After eight years of studying French at The Hartsbrook School they are cancelling classes before I can finish my studies.  Our school is planning to replace French with Spanish.  I agree that Spanish should be offered because it is a widely spoken language, but I already know Spanish and would like to expand my knowledge of languages by taking French.

Now that my class is entering high school, they are cancelling French for my class, but not for all classes.  I think it would make much more sense to be allowed to finish what we started.

I asked my friends what they were going to take.  Of the 70% of our class that will be taking a language in high school: 70% want to continue to take French.  30% percent will continue with German.  0% want to start Spanish. If there is no French, some of my classmates will be forced take Spanish, some will take German, and some will not take a language. I agree with the school that taking a language is a useful thing, but is it as useful if it is not the language the person wants?

They have decided we should take Spanish without consulting the students.  Some of my friends' parents weren't even told French would be cancelled.  Most learned this in the parking lot, and not from the school.  There was some discussion, but everyone thought the changes were for the grade school students who hadn't started a language yet.

The school has told us if we want to continue with French, we can take even more classes outside of school. We are going to be very busy already, because the work load is a big jump from middle school to high school. Or, they said, we can hire a tutor at our own expense in addition to paying tuition.  Hartsbrook is unwilling to finish what it started.  They don't feel obligated to keep the class that was promised all these years of study was preparing us for.

I think it is silly to cancel it just for some grades halfway through.  I think it is unfair my class isn't allowed to finish and that it would make more sense to finish what we started.  If the school keeps French, it would make everything a lot simpler.  Will you add your name to the list to keep the French classes we were always told we would have?