Nearly 300 Stamford Students Qualified For 'Seal Of Biliteracy' This School Year: District

STAMFORD, CT — A total of 299 students from Stamford Public Schools qualified for the Seal of Biliteracy during the 2024-25 academic year, the district announced Monday.

The nationally recognized designation honors high school students who demonstrate proficiency in two or more languages by graduation. This year, 171 seniors and 128 underclassmen across Stamford’s three high schools earned the seal in 18 different languages, including American Sign Language, Arabic, Czech, Farsi, French, Greek, Haitian Creole, Hindi, Italian, Japanese, Lithuanian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Tamil, Turkish and Ukrainian.

Seven students qualified in two non-English languages, and one student achieved the designation in three.

"Earning the Seal of Biliteracy is a powerful testament to a student’s academic achievement and reflects the value that Stamford Public Schools places on the linguistic and cultural diversity in our classrooms and community," said SPS Chief Academic Officer Amy Beldotti in a prepared statement. "The Seal of Biliteracy highlights an important skill that will offer long-term advantages to students as they pursue postsecondary education and careers in an interconnected global society."

The Seal of Biliteracy, recognized in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, indicates a student’s ability to speak, read and write proficiently in multiple languages. Research links multilingual proficiency to stronger cognitive development, higher earning potential, and improved health outcomes.

The program is coordinated by Matt Gladstone at Stamford High School and Ann Herz at Westhill High School, in collaboration with world language departments at all three high schools.

Breakdown by school is as follows:

• Stamford High School: 164 students (73 seniors, 61 juniors, 29 sophomores, 1 freshman)
• Westhill High School: 111 students (79 seniors, 32 juniors)
• Academy of Information Technology & Engineering (AITE): 24 students (19 seniors, 5 juniors)

Students who earn the Seal receive a medal to wear at graduation, and the designation is also noted on their diplomas and transcripts.

The full list of students who earned the Seal of Biliteracy can be found here.