Wadsworth Middle School will be offering “Zero Periods” before the school day starts during the 2024-2025 school year. 

Zero Periods provide the opportunity for students to take extra classes that may not fit into the regular school schedule. 

“It’s an extra period before the school day that would allow for access to a class that wouldn’t be available due to the constraints of staffing or the student’s schedules,” said Mr. Joseph Shalala, Assistant Principal at Wadsworth Middle School. 

These periods would be held from 6:40 AM to 7:24 AM. 

The idea to have Zero Periods was brought forward by the Language Department. 

“Originally it was going to be for three different languages: French, Spanish, and an Ancient Language,” Shalala said. 

The goal of these extra classes is to allow students to have a more advanced education in a language. 

“My understanding is that the initial interest was brought by the language department, with the purpose of providing more time for students to get their Seal of Biliteracy at the high school level,” Shalala said. “So, if they were to take one of the high school classes while they were in middle school it would give them an extra year to work toward that Seal of Biliteracy.” 

The Seal of Biliteracy is a nationwide test used to recognize students proficient in another language other than English. 

“By earning the Seal of Biliteracy, students are recognized as Bilingual,” said Mrs. Andrea Kline, a Spanish Teacher at Wadsworth High School. 

Zero Periods give students the opportunity to start preparing for the Seal of Biliteracy early. 

“It will be beneficial for students to have an early start at learning a language because it provides an additional possible year to build language fluency and proficiency,” Kline said. Taking additional language classes also has the advantage of freeing up more room in a student’s schedule to take advanced-level courses like CCP Spanish, Colloquial French, French Film, Cultures of the Spanish-speaking World, & Medical Spanish. 

“By spending more time learning a language, students will have more opportunities to learn about the culture of and people that speak their target language,” Kline said. “These skills will help students become more globally competent citizens.”

The decision on what classes will be offered is based on the interest of the students. The Middle School sent out the information, and a list was created based on the responses that they received. 

There is not an official list of the classes that will be offered next year at this time.