Foreign language instruction in NYC middle schools (neighborhood, best)

[queensgrl]

I was wondering if NYC public middle schools are required to teach foreign languages (grades 6 - 8). I am helping a friend settle on a neighborhood based on this. We tried searching the DOE website for the schools that we are interested in but no luck. Anyone know of a good resource for this information?

[bluedog2]

In my school( NYC Public middle school) the kids have to take a foreign language in 7th and 8th grade.It's either Spanish or Spanish.Very sad.
Not that there is anything wrong with them learning Spanish but there should be more variety offered.In about half of the city schools Spanish is the only foreign language offered now.
Actually,about half the public schools across the US no longer offer any foreign languages at all.
Foreign language instruction was a victim of the "no child left behind law" which put all emphasis on math and reading.
The foreign language offerings really vary drastically from school to school and neighborhood to neighborhood so it's probably best to check with each school.I used to teach in another middle school in The Bronx where all the kids took German and French.The school had been a language school in an earlier life and they had German and French and Latin teachers hanging around so they had lots of choices.

[nightcrawler]

In my middle school we had a choice of Spanish, German, French and Italian. I took Spanish because that seemed to be the language that would be the most useful to me, and it was. My best friend was Puerto Rican, so that even helped it more, and being in NY a lot of things are in Spanish, French and German seemed like a waste to me, and I am not Italian.
I speak Greek fluently as does my family

[queensgrl]

Just to clarify, I am inquiring about public middle schools in the five boroughs. Preferably in Queens. Thanks.

[Cyclops99]

I went to junior highschool in Queens (7th and 8th grade) but it was like16 years ago...wow I can't believe that. They had Spanish and Italian...in high school also in queens there was Spanish, French, and Latin. There seems to be websites for each individual junior high school on the DOE site, doesn't appear to have info as to what languages are offered but theres contact info so maybe you can call.

It's either Spanish or Spanish.Very sad.

I'd say Spanish is a good language to learn because of the amount of Spanish speaking people in this country...and Chinese (mandarin) is good because that may be the future of our global economy. No offense to the German/French/Italian languages but the practical use for them is not much comparatively...