Building on the Lower School Spanish experience, and adding French as an option, the fundamental goal of Middle School French and Spanish classes is to develop an intermediate level of proficiency in the language. Most students enter the Middle School program in sixth grade and take either Sixth Grade Spanish, where they review and expand the skills they learned in Lower School, or Intro Spanish A, where students new to Spanish begin to develop interpretive, interpersonal, and presentational skills in spoken and written communication. The target language continues to be the focus and the primary means of communication between the teacher and the students. The curriculum further encourages students to advance their level of proficiency and prepares them for the challenges of the Upper School curriculum. The curriculum is infused with an ample cultural component derived from the French- and Spanish-speaking worlds. Students have opportunities to enhance their cultural awareness through travel abroad and exchange programs.