Accredited Italian classes in San Diego

Classes for the academic year 2024-2025

Accredited Italian classes for Middle and High School students

Italian school of San Diego LLC is accredited both with the San Diego Unified and the San Dieguito Union High School Districts as an “Independent World Language School”. Therefore classes taken at the Italian school will give credit for the language requirement for High School graduation for all public High Schools within the 2 districts, and will also satisfy the admission requirements for colleges. Grades obtained in the Italian classes will be added to the student’s High School transcripts.

The curriculum and the programs were created, implemented and district approved by our sister school IAASD, now closed, learn more about their story.

For more information, check:

Class level and schedule

The Italian school offers 4 one-year classes targeted at students learning Italian as a Foreign Language:

Moreover, we have modified programs for students, generally of Italian heritage, which already speak Italian:

Students that studied Italian before can also test into a higher level than 1-2, please specify this in the pre-enrollment form or contact us in advance. Notice that if a student enrolls for example in ifl5-6 during High School, they will receive 3 years of foreign language credit, credit is tied to the level of the class, not the number of years.

Location

All classes will be held via Zoom, with occasional social gatherings in person.

We already have an event planned for all accredited class students (6th grade and up):

Calendar

Books

We will send information about the necessary books after we have assigned students to classes.

How to enroll

If the student is in Middle School, the student can directly enroll with the Italian school, with no involvement with the school. If the student in in High School, it is important to notify the school of the intent of the student to pursue language education in an external institution. Generally it is necessary to fill a form and send it to the counselor.

See the tuition and submit a non-binding pre-enrollment clicking on the button below, it is the same enrollment form both for accredited and for non-accredited classes, based on the level of the student and their age, we will get back to you offering the most suitable class:

Tuition and pre-enrollment information

The workload and grading

Accredited classes require at least 2 hours of homework every week, compared to 30min-1hour that is usually expected at lower levels, therefore the students need to take this into account.

Grading is also a lot more structured, students will signup to our Google Classroom and will submit weekly homework through the system that will be graded and assigned points. Tests will be performed via Google Forms during class with camera on.

The complete grade of the student will be composed by the grading of homework, of tests and also of an evaluation of their participation in class.

Parents will receive a grade report 4 times a year. If the students are in a public High School in San Diego Unified or San Dieguito, the January and the June grade reports will also be sent to their High School and added to their transcripts.

How many years

High school graduation and college admission require 2 years of a foreign language, but most colleges recommend 3 years, and some Ivy league colleges, like Harvard, recommend 4. See for example the E) requirement for admission to University of California, quoted here for reference:

Two years, or equivalent to the 2nd level of high school instruction, of the same language other than English are required. (Three years/3rd level of high school instruction recommended). Courses should emphasize speaking and understanding, and include instruction in grammar, vocabulary, reading, composition and culture. [..]. Courses taken in the seventh and eighth grades may be used to fulfill part or all of this requirement if the high school accepts them as equivalent to its own courses.

When is best to start

We recommend for kids to enroll in our Italian 1-2 class in 7th grade, this allows them to take Italian 1-2 and Italian 3-4 in middle school. High schools do not recognize language classes for credits taken in middle schools; however when starting in middle school students are given the advantage of satisfying their language requirements earlier. In fact once students have successfully passed Italian 5-6 in 9th grade, they will be granted 3 years of language. Then they could continue with Italian 7-8 in 10th grade to get an additional year of language education for College admission and also prepare for AP Italian. By 10th grade they have satisfied their language requirement and can focus on elective classes offered in the last 2 years of High School.

Here is the standard academic path:

Students can also start accredited classes later in their academic career, the latest for reaching 3 years of language would be to start in 10th grade:

They could also start as early as 6th grade, this is beneficial because they can be done with language in the first year of High School:

Students already fluent in Italian, with knowledge of grammar and familiarity with the Italian culture could also start directly at a level higher than Italian 1-2, after an evaluation.

Instructions for San Diego Unified School District

Contact us with:

We will prepare the “Intent to Undertake Independent Language Study” form, sign it, and email it for you to print, sign and send to the High School.

Instructions for San Dieguito Union High School District

Download the “SDUHSD Off-Campus Course Permission Form” at the bottom of the page:

https://www.sduhsd.net/Departments/Educational-Services/Specialized-Programs/Off-Campus-Courses/index.html

It says to attach evidence of accreditation, but it is not necessary, we are on the list of approved schools already.

Submit the signed form to the counselor