Hartford Public Schools is pleased to announce 209 students have earned Connecticut’s Seal of Biliteracy, making it the largest class of earners in the District's history. The Seal of Biliteracy recognizes students who are proficient in two or more languages by the time they graduate from high school. The award is a testament to the hard work of our students who strive to expand their knowledge of cultures and languages. The Seal of Biliteracy will be placed on a student’s diploma and will also be noted on their transcript, which will be sent to colleges and universities. In some cases, students can earn college credit for the work they completed in high school. To earn the Seal, students must demonstrate language proficiency on a state approved assessment.
This year's class of earners speak a total of 16 different languages: Albanian, Arabic, Bosnian, Dari, French, Haitian-Creole, Hindi, Karen, Kinyarwanda, Latin, Patois, Polish, Portuguese, Spanish, Swahili, and Twi.
The students were honored at an award ceremony at Weaver High School, which included student performances by Kennelly's dance club and Weaver High School's Modern Rock Band. There were welcoming remarks by Dr. Leslie Torres-Rodriguez, Superintendent of Hartford Public Schools and Daisy Torres-Hill, Acting Assistant Superintendent of Professional Learning & Multilingual Learners. This year's keynote speaker was Montserrat Garibay, the Assistant Deputy Secretary and Director for the Office of English Language Acquisition for the U.S. Department of Education. She shared her inspirational story of moving to the United States from Mexico, and she spoke about the importance of embracing native cultures and languages. Earlier in the day, Ms. Garibay made a visit to Dwight Bellizzi Dual Language Academy, where she learned how Hartford Public Schools is encouraging biliteracy beginning with the youngest learners.
You can learn more about the Seal of Biliteracy at Hartford Public Schools here.
Click here to see more photos from the event!