About the Foreign Language Academies
Since 1986, the Virginia Department of Education has sponsored Governor's Foreign Language Academies, summer residential programs for Virginia's most motivated and talented foreign language students. As of 2008, approximately 6,500 students have completed one of the six programs. The 2009 Governor's Summer Residential Foreign Language Academies will allow each of the six academies to maintain its individuality as well as to offer activities to expand global awareness, multi-cultural understanding, and international education.
In 2007, the Department of Education applied for and received a STARTALK grant to add a Chinese Academy to the Global Village. Based on the success of the 2008 Virginia STARTALK Chinese Academy, the Virginia Department of Education plans to apply for STARTALK grants for Arabic and Chinese Academies for summer 2009. The Virginia STARTALK Academies for Arabic and Chinese are modeled after the Governor's Japanese and Russian Academies, and will run concurrently with the 2009 Governor's Foreign Language Academies, sharing campus facilities and participating in several Global Village activities.
The Virginia STARTALK Arabic and Chinese Academies are funded by the STARTALK grant program administered by the National Foreign Language Center at the University of Maryland. Funding for STARTALK comes from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, and STARTALK is one of several language programs under the umbrella of President Bush's National Security Language Initiative (January 5, 2006). The Virginia STARTALK Arabic and Chinese Academies are dependent upon annual grant funding and may or may not be available. Notification of grant approval takes place in February. In the event that the grants are not awarded, students will be notified and will have the opportunity to be considered for another partial-immersion academy (Japanese or Russian).
Together, the Governor's Foreign Language Academies for French, German, Japanese, Latin, Russian, and Spanish, and the Virginia STARTALK Academies for Arabic and Chinese form the Virginia Foreign Language Academies: A Global Village.
The three immersion programs in French, German, and Spanish provide an intensive experience and unique challenge for students who have excelled in language study to continue their study of that language in a total immersion environment, which is generally unavailable in the regular school environment.
The Latin Academy provides an intensive experience for students who have excelled in the study of Latin to continue their study in a milieu unavailable in the regular school environment and introduces the students to classical Greek.
The partial-immersion programs in Arabic, Chinese, Japanese and Russian provide an opportunity for interested students to be introduced to the Arabic, Chinese, Japanese or Russian cultures and languages which are not widely taught across the Commonwealth. Advanced classes are also available to students who have studied these languages.
Immersion Academies
Residential, three weeks. (French, Spanish, German, i.e., the languages for which there is sufficient foundation in the secondary schools to enable all academy operations to be conducted in the language.)
Language/Area Studies Partial Immersion Academies
Residential, three weeks. (Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, and Russian)
Latin Academy
Residential, three weeks.
Students
Students must be nominated by an accredited public high school from a Virginia public school division or a private school that is accredited by the Virginia Council for Private Education or other accrediting agency.
Each secondary school may nominate one student for the French, German, Latin, and Spanish Academies; those high schools with enrollments in grades 10, 11, and 12 above 750 may nominate two students for each of the above mentioned academies.
Each secondary school may nominate one student for the Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, and Russian Academies.
All nominees must meet the eligibility requirements below. Eligible students:
Students of the French, German, and Spanish Academies must meet the additional criteria below. Eligible students:
Students applying to the Latin Academy must have completed at least level two of the language prior to the beginning of the academy.
Students applying to the Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, and Russian Academies must have completed at least level two of ANY language prior to the beginning of the academy, but are not required to have previously studied the academy languages. Students currently studying these languages are also encouraged to apply.
Faculty and Staff
Most are Virginia public secondary school teachers, approximately six per academy. Occasionally a private school teacher or a college professor will be a part of the staff. Also, approximately 3-6 young people per academy who are native speakers, college majors, or former students assist faculty in instruction and monitor dormitory behavior.
Teacher observers
Language teachers from across the state are allowed to visit the academy of their language to observe and learn from the experience. This teacher observer program has proven highly successful as a leadership and staff development experience.
For the immersion academies all functions, from brushing one's teeth in the dormitory lavatories to class discussions to going swimming or on field trips, contribute to the academy purpose. Each academy is uniquely designed by its staff. Elements of a student's day in a language academy may include:
During the summer of 1986 a pilot French Academy was conducted by the Virginia Department of Education. Title II ESEA federal funding was used. It is believed to have been the first in the nation in length (four weeks) and intensity (French-24 hours a day, seven days a week). The Academy was inordinately successful judging from the evaluations of students, parents, the faculty and staff, the State staff, and other visitors. The students could and most did speak French most of the time. Almost 100% of all those associated with the French Academy in any way enjoyed the experience and were delighted to have been a part of it. Subsequent academies in French as well as German, Spanish, Japanese Language, Russian studies, and Latin have been equally as successful in every way.
The foreign language academy experience:
The academies are one of the most notable developments in foreign language study to have occurred in the Commonwealth of Virginia. They have come to signify, even for teachers who have not had students participate, what language instruction is all about – communication. The focus of the academies is on using the foreign language in a functional and meaningful way.
In July of 1987, Charles Kuralt featured the German Academy on his Sunday Morning program (CBS). This occasioned numerous inquiries from around the country from citizens and educators interested in the academies. These inquiries continue today. In the summer of 1993, USA Today ran a three page supplement on innovative summer foreign language programs and featured the Virginia Governor's French and Spanish Academies.