Seal of Biliteracy

The Amherst Regional Public Schools place a high value on the linguistic diversity of our community. To celebrate multilingualism, the Amherst Regional School District is excited to offer the Seal of Biliteracy and Biliteracy Pathway awards to recognize students who attain proficiency in English as well as in one or more additional languages. These can be languages learned in school or in another setting. 

Biliteracy is defined as having a functional level of proficiency in each language, and there are various levels of biliteracy. Student biliteracy is measured through participation in language assessments. 

The Seal of Biliteracy is an award given by the State Department of Education and local school districts. Graduating seniors who have earned the Seal receive mention of the award in their transcripts and on their diplomas. This certifies to employers and universities that the student is bilingual, and in some cases, the student can be given a certain number of college credits for having earned the Seal.

Biliteracy Pathway Awards, which can be earned by students in grades 6 and 8-11,  are administered by a statewide consortium called the Language Opportunity Coalition. This coalition created additional award opportunities to encourage long-term language study by recognizing and rewarding language learning in elementary, middle, and high school. 

In addition to offering an opportunity for students to demonstrate and be honored for their language proficiency, the district is excited to launch enrichment opportunities (parent/child reading clubs, tutoring, and Biliteracy clubs) to help students cultivate their languages across all grade levels. We are looking for parents, staff, and community members to support this exciting program!

We need multilingual:

● Parents interested in supporting their students to participate and/ or volunteering;
● Staff members interested in supporting this work;
● Community members interested in volunteering with our students.

Please fill out this short form if you are willing to volunteer to help a student improve their skills in a language you speak. This is a flexible opportunity that could take the form of meeting with the student online once a week for an hour, or for another period of time convenient for both you and the student.