Graduating with the nyssb in june 2021

“When I learned that I would be eligible for the Seal of Biliteracy, I was very excited. This achievement proved that all of the hard work I put into learning a new language over my high school career was worth it. I come from a very large family of Italian speakers. My grandparents immigrated to America from Italy over fifty years ago. As amazing as it has been to be able to visit my relatives and cousins, it has always been very difficult to communicate with each other. Having the ability to communicate and build a stronger relationship with my family and new friends, is truly what receiving the Seal of Biliteracy means to me.”
- Kayla Zoobrecht

“Being  able to complete the Seal of Biliteracy for Italian was a great honor and opportunity for me. I am a native Spanish and a lot of people told me to take Spanish for an easy grade. However, I wanted to challenge myself and at first, I struggled. When I learned that I was eligible to do the Seal of Biliteracy for both Italian and Spanish, I felt very lucky. Knowing that my decision from freshman year was worth it became very rewarding. At Preston, I will be the first to graduate receiving two Seals of Biliteracy, and I am very proud of myself and for taking the challenge.”
- Linda Melendez
 
“I felt so lucky to be presented with the opportunity to receive a Seal of Biliteracy in my Senior year of high school. I am of Albanian descent, but was raised in a predominantly Italian neighborhood and have always loved the culture which is why learning the language in high school was such a privilege. Anyone who is presented with this opportunity like I was, is extremely blessed.” 
- Elizabeth Kalaj

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Despite the disruptions caused by Covid-19, there is excitement among parents, teachers, students and leaders at Preston High School. What is this excitement about? It is about the honor of graduating with the NYSSB and the new opportunities that it opens to graduating seniors. 

The Fordham  PDRC team supports schools as they develop new programs to enhance its learning opportunities for their students, such as the New York State Seal of Biliteracy (“NYSSB”) program. The NYSSB recognizes high school graduates who have attained a high level of proficiency in listening, speaking, reading, and writing in one or more languages, in addition to English. 

Last summer, Preston High School, an all-girls Roman Catholic high school located in Bronx, N.Y. decided to implement the program. Recently, we had an opportunity to interview the instructional leaders that implemented the program - Jane Grendell, Principal; and Rosemary DeMaio, Chair of Language Other Than English Department. At this time, there are 26 students who will be receiving the NYSSB; current seniors will earn the NYSSN in June 2021. 

Can you share some information about your school? Our high school was started by the Sister of the Divine Compassion in 1947 after previously being a vocational school for girls. Now staffed by laypeople, Preston has over 400 female students in grades 9 through 12. 

Tell me more about your school’s language program. At Preston, our students can take up to two languages - Italian and Spanish. Through our partnership with the State University of New York at Albany (SUNY-Albany), students can receive college credit directly from the university. 

What inspired your interest in implementing the  NYS Seal of Biliteracy program? It represented an opportunity to distinguish us from other schools, and a positive motivation for our students to achieve in this area. For many of our students, the seal has a direct correlation between the student’s future careers and their employability by being bilingual. For us, there were all positives and no negatives. It was a great opportunity for our school to demonstrate that students, including ones that have IEPs, can achieve knowledge of languages at very high levels.

How did you prepare your school to go through the process?  We looked at other schools that had an existing NYSSB program. We wanted to make sure that we developed a program that would be suitable for Preston High School and for 2020-2021 school year. Since we did not know if we were going to be virtual, hybrid or in-person, we needed to develop a program that would give the students an opportunity to succeed, no matter where they were. 

For instance, our students complete an Independent Senior Project (ISP) which has been in place for many years. We learned through the New York State Education Department (“NYSED”) that this year-long project met the NYSSB requirements. This project helped make the implementation process and transition very smooth. To ensure that the students can complete the project requirements on-time, the “in-person” part of the project is now recorded, reviewed by our teachers and returned to students with feedback. 

What resources were available to help implement the NYSSB program? We were able to get a lot of help, support, and encouragement from Dr. Salavert and the entire Fordham PDRC team as well from Catherine Black from NYSED.  She was very supportive through each step of the process as there are many deadlines that needed to be met in order to get students through the program this year.

Additionally, NYSED has terrific resources available online including its NYSSB Guidance Toolkit and the NYSSB Handbook. With the support of of our principal and entire biliteracy team which includes an English teacher, we were able to start  

What advice would you give other schools that are interested in establishing the NYSSB program? Read through the resources online including the NYSSB handbook. Reach out to other schools that are larger or have similar demographics. As a no-charge resource, set-up time to discuss your plans with the Fordham  PDRC. Lastly, “do research and ask for assistance”

How do you work with the guidance counselor?  The guidance counselor was involved from the beginning. With the guidance counselor support, we were able to contact the parents immediately to inform them of the program. Starting next school year, all students including freshmen will receive an overview of the program and its requirements. As a good practice, teachers and guidance counselors should review the list of senior students, by GPA and English scores, to identify who might be eligible for the program.

Congratulations to you, your students and the entire school community. Your leadership has made your students overcome the covid-19 challenges, and as their testimonials illustrate, they have learned to appreciate the value of hard work and resilience and to work towards a goal that will benefit them beyond their high school years. 

Please visit our main website to read this article and its appendix “Student Voices about the NYSSB”  which includes the testimonials of 26 NYSBB Candidates from Preston High School.