Orinda Language Education

03/05/2024

From Miramonte HS (to the Class of 2024 )-- Seniors, if you speak more than one language, you could be eligible to earn the California State Seal of Biliteracy – a great recognition of your excellent language skills. If you are already in a world language class, ask your teacher about the State Seal of Biliteracy. If you are multilingual and not currently taking a world language class, you can ask your counselor about how you can earn the State Seal of Biliteracy. More info about the State Seal of Biliteracy is on this poster: CA State Seal of Biliteracy Poster. Ask your world language teacher or counselor for details.

03/03/2024

"The fact that our sixth graders can begin studying music or language allows them to obtain mastery while in middle school or reach advanced levels of courses in high school."
--Aida Glimme, OUSD Superintendent (regarding registration for electives at OIS)

02/23/2022

Please spread the word that even though it wasn't mentioned at the information night tonight and may not be listed as an elective option for 6th grade, Spanish 1a is an option as your 6th grader's elective choice at OIS. Starting early with Spanish in middle school would allow them to take Spanish 1b as 7th graders and Spanish 2 (at OIS) as 8th graders. Spanish 1a is a beginner level class, at a decelerated pace (half the curriculum covered in a high school Spanish 1 class). It is totally appropriate for a 6th grade learner and a way for those who have prior Spanish experience in elementary school programs such as Viva El Espanol to continue their study of the language without a gap year. Spread the word! For whatever reason, it is not being promoted by the administration.

02/01/2022

Just wanted to share the latest in the ongoing saga for those of us trying to create continuous pathways for world language study beginning in elementary school. The cohort of 8th graders at OIS taking Spanish 2 this year are registering for Spanish 3 at Miramonte this week! It is very exciting! This was the first year that OIS offered a real Spanish 2 class in-house. In addition to students like my son, who took Spanish through his elementary school years and then Spanish 1a in 6th grade, Spanish 1b in 7th grade at OIS, there are some students from Spanish (or other Romance language) speaking homes who took Spanish 2 in 8th grade as their entry-level course. The Spanish 2 teacher at OIS has been excellent. She has previous experience teaching high school Spanish. It has been his most challenging OIS course by far. But he has relished that chance to take on a high school level class this year.
I hope this small success story will encourage proponents of early education in other world languages (especially Mandarin) to advocate with their school districts. It seems a shame to me not to introduce world language into the lives of children, whose brains are most receptive to receive it.

08/10/2021

So happy to see Spanish 2 on my 8th grader’s schedule. We did it, OLE!

03/03/2021

OIS parents of children in Spanish 1b this year as 7th graders: Please register for Spanish 1b again for next year and email the administration to tell them that your child wants to take Spanish 2. Anyone who already has Spanish language experience and wants to skip to Spanish 2 should also make this request. If they don't get enough people registered for Spanish 2, they may not be able to offer it. And they aren't actually listing Spanish 2 as being on offer, so it seems like that would discourage registration!

02/23/2021

Long-time-no-post. Sorry all! I love it every time I see that someone has joined us, showing their support for improving world language education in Orinda.
I have some disappointing news to share. This year's cohort of 8th grade Spanish students at OIS, the first in the new pilot program offering world language instruction for all three years of middle school, has hit a roadblock. These rising high schoolers are not being welcomed to the next level of Spanish at Miramonte, but being told to join in with those who only had two years of middle school Spanish in re-taking Spanish 2 their first year of high school. This is not what the pilot program was intended to do. The pandemic played a part, to be sure. But we need to rescue this pilot program from being deemed a failure, a waste of resources, etc. Please message me or comment below if you are interested in lobbying for the OIS three-year world language track to be maintained and bolstered going into the future. We also need Miramonte to be supportive and welcoming of Spanish students who wish to advance early in their language study. Students who have not been supported in pursuing language study that begins in elementary school and continues without interruption through middle school and high school are choosing to leave the public schools for private schools, where world language study is recognized as the tremendous asset that it is. Or they are choosing to drop Spanish and take up a different world language before their Spanish language proficiency has fully developed. This makes me sad. Orinda should be able to do better. Don't you agree?

07/18/2020

OUSD board meeting coming up Monday. Let your thoughts be heard about the two-subject-every-three-weeks model adopted at the last meeting. Now that we know we will be distance learning, is this model most conducive to learning at home? With no assigned work on a subject for 6 out of every 9 weeks? Especially with world language classes? Here’s the email for the board: [email protected]

06/19/2020

In the wake of the Supreme Court's decision this week regarding DACA, here's the story of one of our own local Dreamers:

It has been years since I watched this video. I never imagined the immigrant narrative so demonized and categorize myself or family members as criminals. Due...

02/28/2020

Registration for electives for next year at OIS begins tonight. There should be an opportunity for 8th graders next year who have already taken Spanish 1A (in 6th) and Spanish 1B (in 7th) to take Spanish 2 at OIS. Please share your experiences (success or frustration) at registering for Spanish 2, which has never before been offered at OIS. Also, hopefully incoming 6th graders are able to register for Spanish as well if they choose to use their single/sole elective in this way. And this year's 6th grader cohort who had Spanish 1A should be able to register for Spanish 1B. We will see when Power School opens for registration at 5 pm.

07/03/2019

"If we are to value and further develop our relationship with each other, we will again have to learn, in every sense, to speak each other's language."

The British Council says some parents now see European languages as less useful because of Brexit.

03/14/2019

Parents of incoming 6th graders at OIS for 2019-20, we encourage you to select Spanish (or French) as your child's elective in 6th grade. The elective offerings may seem like a candy store to your children, but those "fun" electives can wait until 7th and 8th grades when there is room in the middle school day for 2 periods of electives each day. Language education should not be postponed (see all the reasons why that we've posted previously). Unfortunately, in 6th grade at OIS, students can only select one year-long elective or two semester-long elective courses. Last year, 32 incoming 6th graders chose Spanish, so that is a large enough cohort to allow 2d year Spanish to be offered to those students when they are in 8th grade at OIS. Hopefully, we get a similar number of this year's 5th graders to register for Spanish in 6th grade so that they will have access to a Spanish 2 class when they are in 8th grade at OIS. Please don't be discouraged by the tentative answer given last night at the information night about whether 8th grade Spanish 2 will be an option. It will be an option if we create the demand for it. And keep up the requests for Mandarin to be offered during the school day. The Principal at last night's information night acknowledged that it is something worth further consideration. But, as with Spanish 2, there needs to be a demonstrated demand.