solving, and social skills, among others. Learning languages exposes students to not only the language itself, but also introduces them to different global cultures. As communication advances, our global society becomes increasingly smaller, and cultural awareness becomes an even more valuable commodity. It is incumbent upon us to prepare our students for their role in the society of the future, and teaching them world languages is a vital part of that process.
Sincerely,
Stefania Benzoni, Abigail Alicea, Danielle Astle, Margret Callahan, Patricia Chan, Silvana Cipollone, Paraskevi Doufekias-Radis, Elizabeth Fraser, Sharon Garcés Álvarez, Carmen Lissette Gutierrez, Valerie Leger, Emily O’Connor, Pilar Rabassa, Adrian Ramirez, Dana Romanello-Flynn, Mariasol Yika, Lin Young, Margaret Jackins (GEA President)