School Committee Meeting on Dec. 2
Changes to world language offerings at AMS approved.
School Committee Meeting December 2 - Middle School World Language
Dear Ashland Community,
At last night's School Committee meeting, we engaged in a long and thoughtful discussion regarding world language offerings at Ashland Middle School. These conversations are always challenging, as they impact student choices and underscore how much we value exposing students to new cultures and languages.
However, due to the continued decline in enrollment in French at the middle school level, coupled with our challenges in staffing, changes have been recommended and approved. These changes, which will take effect over the coming years, include the following:
- 2024-2025 School Year:
- French 7 & 8 will continue to run for the remainder of the year.
- A newly hired Long-Term Substitute (LTS) French teacher will start on January 6, 2024, and teach French 7 and French 8.
- The current LTS French teacher will transition to a Spanish teaching role for the remainder of the year.
- We are still interviewing and hiring another Spanish teacher to meet our Spanish students' needs.
- French 7 students can transition to Spanish 7 on January 6, allowing them to be better prepared for Spanish 8. - Ms. Lachapelle will send a clarifying email to 7th-grade French students.
- 2025-2026 School Year:
- French 8 will be offered to students who are currently studying French 7. At this point, however, we do not have a teacher, and students may need to take the class virtually, either with an instructor or without.
- AMS is investigating schedule changes for the 2025-2026 school year, and we are considering moving Spanish teachers onto 8th-grade teams.
- 2026-2027 School Year:
- Spanish will only be offered to students in the 8th grade.
No changes to the world language curriculum at Ashland High School have been proposed.
Looking ahead, we remain committed to exploring ways to offer more than one world language at AMS. This may include utilizing technology-based learning, though we acknowledge that there are better approaches for language acquisition.
Again, families of students currently enrolled in French 7 will receive further communication from Ms. Lachapelle with detailed instructions and the next steps. It is also important to note that AMS must still be fully staffed in Spanish. Our current staff is working diligently to maintain consistency for students, including lesson planning for classes without a full-time teacher. We want to have stable staffing by January 6 to ensure continuity in learning.
Thank you for your understanding and support as we navigate these changes to serve our students better.
Be well,
Jim Adams, Superintendent
Phone: (508) 881-0150 | Fax: (508) 881-0161
87 W. Union St. Ashland, MA 01721