Peabody Schools To Launch American Sign Language Studies Program

PEABODY, MA — Peabody Public Schools will launch an introduction to American Sign Language course at the high school next year as part of what Superintendent Josh Vadala said will be a push to have the state include ASL credits as a means to satisfy any future state high school graduation language requirements.

The half-year elective course for the 2025-26 school year aims to examine the "rich history, culture and social dynamics of the deaf community" and will provide students with a foundation in deaf studies while promoting awareness and sensitivity toward the deaf community.

While the introduction course will teach minimal ASL skills the hope expressed at Tuesday's School Committee meeting is that by the 2026-27 school year Peabody High will offer the course the same way it offers courses in French, Spanish, Italian and other "world" languages.

The ASL discussion comes as Peabody Public Schools — and districts across the state — determine respective high school graduation requirements in the wake of voters rejecting the MCAS test passage requirement after 20 years this past fall. The Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education recently began formulating new statewide requirements that would supersede local requirements but may not be ready for implementation for multiple years.

"Right now, we don't have a language as a requirement (in Peabody)," Vadala told the School Committee. "In MassCore (a 2018 state-recommended program of study intended to align high school coursework with college and workforce expectations) a requirement for graduation is two years of a world language. So I am going to be on the front line to ask that the state include American Sign Language as a language if they are going to make it a (graduation) requirement."

Vadala called the district launching the ASL courses "a proactive approach" so the courses are part of the curriculum if students are required to pass two years of a language for graduation.

The graduation framework in Peabody is set to require four years of English, three years of math, two years of science and three years of social studies, including at least one year of U.S. history. Students are also required to complete 40 hours of community service.

"We are setting ourselves up for if there were to be a state-imposed graduation requirement above and beyond what we have," Vadala said, "we would be set to have that."

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. X/Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)