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Spanish III is a third-year Spanish course that follows the successful completion of Spanish II. The curriculum follows a standard high school level Spanish III course, and for this reason is taught entirely in Spanish. During the fall term, a thorough review of the advanced verb tenses learned in Spanish 2 help to set up the student for their active participation in class discussions. Students are evaluated on their ability to incorporate the comprehensive grammar learned during the previous year into meaningful conversations spanning a variety of sources. Listening and speaking exercises are a major part of the course, as is the written analysis of the selected reading. Authentic sources from around the Spanish-speaking world, including news articles, poetry and short stories, are employed to help students strengthen and internalize more deeply their knowledge of grammar and idiomatic structures in Spanish.

Mandarin III is an upper-intermediate course designed to advance students toward a higher proficiency level. Building on Mandarin IA, IB, and II or equivalent experience, students will explore topics such as Chinese given names, the great thinkers Zhuangzi and Confucius, four-character idioms, the Spring Festival, and Beijing opera. By the end of the course, students are expected to have learned approximately 650 characters, enabling them to recognize up to 1800 words. They will engage with selected Chinese texts on cultural topics, and will be able to express themselves, participate in discussions, and communicate in paragraph-length conversations on both familiar and some new social and academic subjects.

In Latin III, students continue to build upon their foundations of grammar and vocabulary. They learn independent uses of the subjunctive mood while expanding their understanding of the uses of nouns. New grammatical constructions are practiced and previously learned grammar is reviewed. Students begin the fall using Ritchie’s Fabulae Faciles as their text. Here they read translations of Greek myths in Latin. Students will swiftly transition to reading classical and medieval authors. They will study rhetorical and literary devices and learn to analyze Latin texts and parse complex passages. The focus of the course is on reading and understanding Latin as students transition to reading unaltered poetry and prose.

Spanish III is a third-year Spanish course that follows the successful completion of Spanish II. The curriculum follows a standard high school level Spanish III course, and for this reason is taught entirely in Spanish. During the fall term, a thorough review of the advanced verb tenses learned in Spanish 2 help to set up the student for their active participation in class discussions. Students are evaluated on their ability to incorporate the comprehensive grammar learned during the previous year into meaningful conversations spanning a variety of sources. Listening and speaking exercises are a major part of the course, as is the written analysis of the selected reading. Authentic sources from around the Spanish-speaking world, including news articles, poetry and short stories, are employed to help students strengthen and internalize more deeply their knowledge of grammar and idiomatic structures in Spanish.

Spanish II is a second-year Spanish course that follows the successful completion of Spanish 1A and 1B. As a high school level course, the pace is necessarily rigorous. The emphasis is on solidifying the foundational concepts taught in the Level I course, while building the student’s mastery through the study of advanced verb tenses. This class is taught primarily in the target language and students are expected to participate only in Spanish. Skills that emphasize reading, writing, listening, and speaking are woven into every lesson. Cultural studies include the history of Mexico, the diversity found in different regions of the Spanish-speaking world, and the culinary contribution of Spanish and Latin American kitchens to the world palate. Upon successful completion of Spanish II, student are prepared to advance to Level III at IMS or in secondary school.

Spanish 1A is an introductory course and the rough equivalent to the first half of Level 1 Spanish in high school. The class begins with verbal practice in greetings, introductions and to introduce rules for pronunciation. Throughout the year this course covers foundational rules of grammar primarily in the present tense. Lessons related to school, food, family and daily activities help build a foundation in basic vocabulary. Daily activities include all four modalities: speaking, listening, reading and writing. Class participation is encourage through verbal exercises. A variety of cultural units are studied in order to bring a relevance to the student as they explore the richness in the lives of the people of Latin America and Spain. Successful completion of this course advances the student to the next level, Spanish 1B.

Latin IB, the second half of the two-year program, begins with a thorough review of the material covered in IA. Once the class has demonstrated a solid understanding of the basics, the course moves on to more difficult concepts, including the passive voice, demonstrative pronouns, adjectives, and participles. Passage translation becomes more prevalent, and more emphasis is placed on reading involving Roman mythology and history like in Ovid’s Metamorphoses. Latin IB also studies a Roman author that each student gets to choose, research and even pretend to be. The class ends the year by creating their own Roman frescoes out of plaster and chalk. The successful completion of the two-year course earns credit for Latin 1 at the secondary school level.

Mandarin IB is an elementary course for beginners following Mandarin IA or an equivalent level. Students will advance their language skills to a novice-high level, covering topics such as asking for updates, discussing activity durations, talking about family and jobs, inquiring about food and tickets, and understanding Chinese characters. The course introduces approximately 170 new characters, aiming for students to master around 300 characters, and recognize around 600 words upon completion. Students will practice using complete sentences, engage in simple conversations about everyday topics, and ask and answer questions on familiar subjects. Cultural knowledge will include practices related to ages, family names, Chinese cuisine, monetary units, education, and notable schools of thought.

Mandarin IA is an introductory course designed to familiarize students with Mandarin Chinese phonetics, writing systems, and basic conversation skills. Students will learn about consonants, vowels, tones, stroke order, and character creation, along with essential vocabulary, approximately 150 characters and 250 words. The course focuses on novice-low to novice-mid level conversations, including greetings, personal information, family, numbers, dates, and experiences related to learning Chinese. Cultural topics such as China’s geography, population, address conventions, and practices related to numbers and names will also be covered.

Latin 5 is a full year Latin course for the 5th grade. The course uses the text Minimus in its exploration of the Latin language, Roman culture, daily life, and mythology. Connections between English and Latin are stressed within the course through Latin derivation of English vocabulary and similarities between English and Latin grammar. The course aims for a cursory introduction to the Latin language through the study of a family living in the village of Vindolanda, situated in Roman Britain along Hadrian’s wall. The book is supported by primary archaeological sources as evidence of the life and communications of people living in this settlement.