Springdale High School celebrated 109 students at an Arkansas Seal of Biliteracy ceremony May 15 in the school's Performing Arts Center.
The high school had the most students in the state earn the seal this school year, said Kristen Novotny, Springdale High world language teacher. The school has had 572 students earn the seal to date.
Springdale High also has the most students who've received the seal for Marshallese in Arkansas, with 29 of the 37 state recipients to date stemming from the high school.
The school also recognized 19 Global Seal of Biliteracy recipients for the first time this year, Novotny said.
The Global Seal of Biliteracy is issued in all 50 United States, Asia, South America, Latin America and Europe, according to the Seal of Biliteracy website. A Global Seal language certificate can be used to meet language requirements for school admissions or course placement, university requirements or employment.
Springdale Public Schools leads the state in Arkansas Seal of Biliteracy students for 2023. Springdale likewise leads the state in total Seal of Biliteracy recipients, with more than 1,300 of the 4,365 total students recognized for the achievement attending Springdale Schools. The seal was officially endorsed by the Arkansas Department of Education in 2018.
Students were presented with a certificate and medal at the ceremony to recognize their achievement.
Seal recipients had to score proficient or better in English when taking the ACT, ACT Aspire or ELPA to earn the recognition. For the secondary language, students had to pass the reading, writing, listening and speaking portions of the language test.
The Arkansas Seal of Biliteracy is approved by the Arkansas Department of Education, the Arkansas Foreign Language Teachers Association and Arkansas Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages, she said.
Be Sure to Congratulate the Following Students on Their Achievement
Watch the Arkansas Seal of Biliteracy Ceremony
