The Spanish IV, French IV and Mandarin IV classes are currently under review by the University of California with the goal of receiving the title of an honors class next year.

Though the classes are still pending, it is very likely that they will be approved, and students who enroll in language IV classes for the 2016-17 school year will receive the grade boost, said language department chair and Spanish and French teacher Christelle Hutin Lee.

Counselor Ashley English said that students who are taking French IV, Spanish IV or Mandarin IV this year will not receive the honors title.

“Language teachers did indicate to their level IV classes that they might retroactively get an honors title,” English said. “However, we have confirmed that students will not get the grade boost this year.”

Junior Marisa Hodos, who is currently in Spanish IV, believed that she would get the honors title in her class this year.

“Spanish IV is one of my harder classes, but I decided to stay with it because I thought my hard work would pay off,” Hodos said. “I would prefer it to be an honors class.”

Sophomore Madison Kunke, who is currently in both French III and Mandarin III, said that she is planning on taking level four of those classes next year.

“I am going to take those classes next year just because I enjoy them and want to see them until the end of high school,” Kunke said. “I didn’t know they were going to be honors until recently.”

Kunke said that she and her classmates are equally excited and nervous for the honors title.

“The honors title will definitely help with our grades, but some people are concerned that the curriculum will become a lot harder,” Kunke said.

Sophomore Ivana Xu, who is in Mandarin III, said she greatly enjoys the environment of the class and anticipates positive impact from the change.

“Since the class will be honors next year, we will be forced to practice more conversationally and our speaking will become more natural,” Xu said. “I think it will make that leap from Mandarin IV to AP Mandarin that much easier.”

Spanish teacher Virginia Leskowski is excited about the change as an improvement to Piedmont’s language program.

“Changing the level four to level four honors will put Piedmont in a good place with other schools who already have this feature, like Campolindo or Acalanes,” Leskowski said.

Leskowski said that the change also requires that the curriculum become more rigorous.

“In order to earn that right to call a course honors, you have to explain why it is rigorous enough to be like a college course,” Leskowski said. “The students’ length of written compositions, ability to speak the language with precision, breadth of vocabulary and grammar structures will all be held to a higher standard next year.”

The language teachers are currently writing their curriculum for each unit, as well as sample activities to be reviewed by the UC system, said Hutin Lee.

“We don’t anticipate a big change in the level of difficulty,” Hutin Lee said. “However, we are going to make sure to follow what UC expects of an honors course.”

Hutin Lee hopes students will take the class for the love of learning and language, and not solely for the honors title.

“We hope that the students who sign up for these courses are ones who are engaged with the language and are interested in studying the language in more meaningful ways,” Hutin Lee said. “We also hope students consider the intensity and workload of their classes so that they will have a balanced schedule.”

English sees both positive and negative effects of changing the classes to honors, especially because there will no longer be an option of regular language four classes.

“This change is very exciting for students who want to be challenged and who will get that extra grade boost,” English said. “However, sometimes students take honors classes for the grade boost instead of the class itself and end up struggling.”

English said that the change will help students who take the course when applying to colleges, since it will be adding rigor to their schedules.

“The language requirement for UC schools is two years in the same language, with a recommendation of three,” English said. “It’s always better to go above and beyond minimum requirements, if it can be done successfully.”

Leskowski said she is grateful for all the support the language department has received from the administration in order to see this process through.

“I am so grateful for the involvement of teachers and administrators in doing the hard work to see this course through the UC applications,” Leskowski said. “I am happy that we get to acknowledge the hard work of our juniors and give them more credit through this title of honors.”