The Italian Consulate recently held a meeting with school districts who implement Italian world language or dual language programs, bringing in representatives from Long Island, New York City, New Jersey and Yonkers. Among them were Priscilla Zarate, the Islip School District’s ENL and world language K-12 coordinator, and Islip High School language teachers Linda Gallelli and Giuseppa Prainito, who met with different organizations that collaborate with the Italian consulate to provide support and resources to programs.

“We also learned about several initiatives through the Italian American Committee of Education,” said Zarate, “including cultural trips and tours, professional development for teachers, internships for high school students and travel abroad programs. Currently, the Italian Consulate is offering to pay AP online testing for any students who are eligible to take it and who may be taking other AP exams. As a result of this opportunity, we have an estimated 11 students from our world language Italian program who are interested in taking this AP exam.”