School to offer State Seal of Biliteracy on diplomas

Starting with this year’s senior class, both Saratoga High School and Los Gatos High School are offering their students a chance to receive the State Seal of Biliteracy on their diplomas.

Effective in California since 2012, the State Seal of Biliteracy is a program created by the superintendent of public education that recognizes graduates who have reached a high level of speaking, reading and writing in a language other than English. In the past five years, some schools in the area, such as Cupertino and Lynbrook High, have already adopted this certificate for their students.

Guidance secretary Bonnie Sheikh said the seal “may serve as a goal or motivation for students taking or learning a foreign language.”

Since this is the district’s first year distributing this seal on seniors’ diplomas, Sheikh and the guidance department are also unsure of the number of applications to expect. This year’s seniors have until March 24 to submit an application for the designation.

Senior Saya Sivaram, who took AP Spanish Language last year, received a 5 on the AP test later in May and intends to apply for the biliteracy seal.

“Being bilingual in California is useful nowadays, as well as  in the professional fields,” Sivaram said. “Maybe if I get the biliteracy diploma, it will allow me to further my opportunities such as studying abroad in a Spanish speaking country and further my knowledge of the culture and people.”

To qualify for this award, students must have completed all English Language Arts (ELA) requirements with at least a 2.0 GPA and either pass the world language AP exam with a minimum score of 3, complete the four-year high school course with at least a 3.0 GPA or pass the world language SAT II with a score at least 600 or higher.

Through these exams or criteria, students are able to obtain this seal for the study of one of 10 different languages, including Spanish, Chinese, and French, the language courses the school offers.

If students meet all these criteria, the California Department of Education will mail students a seal that can be put on a diploma or transcript. The application, which is free, needs to be submitted for consideration to the guidance department.