Department Philosophy

“Monolingualism Can Be Cured.”  Through the learning of language we build on and affirm cultural, linguistic, intellectual and personal identities.  Knowledge of several languages empowers individuals by opening economic and social opportunities.  It promotes tolerance and diversity as well as solidarity within our global community.  Language learning allows us to bridge cultural barriers and promote ways of interpreting our diverse world while stimulating intellectual curiosity. 

To help end monolingualism and to ensure that our students are comfortable being uncomfortable when learning a language, we launched a video contest to show that Can Do attitude of our students to take risks and learn a language. 

High School:

District Winner

Middle School:

Herricks Middle School Winner

6-12 Curriculum Overview - Please note that the New York State Education Department has approved of the Revised NYS World Language Standards. These gradual changes to the standards will be implemented at the start of the 2023-2024 school year. The world language department has been making changes to the program over the years to ensure that language learning is more accessible to students, and not a list of vocabulary words or grammar topics. The department is ready for the revised standards due to the changes we have made over the years. The information below reflects the standards currently in place. For an overview of the revised standards, please click HERE.  To review a two-page document that gives an overview of our programs, click here. 

The documents below will assist in understanding our programs and requirements for students in grades 6-12

Click HERE for a 2022-2023 flow chart of our course offerings

Click HERE for our digital portfolio requirement for all students in our courses

The WL curriculum includes universal topics that are part of the 6th-12th grade scope and sequence. These topics, as needed, are revisited each year because of the cumulative and spiraling nature of language acquisition. Please note that a few of the topics are introduced at the upper levels of instruction due to their abstract nature and the linguistic demands that are needed in order to carry out high level discussions. As a student moves through the program, the expectation is that they handle each topic with greater confidence and control over grammatical structures in order to clearly and effectively communicate in Mandarin Chinese, French, Italian and/or Spanish. The topics are:

Middle School 6-8: Our learners begin language instruction in grade six in Mandarin Chinese, French, Italian or Spanish. The WL teachers engage our children in age and level appropriate activities to develop Checkpoint A (novice level) fluency. Students at the Checkpoint A level can...

• comprehend simple language consisting of basic vocabulary and structures in face-to-face conversation with peers and familiar adults 
• comprehend the main idea of more extended conversations with some unfamiliar vocabulary and structures as well as cognates of English words
• call upon repetition, rephrasing, and nonverbal cues to derive or convey meaning from a language other than English
• use appropriate strategies to initiate and engage in simple conversations with more fluent or native speakers of the same age group, familiar adults, and providers of common public services. 

Required Assessment: Students complete Checkpoint A at the end of grade eight and take a locally developed assessment to ensure that they have met the Checkpoint A requirements. Upon successful completion of Checkpoint A, students receive one unit of credit for high school and are encouraged to continue their studies beyond Checkpoint A.

High School 9-12: Students continue their study of Mandarin Chinese, French, Italian or Spanish. Incoming ninth grade students begin Checkpoint B to build their fluency beyond memorized responses. Students at Checkpoint B can...

• comprehend messages and short conversations when listening to peers, familiar adults, and providers of public services either in face-to-face interactions or on the cell phone/telephone
• understand the main idea and some discrete information in television, radio, streaming video, or live presentations
• initiate and sustain conversations, face to face, via Skype, or on the phone, with native-speaking or more fluent individuals
• select vocabulary appropriate to a range of topics, employ simple and complex sentences in present, past, and future time frames, and express details and nuances by using appropriate modifiers
• exhibit spontaneity in their interactions, particularly, when the topic is familiar, but often rely on familiar utterances
• and use repetition and circumlocution as well as gestures and other nonverbal cues to sustain conversation.

Required Assessment: Checkpoint B is completed at the end of grade ten with a locally developed Checkpoint B assessment to ensure that they have met the Checkpoint B requirements. Successful completion of Checkpoint B provides students with three Regents credits for graduation.

Checkpoint C at the 11th and 12th Grade: Our rigorous WL course offerings prepare our students to enter our AP or upper level courses. Our WL programs ask students to handle, discuss and present a variety of topics and issues in the spoken and written form based upon readings, discussions and listening activities. It is our goal to provide students with the tools to think critically to compete and engage others in our global community in a language other than English. Our upper level course offerings are available for college credit through Stony Brook University. More information is provided in our course catalog. 

Spanish Dual Language Immersion Program K-12: To learn more, please visit by clicking HERE. 

Required Assessment: Based on the course, students either take a locally developed integrated-performance assessment or the AP Exam.

If you should have any questions about our programs, please contact:

Francesco L. Fratto
Director of World Languages, Language Immersion & English as a New Language
ffratto@herricks.org
Office: 516-305-8719