Spanish and French

While at Dillard Drive Magnet Middle School, all students are provided the opportunity to earn one or two high school credits in one world language of their choice.  Colleges & Universities require a minimum of two years of a single foreign language to be considered for admission, while many recommend at least three years or more of the same world language in high school for a student to be competitive in the admissions pool.  DDMMS is proud to be able to offer students the opportunity to earn up to two high school credits while in middle school.  

In North Carolina, most of the University of North Carolina schools recommend at least two credits of a foreign language during high school for admission.  Please make sure you research the colleges you are interested in and know what their application requirements are in regards to world language.  To read about the State of North Carolina's university systems application requirements, please click here.

Who should consider earning TWO high school credits in middle school?

• students that wish to pursue Honors level world languages and Advanced Placement credits once in high school
• students that will be attending an IB high school
• students that are college bound and plan on taking additional language credits while in high school
• students that are looking into applying to a highly competitive college/university
• students that can commit to the rigor and study habits and time required in taking high school level courses as a middle schooler
• students planning on working in high school in a job that would benefit from being bi-lingual

Students that do not wish to pursue two high school credits, can still opt to earn just 1 high school credit in a world language of their choice.  Who should consider earing ONE high school credit in middle school?

• students that plan on continuing their language studies in high school
• students that wish to pursue Honors level world languages and Advanced Placement credits once in high school
• students that are college bound and plan on taking additional language credits while in high school
• students that are in need of freeing up elective options in high school to pursue skill-specific studies
• students that can commit to the rigor and study habits and time required in taking high school level courses as a middle schooler

Students at DDMMS can choose between two language studies:

Spanish

French

And earn up to two high school credits in either.  

State of North Carolina High School Graduation Requirements in regards to World Languages:

To recieve a North Carolina High School Diploma, Two Elective credits of any combination from either:

1. Career and Technical Education (CTE) or
2. Arts Education or
3. World Language

Note: For clarification, possible elective combinations may include 2 World Language credits; or 1 CTE credit and 1 Arts Education credit; or 2 CTE credits; or 1 Arts Education credit and 1 World Language credit; or other combinations from a, b and c. 

To see the full list of credits required to graduate with a North Carolina High School diploma, visit here.

So, you are wondering, "What does that actually look like in a middle school schedule?"  Your elective path would follow one of the schedules below if you choose to pursue high school credit in a world language at DDMMS.  If you are also a music student - taking Band or Orchestra, please make sure to speak with the magnet coordinator and/or the Band and Orchestra Directors about studying both music and language while at DDMMS.

One High School Credit:

WCPSS Policies:

• Three semesters of middle school language instruction = 1 high school credit
• >58% final average to continue on to the next language sequence (i.e. 1a to 1b and 1b to 1c).
• >69% final average to continue on to a level two language while in middle school (final grade of 1a,1b,1c combined must be 70 or higher)
• World Language 1 - required final exam is 20% of final grade
• World Language 2 - required final exam is 20% of final grade
• Credits transfer to the high school transcript, but the average does not transfer and will not be applied to the student's high school GPA