Advanced Spanish Pilot Class Created for Amherst Seventh Graders
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Report on the Meeting of the Regional School Committee, May 26, 2026
This meeting was held in the High School library with hybrid access and was recorded.
The inaugural class of Fort River students in the dual-language Caminantes program is now finishing sixth grade and moving to the middle school next fall. Their parents and caregivers have spent much time and effort advocating for some kind of continuation of the program at the middle school. The existing world language program in seventh grade offers a combined survey introduction to Spanish, French, Latin, and Chinese. Students then choose a language to begin studying in ninth grade.
High School Spanish teacher and Multilingual Learning Administrator Celia Senckowski and Curriculum Director Tonya McIntyre introduced a plan for an advanced Spanish class in seventh grade next year. This would be a pilot class for about 24 students that would be evaluated and possibly scaled up in subsequent years. No plan was offered for eighth grade in the following year.
Superintendent E. Xiomara Herman (Dr. Xi) noted that the advanced class would be open to students from all four towns in the region, not just Caminantes students. Admission would be by proficiency testing, using the online Standards-Based Measurement of Proficiency (STAMP) test, and a lottery if needed. There are currently 32 students in the sixth-grade Caminantes class, so not all of them would be able to enroll in the advanced Spanish class at the middle school. Of the 224 students of Spanish heritage in the district, 216 reside in Amherst.
In their presentation, Senckowski and McIntyre stressed the achievement gaps between Hispanic/Latino students and the student body as a whole, with 60% of Hispanic/Latino students performing below grade level — an 18-point gap compared with the rest of the student body. The graduation rate for Hispanic/Latino students is 80.5%, compared with 93.4% for white students. Senckowski stated that research has shown classes taught in students’ native language increase confidence and improve literacy for multilingual learners. Native Spanish speakers are also often weaker in grammar, reading, and writing in Spanish, even though they are fluent speakers.
The limited pilot program will be evaluated and will yield data that could be used to expand the program, but the school determined it was best to start small. The focus of the program will be on academic Spanish, Spanish literacy, writing and grammar, culture and identity, public speaking, and the biliteracy pathway, which can lead to college credit. Data will be collected on language proficiency and academic growth, and feedback will be received from families, staff, and students.
A previous Heritage class for native Spanish speakers at the middle school was unsuccessful, largely because it mixed students of different skill levels, according to McIntyre, although the high school class works well. By basing enrollment on STAMP test scores, that problem will be avoided. She pointed out that if placement does not match students’ proficiency, it will be a missed opportunity for improved academic literacy for heritage Spanish speakers and a loss of proficiency or stalled momentum for non-native learners.
Senckowski estimated that students completing the advanced Spanish course in middle school would enter Spanish 3 at the high school, though that can be adjusted depending on fluency. She said it was important not to have to create a new course. Those students would be able to take the Seal of Biliteracy test in 10th or 11th grade to qualify for college credits. Last year, 101 students at Amherst Regional High School took the test; 32 passed, five with distinction. Five sixth-graders in the Caminantes program also received recognition on the Biliteracy test, although scores are valid for only two years, so they will not be eligible for college credit.
Regional School Committee (RSC) members had several questions about the proposed pilot program. Laura Jane Hunter (Amherst) asked whether more than one advanced Spanish class could be offered to accommodate all students who tested in. McIntyre answered that the staff wants to make sure that adding the advanced class does not detract from the general middle school experience, and a second class would involve substantial schedule changes. She pointed out that other native speakers of languages besides Spanish in the school also do not have advanced classes in their languages. She added that staff will evaluate the pilot to determine whether it is scalable — to add additional advanced Spanish classes or classes in other languages — but she felt it was important to start slowly.
Anna Heard (Shutesbury) noted that the school system had known for the past seven years that this situation was coming after the creation of Caminantes, and asked why there had been no planning for the middle school transition. She said she felt bad for the roughly 10 Caminantes students who would be left out of the advanced class, and suggested the pilot year be limited to Caminantes students, with heritage speakers added the following year.
McIntyre said planning for the situation stopped with the COVID pandemic and never resumed. She stressed that the region is trying to do something “limited and thoughtful to do a good job of it” before expanding the program. She acknowledged that some families will be disappointed, but said it was important to give all interested students equitable access and to offer a path to close the gap between Hispanic/Latino students and other students, adding that “the non-native Spanish-speaking students who have nevertheless learned Spanish are not in the group with the gap that needs to be closed.”
That prompted Sarah Marshall (Amherst) to ask whether, since there are more native Spanish speakers than available seats, they will have priority over native English speakers who learned Spanish through Caminantes. Senckowski said the school is looking for an equitable way to allot the available seats.
Bridget Hynes asked whether the every-other-day language class offered at the middle school would allow students to advance. She spoke in favor of adding content classes in Spanish. McIntyre pointed out that this would present a scheduling and staffing problem, and Dr. Xi noted that there are many nuances to expanding the Caminantes program to the middle school. She said she did not want two completely different schedules in the same building, as exists at Fort River.
Tim Shores (Leverett) said he was confident that the advanced Spanish class will offer the flexibility and rigor to challenge students. He said he was impressed by all the parents who showed up to advocate for the program during public comment throughout the year. “I would love to see the same showing up — if not more — for special education matters going forward,” he said.
Deb Leonard (Amherst) was the most critical of the proposed class. “I can’t support this — it’s too many things mixed in together,” she said. “I don’t believe that this was designed for heritage speakers. I believe that it was designed for students in Caminantes. I don’t see it meeting a well-defined need. I want to support something that would primarily give access to students who haven’t had the benefit of this very special, very valuable, but very selective cohort.”
Heard agreed that the limited pilot does not seem to meet the needs of either the Caminantes students or the heritage Spanish speakers. “It splits the difference,” she said. She expressed hope that once the pilot is working, the advanced class could be expanded to accommodate others who would benefit.
Hynes said she would prefer to have the same world language program for all middle school students and have Caminantes students restart Spanish in high school. She said she would rather reinstate the eighth-grade world language program that was cut than add this one class.
Nevertheless, the advanced Spanish class was approved by a 7-2 vote, with Leonard and Hunter voting no.
No Change in School Start Times Next Year
As first announced at the May 19 Amherst School Committee meeting, there will be no change in school start times in the region this coming year. Classes will again start at 9 a.m. Because the state did not allow the flex period to be counted as educational time, students will again be limited in the time they can meet with teachers for extra instruction. Some educators had suggested an 8:30 a.m. start time to allow for extra help, but the complex bus route rearrangement required by the opening of Amethyst Brook Elementary School precluded that change this year.
William Sherr (Pelham) suggested that teachers in the regional system start later and stay later to accommodate meeting with students and facilitating after-school clubs. He proposed that staff start at 8:45 a.m. and end at 4 p.m. Dr. Xi said she will take the suggestion up with the union. The school system plans to conduct a traffic study this year and adjust schedules as needed next year.
Region Will Participate in School Choice Program Next Year
An estimated 25 seats will be available for School Choice students in AY26-27. Students who chose Leverett, Shutesbury, and Pelham elementary schools from towns outside the district must apply for seats in the regional schools. A lottery will be held June 30 for those seats, but because some selected students may decide to enroll elsewhere, all seats might not be filled until school starts in the fall.
School Choice students will have the same opportunity as all other students to apply for the seventh-grade advanced Spanish class.
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