Earlier in the semester, students in our Latin, French, and Spanish courses participated in their respective national language exams for Middle and Upper Schoolers. Recently, their results were collected, and we are thrilled to report the following language awards and placements for the 2024-2025 school year!
National Latin Exam
Upper School
MICDS Latin students in ninth through 12th grade took the National Latin Exam in early March. According to the NLE syllabus, the exam provides “an opportunity for students to demonstrate their knowledge of Latin and the Roman world on a test consisting of 40 multiple-choice questions. The exam focuses on the student’s ability to read and comprehend Latin as outlined in the Standards for Classical Language Learning, a document created by the American Classical League, the Society for Classical Studies, and a host of regional organizations.” Check out how our students scored below!
Cum Honore Maximo Egregio
Anna Ko ’28 (Int.)
Gold Summa Cum Laude
Anna Ko ’28 (Int.)
Sanjay Malhotra ’28 (Int. RC)
Navya Reddy ’27 (Int. RC)
Bryce Kundel ’27 (Int. RC)
Oscar Sun ’26 (Int. RC)
Silver Maxima Cum Laude
Almir Bhatti ’28 (Int.)
Dane Joyce ’28 (Int.)
Catherine Cai ’27 (Int. RC)
Lola Compton ’27 (Int. RC)
Narya Phatak ’26 (Int. RC)
Yash Malhotra ’25 (Adv. Prose)
Magna Cum Laude
Eleanor Kline ’28 (Int.)
Tara Sadasivam ’27 (Int. RC)
Laurion Nicholson ’26 (Int. RC)
Shil Penilla ’26 (Int. RC)
Abhiram Madala ’26 (Int. RC)
Sanjana Gandhi ’25 (Adv. Prose)
Aniket Joshi ’25 (Adv. Prose)
Nina Schuerer ’25 (Adv. Prose)
Cum Laude
Mabel Dando ’28 (Int.)
Middle School
Latin students in seventh and eighth grade also took the National Latin Exam in March. Sloane Schwendinger ’29 shared, “The National Latin Exam was a great assessment of our abilities and helped me to understand the areas of Latin that I need to focus on.” Another student, Katherine Speckhals ’29, reflected, “I think it is so cool that we are fortunate enough to have the opportunity to take the National Latin Exam every year. It gives us a chance to show everything we know and what we have poured so much time into learning.” Learn more about the exam here.
Congratulations to the following Latin students!
Grade 8
Gold Medal (Summa Cum Laude)
Brody Branson ’29
Sloane Schwendinger ’29
Katherine Speckhals ’29
Inaya Majeed ’29
Magna Cum Laude
Luke Westre ’29
Cum Laude
Stella Ciaramita ’29
Grade 7
Gold Medal (Summa Cum Laude)
Rama Alakkassery ’30
Ryan Plaskett ’30
Amaar Raja ‘ 30
Daphne Skemer ’30
Jules Xavier Poucel ’30
Elika Coff ’30
Clare Maher ’30
Magna Cum Laude
Henry Preston ’30
Cum Laude
Neha Jagadish ’30
Alex Kim ’30
National French Contest
Every year in grades six through 12, the Grand Concours (National French Contest) is administered. It is sponsored by the American Association of Teachers of French. Students are evaluated for their written, oral, and listening comprehension skills in French.
National awards are determined as follows:
- OR/Gold – students in the 95th percentile and above
- ARGENT/Silver – students in the 85th through 94th percentile
- BRONZE/Bronze – students in the 75th through 84th percentile
Upper School
Congratulations to the following Upper School French Award Recipients:
Level 4:
Siboney Oviedo-Gray ’26, Médaille d’argent (silver)
Level 3:
Maahi Saini ’27, Médaille d’or (gold)
Level 2:
Andrew Li ’28, Médaille d’or (gold)
Johanna Orwick ’28, Médaille d’argent (silver)
Lucy McKean ’28, Médaille de bronze (bronze)
Samantha O’Neil ’28, Médaille de bronze (bronze)
Lina Saracco ’28, Médaille de bronze (bronze)
Level 1:
Romy Edwards ’28, Médaille de bronze (bronze)
Middle School
In the Middle School, Laura Almeida ’30 was announced as a Platinum winner in the 2025 National French Contest, Le Grand Concours. A Platinum winner is the highest award in the Le Grand Concours. The award includes a platinum medal, a plaque for the student, and a Lauréat national certificate. Félicitations, Laura!
National Spanish Exam
The National Spanish Examination is administered yearly in grades six through 12 and is sponsored by the American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese.
National awards are determined by the total percentile as follows:
- ORO/Gold – Students scoring at or above the 95th percentile are awarded a Premio de Oro.
- PLATA/Silver – Students scoring from the 85th through the 94th percentile receive a Premio de Plata.
- BRONCE/Bronze – Students scoring from the 75th through the 84th percentiles receive a Premio de Bronce.
Upper School
Congratulations to the following Upper School Spanish award recipients:
Level 5
Emily Leyland ’25, Silver/Plata
Arjun Puri ’25, Silver/Plata
Level 4
Shil Penilla ’26, Gold/Oro
Nihaal Satwani ’26, Gold/Oro
Ian Zar ’26, Gold/Oro
Carrie Clennan ’26, Silver/Plata
Alexa Davis ’26, Silver/Plata
Ash Falk ’26, Silver/Plata
Taylor Nuzum ’26, Silver/Plata
Alana Chandler ’26, Bronze/Bronce
Avery Henriksen ’26, Bronze/Bronce
Sean Hogan ’26, Bronze/Bronce
Nolan Jones ’26, Bronze/Bronce
Gigi Koster ’26, Bronze/Bronce
David Levison ’26, Bronze/Bronce
Eshan Majeed ’26, Bronze/Bronce
Clyde Siow ’26, Bronze/Bronce
Level 3
Myra Arain ’27, Gold/Oro
Amey Parwal ’27, Gold/Oro
Kaviya Senthilkumar ’27, Gold/Oro
Eric Zhang ’27, Gold/Oro
Fatima Abosalem ’27, Silver/Plata
Arissa Alpaslan ’27, Silver/Plata
Reina Banerjee ’27, Silver/Plata
Sivaram Chadalawada ’27, Silver/Plata
Alexander Goossens ’27, Silver/Plata
Lilah Pronger ’27, Silver/Plata
Isha Bogachenchu ’27, Bronze/Bronce
Ava Casillas ’26, Bronze/Bronce
Grace Griffin ’27, Bronze/Bronce
Arjav Jain ’26, Bronze/Bronce
Grant Krainik ’27, Bronze/Bronce
Dylan McDonough ’27, Bronze/Bronce
Max Padratzik ’27, Bronze/Bronce
Collin Walker ’27, Bronze/Bronce
Level 2
Shreeya Shelar ’28, Silver/Plata
Isadora Yokoo ’28, Silver/Plata
Congratulations to all of our language award recipients! Go Rams!