UPPER SCHOOL STUDENTS WIN BIG IN NATIONAL SPANISH EXAM

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May 6, 2025

For information on admission to Notre Dame Prep, please click here.

Three medals highlight upper school awards in prestigious annual exam sponsored by national language association.

Spanish is a global language with nearly 500 million native speakers, mainly in Spain and the Americas. It is the world's second-most spoken native language after Mandarin Chinese. Notre Dame Prep's language arts curriculum includes both.

Students taking Spanish in the upper school recently scored big in the 2025 National Spanish Examinations, bringing home 11 awards, including one silver and two bronze medals. 

Silver medal winner: Abby Stewart NDP'25

Bronze medal winners: Christina Yeras NDP'25 and Paula Ceular NDP'27

Honor award winners: Catalina Ballesty NDP'25, Grace Aguilar Fernandez NDP'25, Flora Ramos NDP'27, Maren Studt NDP'26, Catherine Kipila NDP'26, Noah Tominna NDP'26, Edith Byrd NDP'26 and Mary Rose Montales NDP'26.

Modern language department chair and Spanish teacher Lilia Rapson said she was very proud of the upper school students who received honors this spring.

The examination and awards are sponsored by the American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese, which promotes the study and teaching of the Spanish and Portuguese languages and their corresponding Hispanic, Luso-Brazilian, and other related literatures and cultures at all levels of education.

“Attaining a medal or honorable mention for any student on the National Spanish Examinations is very prestigious,” said Lisa J. Greenman, national director of the exams. “These exams are the largest of their kind in the United States with more than 80,000 students registered.”

About the National Spanish Examinations
The National Spanish Examinations are administered each year in grades 6 through 12, and are sponsored by the American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese. They are the most widely used tests of Spanish in the United States.

For information on admission to Notre Dame Prep, please click here.

Comments or questions? mkelly@ndpma.org

About Notre Dame Preparatory School
"At Notre Dame Prep, we inspire our students to become the best versions of themselves. We challenge them through an experience of academic excellence, focused on active, project-based learning. We invite them to explore a world of opportunities beyond the classroom. We guide them as they grow in spirituality within a community strong in its Catholic and Marist identity."

Notre Dame Preparatory School is a private, Catholic, independent, coeducational day school located in Oakland County. Notre Dame Preparatory School's upper school 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 Prep's middle and lower schools enroll students in pre-kindergarten through grade eight. All three schools are International Baccalaureate "World Schools." NDP is conducted by the Marist Fathers and Brothers and is accredited by the Independent Schools Association of the Central States and the National Association of Independent Schools. For more on Notre Dame Preparatory School, visit the school’s home page at www.ndpma.org.