Spanish at Tesseract is a unique and exciting program. The program is exceptional in its frequency of instruction, depth of cultural components and dedication and talent of the educators. Beginning at age 3, students in preschool through fifth grade receive Spanish instruction four times a week. Sixth, seventh and eighth grade students receive Spanish instruction four times a week as a core part of the middle school curriculum. The seventh and eighth grade students complete the equivalent of Spanish I, the first year of high school Spanish.

In 9th grade, Spanish students will continue to meet as a core class. Students will move on to Spanish 2, and begin to learn both forms of the past tense as well as the use of irregular verbs. Adding to the curriculum from the middle school, upper school students will interact with native speakers in a virtual environment to practice their speaking and writing skills. Likewise, there will be language-related class trips to native speaking countries as well as opportunities to interact with the local Hispanic community.

Through all grade levels, Spanish is acquired by the students through communicative, participatory and culturally based activities. Lessons are relevant to the student and integrated with the school thematic curriculum. Activities are purposeful with natural language use and the integration of authentic cultural situations, literature, music, realia, and art. Tesseract’s foreign language program is based on the National and State Standards for Foreign Language Learning. The long-sequence, well-articulated foreign language program at Tesseract is exemplary and essential for the education of today’s globally aware students.