FROM THE WORLD LANGUAGE DEPARTMENT

Foreign language instruction becomes part of the La Entrada curriculum in 6^th grade.  Typically, half of our students choose Spanish; the rest divide themselves between Latin and French.Sixth graders are nearly always enrolled in their first choice of foreign language. In 7^th and 8^th grades, language becomes an elective.  When students complete all three years of the language, which are called "1a," "1b," and "1c," it is the equivalent of the first year high school curriculum, and they are then qualified to enter the second year of that language when they enter 9^th grade.

Key objectives in world language acquisition include expanding students' interest in other cultures and deepening their understanding of language in general.  Learning Latin-based vocabulary, which is, of course, integral to both the Spanish and French curricula, complements academic English vocabulary.   Moreover, the grammar concepts covered in world languages assist students to understand and improve their English writing. 
There are 71 students enrolled in French this year:  23 6^th graders, 31 7^th graders, and 17 8^th graders.
In French 1a, students learn basic vocabulary; greetings; how to express likes, dislikes, and preferences; how to describe friends and family members; how to talk about school schedules and tell time; and how to make purchases.  Projects include constructing a family tree, labeled in French, and setting up shopping stores in class to buy and sell school supplies.
French 1b expands students' ability to talk about their after school activities and spending time with friends.  They learn food vocabulary and how to order in restaurants.  The shopping unit expands to clothing and sporting goods, including how to express opinions and choose or reject items.  In the travel unit, each student creates a scrapbook of an imaginary trip to France.  In groups, they plan restaurants, create menus, bring food to class and visit each other's restaurants where they sit down, order, eat, and pay for their meal.
The students in French 1c focus first on home and household chores, where they create a model of a house and perform skits about family life.  Next they learn how to navigate a French-speaking city, run errands, and use public transportation.  The final unit expands their knowledge of issues involving travel, including how to ask for and give directions, make reservations, and purchase tickets.

One more note on learning grammar by studying a world language:  most nouns that we consider genderless in English are either masculine or feminine in Latin and in the Romance languages-in fact, Spanish and French have no neuter nouns at all.  "Open your book.  He is on your desk." And "Let's clean up the classroom.  She is a mess!"  How weird is that?

IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR 8TH GRADERS WHO LIVE IN ATHERTON OR WOODSIDE

Many years ago, the Sequoia Union High School District adopted a policy that allows students who live in the Woodside High School attendance zone to attend Menlo-Atherton High School along with all the other La Entrada students who matriculate to M-A. Over the years, the process for notifying the  La Entrada students who live in the Woodside H.S. attendance zone of this opportunity and having them apply for M-A has varied a little bit, and this year the Sequoia District is making it simpler.

This year, LE students who live in Woodside or Atherton need to fill out an "Open Enrollment Transfer" form, which can be obtained at the SUHSD website by clicking here. This form must be submitted to the Sequoia District Office no later than January 21, 2010. It's as simple as that. No lottery, no mystery. Even if M-A is declared "full," at a future date, LE students who have followed this process will be admitted to Menlo-Atherton High school for 2011-12 under existing Board Policies.