Governor's Foreign Language Academies

The World Language Department at Wakefield High School is pleased to announce Mardet Mulugeta and Elena Cura both attended the virtual French Academy the summer of 2020.

Applications are due to your World Language Teacher or the World Languages Department Chair by October 31 of the current year.

For all our World Language scholars of excellence, please consider applying for the competitive and prestigious Governor’s Foreign Language Academies! Since 1987, VDOE has sponsored Governor’s Foreign Language Academies, summer residential programs for Virginia’s most motivated and talented foreign language students. As of 2015, more than 8,300 students had completed one of the programs. Governor’s Summer Residential Foreign Language Academies will include full-immersion academies in French, German and Spanish; a partial-immersion Japanese Academy; and a Latin Academy. In 2020, the academies for World Languages took place virtually, due to the Coronavirus pandemic.

The preliminary application is available in September through your World Language teacher. This application and transcript are due to your World Language teacher by October 31 of the current year. Each Arlington High School may select up to two candidates per language.

If you are selected as one of the top nominees for our school, you will be notified by email before Thanksgiving Break. Then, you will complete a longer application and obtain letters of recommendation from your World Language teacher, as well as from another teachers or guidance counselor who know you well. The final application is due to the World Language Department by December 20 of the current year. Applicants are required to take a language exam during the school day in early January as part of their application. This date will be determined in late December.

Applicants are highly encouraged to meet several times with the World Languages Chair, Katy Wheelock, in order to be sure their applications are completed properly. Please contact kathryn.wheelock@apsva.us with any questions. For more information, see how to apply to Virginia’s Governor’s Foreign Language Academies