Graduates in the class of 2019 and beyond must have two world language credits in order to graduate from the Federal Way School District, but some students will have the opportunity to earn credits now– by taking a skills test to affirm their second language skills.

Registration is currently open for tests at Decatur High School, Sacajawea Middle School, Thomas Jefferson High School and Todd Beamer High School.

Currently, fluency in another language is not a requirement for students who graduate from high school in the next three years, but students who graduate in 2019 and later must earn two credits in a world language to qualify for a diploma.

This year, Federal Way Public Schools will give proficiency tests at Decatur High School, Sacajawea Middle School, Thomas Jefferson High School and Todd Beamer High School to students who speak other languages fluently. A student who scores proficient on the test will get high school credit for speaking a language other than English. In addition, students have an opportunity to be recognized with a state Seal of Biliteracy.

According to the website of the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction, for the state of Washington, the seal’s purpose is to increase the number of citizens fluent and productive in multiple world languages.

According to sealofbiliteracy.org, Washington state is one of 11 states and the District of Columbia to have legally approved the Seal of Biliteracy endorsement on high school diplomas.

The school district is exploring additional opportunities to build more world language classes into students’ schedule options.

“We are currently examining our world languages programming and course offerings as a K‐12 system in alignment to best practices,” Federal Way Public Schools spokeswoman Kassie Swenson said in a statement. “As we work to build a comprehensive course catalog for all content and subject areas, world languages will be included in this alignment. Through this process we will be able to identify specific pathways available to students that involve world languages as a system and also determine what additional languages can be added.”

Admission requirements at all Washington public, four‐year colleges and universities, and many private four‐year institutions, specify a minimum of 2 world language credits in the same language.

Test registration deadline, schedule and details are as follows:

Registration is online at http://www.fwps.org/Page/2171 – at Decatur High School, Sacajawea Middle School, Thomas Jefferson High School, and Todd Beamer High School.

Languages available for testing are:

• Arabic

• Chinese (Mandarin simplified)

• Chinese (Mandarin traditional)

• French

• German

• Hebrew

• Italian

• Japanese

• Russian

•Spanish

Test dates are:

Decatur High School, 9 a.m. – noon, Saturday, Nov. 5.

Sacajawea Middle School, 9 a.m. – 1 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 19, or Mar. 11, 2017.

Thomas Jefferson High School, 9 a.m. – 1 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 10 or Apr. 29, 2017

Todd Beamer High School, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 28, 2017 or Feb. 4, 2017

If students speak a language other than those listed, they are asked to send name, high school, grade level and the name of the language to Luisa Sanchez-Nilsen at lsanchez@fwps.org.