World Languages
One of the many ways Burke’s stands out among its peer schools is the fact that three different World Languages are offered in Upper School.
During the winter of their fourth-grade year, students have the opportunity to experience Spanish, French, and Mandarin through a series of introductory classroom lessons by the Upper School language teachers. The students absorb the lessons and are then invited to a presentation on the World Language program along with their parent/guardian before making a final decision. This choice is one of the earliest and most powerful moments of academic agency, when a student chooses the language they want to study which may continue through high school and even college.
Upper School language classes meet four times a week, providing a very strong foundation for language learning. Along with building language skills in the classroom, the students make presentations at Upper School assemblies to practice their skills and share learnings about different cultures and holidays. Burke’s graduates who take high school language placement tests are typically placed in level 2 or level 2 honors language classes.
According to Head of School Michele Williams, “Burke’s is very unique in its commitment to this programming. It is not simple to offer three languages; there are staffing and space implications, and class sizes can fluctuate from year to year, but we know from current Upper School students and recent alumni that this choice was a truly meaningful moment in their academic journey.”