World Languages at Placentino and Miller Schools

Holliston Public Schools have been committed to early world language learning since 1979. Extensive research has demonstrated that early language learning supports academic achievement, improves cognitive abilities and affects attitudes and beliefs about other cultures. The many benefits of early language learning make teaching a language to our youngest students an incomparably rich path to educate them to become engaged global citizens of the 21st century.

In 2010, the Holliston Elementary Language Programs received the highest honor in the country for World Language Instruction at the K-5 level. The American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages awarded Holliston Public School the:

Melba D. Woodruff Award For Exemplary Elementary Foreign Language Programs

Our Programs

We offer two paths for early world language learning for our elementary school students. A Spanish Elementary Program and a French Immersion Program. Participation in both foreign language programs is open to all students in Holliston Public Schools.

Our mission according to the 2011 curriculum review:

Second language learning provides students with an incomparable problem-solving experience, enhancing cognitive development and stimulating the creative and divergent thinking skills essential to meaningful interaction in an increasingly complex, multilingual global society.

All students in our Foreign Language Programs will develop linguistic and cross-cultural competence and sensitivity, enabling them to view the world through multiple lenses and to develop an insider’s perspective on other cultures.

Our vision

Holliston’s foreign language curriculum will be content-enriched, interactive and delivered through the exclusive use of the target language in the classroom.