East Lake Academy in Lake Forest (Illinois), accelerated Spanish is part of the core curriculum. Last year its students participated for the first time in the National Spanish Exam, with individual students earning gold, silver and bronze medals or honorable mentions.

“Taking the Spanish language placement exam for high school in April should be a breeze for Max Calk, an eighth-grader at East Lake Academy in Lake Forest. The 14-year-old expects he’ll start freshman year at Loyola Academy in Wilmette in a third-year honors-level Spanish class. The Lake Forest resident is not a Spanish wunderkind. He’s a typical student at East Lake Academy, where accelerated Spanish is part of the core curriculum.”

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