Bilingual high school graduates will soon have their linguistic chops noted on their official Glendale Unified transcripts.
Glendale Unified School Board members unanimously supported adding a Seal of Biliteracy to official transcripts, mirroring a push across California for statewide use of the seal.
“It is wonderful to recognize it, and I think our district will have more students who are going to be bilingual as the years go on because of our FLAG program,” school board member Nayiri Nahabedian said, referring to the district’s burgeoning Foreign Language Academy of Glendale.
The district’s bilingual competency award process – the first in the state – started during the 1992-93 school year with a Spanish exam. It quickly expanded to include Armenian, Korean, Russian, Tagalog and Arabic.
Most students apply for the award for a single, additional language, said Deputy Supt. John Garcia, although some apply for as many as three. In the last nine years, 2,600 students have received a Bilingual Competency Award, Glendale News-Press reported.
