March 15, 2023 Submitted by SELA
Over 300 students and faculty at SELA: The International Private School, with campuses in Hingham and Norwell, recently observed National Foreign Language Week (March 6 to 11) through culture, education, and adventure.
Kicking off the National Foreign Language Week celebration, SELA students in grades 2 through 4 explored the prestigious Peabody Essex Museum on a field trip, touring a variety of culturally diverse exhibits, including the museum’s 16-bedroom Yin Yu Tang house, a stately Huizhou-region structure built during China’s Qing Dynasty. Kindergarten and 1st grade students visited Quincy Taekwondo, where they participated in a Mandarin-immersed Taekwondo class – their first introduction to the martial arts – reinforcing students’ fluency and vocabulary in a fun and interactive way. Throughout the week, students continued to explore the languages and cultures of diverse countries as they adventured through “trips around the world” in class and stamped their “passports” while “visiting” each land.
Students in SELA’s School of Early Global Education (ages 3 months to 5 years) also “adventured around the world” as families visited classrooms, leading a craft, song, or dance, helping students learn about countries selected from the “continent of the day.” SELA’s Director of Admissions Alexandra Perry shares “Students and parents alike enjoy the many events such as this that provide different learning opportunities and also strengthen the SELA community and family involvement.”
As a culmination to the week, SELA’s elementary students applied their new knowledge to create an all-school multilingual performance for their families, presenting facts about Australia, China, and Peru in Spanish, English, and Mandarin languages. This presentation rounded out the week of celebration with music and cultural performances, including a song native to each featured country, and a variety of art exhibits.
National Foreign Language Week (NFLW), instituted in 1957, is celebrated annually. The weeklong observation originated with the intention of educating American students on the vital necessity of foreign language study. NFLW inspires schools around America to celebrate foreign language education by discussing the joys of learning a new language and raising awareness for the importance of studying foreign languages.
Founded in 2004 in Cohasset as Su Escuela Language Center, later evolving into a private school, it launched with the goal of preparing English-speaking children to excel linguistically, academically, and socially in a global society through instruction in a second and third language. In July of 2011, the academy expanded and opened its doors at its flagship campus in Hingham. Now established as SELA: The International Private School, its educational model continues to expand, now offering programs for infants through age 5, in addition to the Private Elementary and Middle School programs for Kindergarten through grade 8. Today, with locations in Hingham and Norwell, SELA is the first and only Spanish full immersion school in Southeastern Massachusetts.
For more information about SELA: The International Private School, its programs, tuition, and more, visit selaprivateschool.com, call 781-741-5454, and follow SELA on social media