From left, Alberto Martinez-Garcia (12), Brooke Cousins (7), Julia Housey (6) and Madeline Lawrence (6) earned the state’s highest scores in their categories/levels in the 2017 National Spanish Examinations.
Alberto Martinez-Garcia, a graduating senior in Notre Dame’s upper division, was the top winner in the state after scoring the highest of all students in Michigan in the Level 5 bilingual category.
Brooke Cousins, currently a Notre Dame 7th grader, was #1 in Michigan in the 01 Level in the “outside experience” category.
Julia Housey, a 6th grader, was #1 in Michigan in the Pre-01 Level in the “classroom experience” category.
And finally, Madeline Lawrence, a 6th grader, was #1 in Michigan in the Pre-01 Level in the “outside experience” category.
About the National Spanish Examinations:
The National Spanish Examinations, presented by The American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese, are a "motivational contest to recognize student achievement in the study of Spanish and to stimulate further interest in the teaching and learning of Spanish."
The examinations are a standardized assessment tool for students in grades 6-12 and given by approximately 4,000 teachers throughout the United States to measure students' proficiency of Spanish as a second language.
Scores and awards of the NSE are determined by the total percentile at follows: ORO – Students scoring at or above the 95th percentile are awarded a Premio de Oro; PLATA – Students scoring from the 85th through the 94th percentiles receive a Premio de Plata.
Comments or questions? mkelly@ndpma.org.
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About Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy
Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy is a private, Catholic, independent, coeducational day school located in Oakland County. The school's upper division enrolls students in grades nine through twelve and has been named one of the nation's best 50 Catholic high schools (Acton Institute) four times since 2005. Notre Dame's middle and lower divisions enroll students in jr. kindergarten through grade eight. All three divisions are International Baccalaureate "World Schools." NDPMA is conducted by the Marist Fathers and Brothers and is accredited by the Independent Schools Association of the Central States and the North Central Association Commission on Accreditation and School Improvement. For more on Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy, visit the school's home page at www.ndpma.org.