Italy counsul general stops by Glendale school

Italian students at Franklin Elementary School put their language skills on display Thursday for a high-profile visitor.

Giuseppe Perrone, consul general of Italy in Los Angeles, made a stop at the multilingual campus where he observed classes and conferred with staff members.

The site is in many ways the hub of Glendale Unified’s burgeoning dual language FLAG programs, known formally as the Foreign Language Academies of Glendale. Franklin is already home to Italian, Spanish and German programs, and will add French starting in the fall.

District-wide FLAG enrollment currently stands at 1,242 students, and is expected to climb to 1,722 next year, according to Deputy Supt. John Garcia.

Glendale Unified officials have been working to build relationships with Southern California-based consulates as a means to generate resources and recruit appropriately credentialed teachers for the dual language programs.

-- Megan O’Neil, Times Community News

Twitter: @megankoneil