An 80-Year History of Educating Global Citizens

Since its founding, GDS has been committed to preparing students to engage with the world with cultural competence. The School’s charter called for an education that was both “international and interracial in its outlook and membership.” Attaining that goal would require teaching fundamental skills along with “a study of the home, the community, the nation, and the community of nations.”

Being part of the “community of nations” requires knowledge and appreciation of different cultures, and fluency in other countries' languages is key to cultural understanding. Hence, world language instruction has been a core component of the GDS curriculum since the early days.

Learning Beyond the Classroom 

The halls of GDS have always resounded with Spanish and French as students developed fluency in these widely spoken Romance languages. Charles Pscyhos, who was department head at the High School from 1976 to 1990, points out that for many years, French was the dominant language. Over the years, Spanish has gained in importance.

Experiences beyond the classroom have always enhanced student learning at GDS. Supporting the HOLA affinity group’s altar to honor deceased loved ones during Día de los Muertos; cooking or tasting a new dish associated with a culture or celebration; ​appreciating an art installation, museum exhibit, or a theatrical performance are just some of the ways that GDS faculty support learners.  

“GDS has been blessed with so many top-notch language teachers over the years,” said Gail Massot, who served as department chair for many years, at both the High School and the Middle School. “Our world language teachers have lived in or had experience in the countries where the language is spoken. They have an understanding of the habits, values, political outlook, arts, and literature.”

Gail helped to promote Chinese instruction at GDS. Appreciating China’s growing geopolitical influence, she taught English as a second language there in 2006 and visited key language schools the following summer. Today, students in all three divisions can learn Chinese. The annual Lunar New Year dragon parade and celebration have become a fixture of the Lower School calendar. 

Meaningful Global Engagement

At the high school level, the Chinese program focuses on helping students develop strong communication skills while deepening their understanding of contemporary China. Established in 2007 by Xueying Zhang, the program was founded on a vision of connecting students with China’s language and culture through meaningful global engagement. Chinese learning at GDS quickly expanded beyond the classroom to include international partnerships. In 2009, ties were established with two leading schools in China—the High School Affiliated with Renmin University of China (RDFZ) in Beijing and the High School Affiliated with Shanghai Jiao Tong University (JDFZ) in Shanghai—creating winter and summer homestay exchanges and bringing the acclaimed RDFZ Art Troupe to campus each year. The program further deepened its global reach in 2010 with its first student educational trip to China, giving students the opportunity to immerse themselves in the language and culture they study in the classroom.

Students in the Chinese program have also distinguished themselves on the international stage. In 2013, a GDS student won first place in China’s acclaimed Chinese Bridge competition, surpassing 123 competitors from 60 countries. In 2019, two students won first place at the competition. Additional students earned places on the U.S. national high school team in subsequent years. In the 2020s, GDS’s Chinese language students have gone on to win prestigious study-abroad fellowships. 

Sustaining a Thriving Spanish Presence

Not surprisingly, many GDS students enroll in Spanish for its usefulness and immediate relevance. You don't have to look far for evidence of this – 2026 saw the Super Bowl's first Spanish language half-time show as testament to its hard-fought linguistic and cultural presence in this country. 

Students entering GDS Spanish classrooms build proficiency from the earliest stages, prioritizing what they can do with the language. As they progress, learners also draw connections to cultural practices and values. In higher levels, in addition to studying texts by award-winning authors, course offerings have evolved to make space for the study of diverse contemporary texts, films, and current movements illuminating social justice issues in the visual arts, textiles, music, and dance. These program additions not only broaden students’ understanding of the communities and diaspora connected to the language but also provide compelling content for engaging critical thinking skills alongside continued linguistic development.

Spontaneous Expression

At a time when work submitted by or in the name of students has come under scrutiny, due to the prevalence of artificial intelligence, students in the highest level of French offered at GDS—the UL-Francophonie course—have an opportunity to demonstrate their proficiency first-hand. 

Every year since 2016, these students have been invited to take the ACTFL OPI (American Council for the Teaching of Foreign Language Oral Proficiency Interview), an internationally recognized and independent assessment of speaking proficiency for which they can earn up to 12 college credits. During the unscripted 40-minute conversation, students are asked to answer a series of questions of increasing difficulty and length. A certified ACTFL tester then evaluates the conversation. Every year, students distinguished themselves by scoring at the advanced level.

Loquerisne Latine?

Although it is rarely spoken today, Latin has been a mainstay of GDS’s world language department. For many decades, knowledge of Latin was a requirement for college admission and considered a sine qua non of an educated person. Barbara Lockwood, known by students as the “guardian angel” of the English Department and fondly remembered for her Shakespeare classes, also taught Latin at GDS for many years. 

Latin proficiency helps with mastery of English, rhetoric, Romance languages, and the technical vocabulary of disciplines ranging from law and medicine to science and philosophy. As a result, Latin remains an important part of the GDS curriculum. Although it’s currently offered only in the high school, Latin was previously part of the middle school course of study as well.

According to current faculty, high school students’ interest in studying Latin remains strong, spurred in part by the popularity of the Percy Jackson books and films, and in part by its universal utility. “One reason that students like it is because of its timeless relevance,” said Latin teacher Abigail Lund. “We focus on teaching skills, like close reading, that students will take outside of the Latin classroom. Beyond the language, learning about Mediterranean culture and history gives our students the opportunity to unearth the ancient roots of modern issues.”

Part of the Community of Nations

Additional languages have been taught at GDS over the years. In the past, students have learned Arabic, German, Italian, Portuguese, and Russian as part of an independent study when faculty have fluency in additional languages and time beyond their primary course load to guide student scholarship. 

Language fluency has benefits beyond helping students become global citizens, noted Maribel Prieto, who taught Spanish at GDS for 29 years before retiring in 2023. “The study of any language forces you to pay attention to the details,” she said. “It enhances cognitive ability, decision making, creative thinking, memory, and much more.” 

Those benefits are no doubt why many GDS high school students opt for three and four consecutive years of language study, despite the graduation requirement of only two!