BLAIR SMAC Foreign Language & Electives

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I've heard some colleges may not accept ASL as a FL requirement. You may want to check on that. Blair also offered Japanese and Arabic.

This. And many schools look down on it for admission or don’t accept it for their own undergrad graduation requirements. If your kid doesn’t have a learning difference that makes it the only or best option, it will likely be a disadvantage in selective college admissions. If your child is a brilliant scientist, they may be able to overcome it. If your kid took language in middle school, I’d recommend carrying through at least level 4. ASL can then be a wonderful elective.

What if they finish level 4 in MS? Is ASL still looked down on as the only HS language?

DD is taking her second year of ASL after finishing Spanish 3 at Blair. She loves ASL. I think your kid will be safe having already finished level 4 in MS. They get credit for it even though it was taken in MS. She took PE freshman year as did a lot of her classmates. It's great to have an easy class when transitioning to HS.

Some colleges expect 2 to 4 years of foreign language in high school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:ASL is a real language! if your kid is interested in it, have them take it and ignore the people here who claim to be so sure what admissions officers think of it.

Blair offers Japanese, Arabic, Spanish and French. Wish they still offered Latin.

My kid took PE as a freshman - it's a nice break in the day for a possibly intense schedule, I think.

I don't doubt that, and I don’t think others do either, but AOs may not include it. Check with various universities. Some feel that, because there is no writing and separate listening component, it does count for FL requirement.

Yup. There are multiple issues. One is straight-forward of whether the college accepts it for their own language requirement. Another is how they perceive it as far as rigor or value. Another issue no current AO will publicly admit to is they know ASL is often a proxy for knowing which kids have learning differences/504/IEPs. Discrimination is real. I’ve spoken to a former AO and dean of admissions about this. My kid took ASL and loved it but it was a mistake from a college admissions perspective. I have been told some colleges are becoming better about recognizing its value. Let’s hope.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I've heard some colleges may not accept ASL as a FL requirement. You may want to check on that. Blair also offered Japanese and Arabic.

Do they offer Spanish, French, or Chinese?

Of course they offer Spanish and French!

DC will be taking French 4 next year. I hear that at Blair you can skip French 5 and go to French 6, then AP. How does that work? Does the teacher decide? (Some schools don't even have a French 6.)

My DD did this at Blair. She just asked her counselor. Worked fine. Our MS only offered 1a for 6th so she would not have gotten to AP otherwise.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My DC is trying to decide what language to take freshman year. DC wanted to take latin but it is not being offered at Blair anymore due to lack of demand. DC next choice is ASL. Anyone's child taking ASL? How was the child's experience?

For the PE/Fines Arts elective portion, what do most 9th graders take? Do most kids take PE or a Fine Arts freshman year?

I think children do both. Some magnet parents say kids should take the non-honors classes required to graduate (phys ed and arts unless the child is a high-level music player) senior year to help their weighted GPA and fit in more AP. Since many colleges use unweighted GPAs, it might be better to take those classes earlier.

Our DC wanted four years of band. We had them do PE senior year mainly because it didn't fit in earlier years and also we thought it would be good with senioritis.

[Anonymous]

My kid really wants to do band all 4 years.

For me ( I know this is not strictly required), you have to take 4 magnet classes every year, plus English and SS. That leaves 2 classes a year. You have to take a year of health and a year of PE. Even if you knock out health during the summer, hard to do now with recent changes, you still need the year of PE. I used to think a language all 4 years was a must, but I’m going to let him decide. I suppose if he really pushed, he could drop a magnet class senior year, but I think he agrees he wants to take advantage of the magnet electives.