A high school education should serve as a passport to future opportunities. A United States Presidential Commission recognized the need for Americans to speak foreign languages and be knowledgeable of other countries. In this way, the United States would be able to compete in the global marketplace, the commission said. This report inspired Morgan Park High School to began its Language and International Studies Program. Initiated in 1982, this program offers students the chance to learn French, German, Italian, Russian and Spanish.

Morgan Park's program has identified the following goals: to help students achieve proficiency in a foreign language; to attain cultural understanding necessary for international communication; and to develop the skills to pursue careers in the international arena. Students who live in Morgan Park High School's attendance boundaries may participate in the program, which also serves as Morgan Park's options program. Students may apply to take the admissions test while they are in 8th grade, between November 15 and January 15 each academic year. About 100 students from outside of Morgan Park's attendance boundaries will be accepted into the program each year. When students are accepted for this program, they register for an academic program that meets high school graduation requirements and the more rigorous college entrance requirements. All of the classes will be Honors level or above. This program emphasizes the study of English, foreign languages and social studies as the core of the international studies curriculum. It also gives students the opportunity to pursue mathematics and sciences at the same time. One of the highlights of the program is a series of student exchanges each year.

Morgan Park participates in student exchanges with schools in Austria, France, Italy and Spain on a regular basis. It also has engaged in special student exchanges with schools in Israel, the Ivory Coast, Japan and the Ukraine. Morgan Park is the only high school in the Chicago Public School system that gives students the ongoing opportunity to practice their language skills while living with families and attending schools in foreign countries. All Morgan Park students participate in foreign exchanges when students come to Chicago, live with the families of Morgan Park students and attend classes at the high school. Other activities enhance the Language and International Studies Program at Morgan Park: field trips to Chicago's ethnic museums and international performances; guest speakers, including a special International Speakers Day; participation in the Peace Corps Global Awareness Program, including an essay contest with a trip to a Native American community in the southwest United States awarded to the Morgan Park High School winner; and Morgan Park Heritage Day, in which students, teachers and parents of various ethnic backgrounds discuss their experiences. Exhibits from about 17 different countries are on display on Heritage Day. Participation in the school's International Studies Club is offered to those students who want to develop leadership in international projects. Activities include international displays and attendance at Chicago Council on Foreign Relations lectures. Students who participate in Morgan Park's Language and International Studies Program will be prepared to interact in the global society of the 21st century.

For more information, please contact the World Language and International Studies Coordinator at the address listed below.

Ms. Edna Brown
World Languages and International Studies Coordinator
Morgan Park High School
1744 W. Pryor Ave.
Chicago, IL 60643
(773) 535-2550