Languages

Contact: Jeremy Aldrich, Foreign Language Coordinator

SUMMER ENRICHMENT OPPORTUNITIES:
Spanish (Grades 1-2) – Students will gain an understanding of and appreciation for Spanish speaking cultures through hands-on, language-rich experiments, exercises and activities. Filming will be a large part of the week to document student progress and promote excitement for learning. Students will visit local Hispanic businesses to practice lessons learned in the classroom. Instruction will be entirely in Spanish to allow for complete immersion. Students will be able to try new foods, participate in dramas, sing and dance to traditional Hispanic songs and dances. (SMES)

Hispanic Cultures (Grades 5-8) – This class combines songs, stories, crafts, cooking, and trips to local restaurants and Latino stores to teach children about the Spanish language and Hispanic traditions celebrated each season of the year. To celebrate spring, we’ll be making confetti-filled colored eggs from Latin America and chocolate sculptures from Spain. For our winter celebration, we will act out Las Posadas and make luminaries. Fall will include tissue paper flowers and sugar skulls. Summer will involve each student making their own piñata and fluffy flag. Parents will join us on the last day for a Cinco de Mayo fiesta.

In Harrisonburg, learning has no limits - not even language barriers! We offer courses at each of our schools to help students develop language skills which will help them in their careers, their travel, and their academic endeavors.

For information on HCPS Rosetta Stone accounts, check here.

Elementary Schools - FLES and Dual Language Immersion

Each of our elementary schools offer FLES (Foreign Language in the Elementary Schools) Spanish, which is a proficiency-based, content-enriched program that is designed to serve the needs of students learning Spanish for the first time as well as those who have Spanish as a home language.

Additionally, Smithland Elementary School offers a Dual Language Immersion Program, in which students spend half of their day learning in English and the other half learning in Spanish. The result is bilingual students who are mastering the same content as their peers in monolingual classrooms. Enrollment is open to any student in Harrisonburg City Schools but spaces are limited.

Middle Schools - Cultures, FLEX, French I, Spanish I, Latin I, Spanish I for Heritage Speakers

Cultures is a course for fifth graders in which students explore the cultures of countries around the world through stories, music, and crafts.

FLEX (Foreign Language EXploratory) is a course for sixth graders in which students develop their language skills and explore interesting topics about language and culture.

The first level of French, Spanish, Latin, and Spanish for Native Speakers are offered to eighth graders. These courses develop skills in reading, writing, listening, and speaking in the target language, and high school credit is awarded for successful completion. Additionally, seventh graders can choose to take French I Part One or Spanish I Part One, completing Part Two of their chosen language in eighth grade. The Part One/Part Two courses allow students more time to develop skills and require a lighter homework load than if the course were completed in one year.

High School - French I-IV, Spanish I-V, AP Spanish, Spanish I for Heritage Speakers AP Spanish Literature, Latin I-V, Spanish for Native Speakers I-III, Virtual Virginia

High school language courses develop skills in reading, writing, listening, and speaking in the target language. AP (Advanced Placement) courses prepare students for a national AP exam which can result in college credit. Virtual Virginia offers online courses in Arabic, Chinese, French, Latin and Spanish. For descriptions of each high school language course, please see the 2012-13 HHS Program of Studies.

The HCPS Languages Team

Name	School	Courses Taught
Jeremy Aldrich Sarah Arenas	SSES THMS	FLES Spanish/Foreign Language Coordinator Conversational Spanish
Maria Burruss	SES	FLES Spanish
Sarah Durham	WES	FLES Spanish
Nancy Faulkner	HHS	Spanish III, Spanish V
Gloria Figueroa-Vargas	THMS	FLEX, Spanish I Part One
Charlotte Frame	THMS/SKMS	Conversational French, French I, French I Part One
Henry Garcia	HHS	Spanish II, Spanish for Native Speakers II
Kim Hook	HHS	Spanish II, Spanish IV
Paul Klemt	THMS/HHS	Latin I, Latin II, Latin III, Latin IV
Chrissy Lopez-Cotaina	KES	FLES Spanish
Jessica Mendez-Thompson	THMS	Cultures, Spanish I, Spanish for Native Speakers I
Patricia Rojas	HHS	Spanish II, Spanish for Native Speakers I
Hunter Rush	SMES	FLES Spanish
Charity Shahan	SKMS	FLEX, Conversational Spanish, Spanish I, Spanish I Part One
Lynnsey Urgo	HHS	Spanish I, Spanish II
Sally Young	HHS	French I, French II, French III, French IV
Phil Yutzy	HHS	Spanish I, Spanish for Native Speakers III, AP Spanish Literature