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Ranney Students Rock World Language Exams and Receive State/National Recognition

Congratulations to several world language students from Ranney School, who have attained national recognition in the subjects of both French and Spanish.

This year, 22 fifth grade students participated in a National French Exam given by the American Association of Teachers of French (AATF). Not only did 21 Ranney students obtain a spot within the top 20 percentile of exam-takers nationwide, but five Lower School students also earned a top 10 ranking over students across the state of New Jersey. These five fifth grade students — Sathya Edamadaka, Mia Glass, Gianna Cappillo, Taylor Rice and Aaryan Raval — will receive an award on behalf of AATF during a ceremony at Rutgers University on May 17, 2012.

Twenty-eight students from the Class of 2016 also completed this year’s National French Level 1 Exam in March. Among those approximately 18,000 students nationwide who took the exam, 14 Ranney students placed within the top 20 ranks. Included in this group were three students, Tessa Payer, Leslie Liu and Sana Zaidi, who ranked seventh, eighth and ninth in the nation and earned both a Bronze Medal and a Lauréat National Certificate. In addition, earning an Honor Certificate was Dean Parker, who ranked 11th in the nation. The following also received a Certificate of Accomplishment for their scores: Rachel Staats (ranked 14th), Zachary DiGiaro (ranked 14th), Skylar Bradley (ranked 15th), Jared Katz (ranked 17th), Kyra Citron (ranked 17th), Vasilios Nicholas (ranked 19th), Lily Thacher (ranked 19th), Nelson Chan (ranked 19th), Jacob Card (ranked 20th), Erin Kennedy (ranked 20th) and Cameron Leslie (ranked 20th).

Several Upper School students earned noteworthy scores on their National French Exams as well. A Bronze Medal recipient, senior Sophia Lee’s results earned her a number eight national ranking. Meanwhile, 13 students received Honor Certificates for their fine performances. Of these 13 students, two — Jonathan Rosenthal ’12 and Elisa Stavola ’15 — also ranked number 11 in the nation. Finally, 10 more students were granted a Certificate of Accomplishment for their scores.

Competing against approximately 144,000 students throughout the United States, Ranney earned a total of six gold, 14 silver and seven bronze medals, along with 31 honorable mentions, on the 2012 National Spanish Examinations as well. These examinations, administered to students grades eight through 12 each academic year, are sponsored by the American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese. “Attaining a medal or honorable mention for any student on the National Spanish Examinations is very prestigious,” said National Director of the Exams Kevin Cessna-Buscemi.

Six Upper School and four Middle School students also received Honorable Mention in state results of the National Spanish Exams. Among them was Nikhil Lakhani ’16, who earned second place overall in state competition!

Ranney students have a long history of high achievement on all foreign language exams, thanks to the expertise and dedication of such teachers as Marcia Hernandez, Marianne Moran, Karen Britto, Isabelle Daly, Adam Materasso, Ina Gurman, Heidi Bonney and Mae Jan. Through the guidance of Lower School foreign language teachers like Jeannette Cordero, Nancy Rosenthal and Lei Cooley, who serve as the foundation of Ranney’s Foreign Language Department, students are able to acquire the knowledge necessary to succeed at advanced levels of vernacular usage.

Just recently, the Upper School’s French III class paid a visit to Madame Rosenthal’s second grade class, where they presented a self-designed and written picture book entitled “Les Trois Petits Cochons.” After reading the story aloud to Lower School students, the class then colored, identifying the colors and characters from the story using French.
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Ranney School

235 Hope Road
Tinton Falls, NJ 07724
Tel. 732.542.4777
Our mission is to know and value every child, nurturing intellectual curiosity and confidence, and inspiring students to lead honorably, think creatively, and contribute meaningfully to society.