Wissahickon School District students have been negatively impacted by the recent changes in the World Language program. The program, which previously met daily in 7th and 8th grade, was reduced to every other day last year. This decrease in frequency has had noticeable effects on student performance in world languages. We've seen an increase in the number of students needing to repeat Level 1 language courses in high school, and there are fewer students being recommended for 9th grade honors in their respective languages.

Such a shift in our children's scholastic progress should not be taken lightly. In our increasingly global world, the importance of understanding and speaking different languages is undeniable. For our children to compete and thrive, they need adequate exposure to language learning.

Research supports this: a study by the American Council on Teaching Foreign Languages reinforced that daily language learning dramatically improves overall proficiency. Furthermore, it also contributes positively to cognitive development, creativity, and problem-solving skills in students.

The residents of Wissahickon School District continue to place high value on education and place trust in the district to make decisions that best serve our students' learning needs. We can all collectively agree that the previous program was superior in fostering language proficiency among our students.

Our current program provides less world language instruction compared to any of the 14 school districts that rank higher than Wissahickon School District on Niche. The only other schools that have world language instruction every other day for both 7th and 8th grades either begin this schedule in 6th grade (or earlier), offer Spanish instruction in elementary school, or both.

Our request is for the Wissahickon School District to reinstate the middle school World Language program to daily meetings, reversing the decision to have it every other day. Let's put our children back on the path toward successful and effective language learning. Please, sign this petition to show your support for our children's future.