Piscataway High School had a record number of graduates achieve the distinguished New Jersey Seal of Biliteracy in the Class of 2023.

A state Seal of Biliteracy is a designation from the New Jersey Department of Education identifying graduating high school students who are able to demonstrate proficiency in English and one or more other languages.

Sixty-one PHS students met the requirements and passed the rigorous exam. In 2017, Piscataway’s first year in the program, 32 graduates achieved the seal, and the number has increased steadily since, aside from a dip due to COVID-19.

The Seal is evidence of a high level of literacy in another language. It is more than being bilingual, which includes speaking and listening. It represents reading, writing, speaking and listening fluently in another language at an academic or technical level.

“Our students take the same tests that big companies use to measure biliteracy when hiring a candidate where literacy is imperative to the position,” said Glennysha Jurado-Moran, the district’s Supervisor of World Languages and ESL. “They can bring the certificate to a prospective employer or college. As it is a valid measurement, colleges would have to accept their proficiency levels. These are field tested, valid, and secure exams.”

The Seal is a huge accomplishment that the students and the district can be proud of, and which will pay dividends down the line.

“It means we are producing quality and proficient speakers,” Jurado-Moran said. “It also means for our multilanguage learners that they are maintaining their literacy in their home-language as well as demonstrating strong command of English.”

The Seal of Biliteracy opens up a myriad of opportunities for those pursuing higher education or joining the workforce. As the world increasingly becomes global, the demand for employees with bilingual, multilingual, and multicultural skills has become critical.

The majority of the Seals were attained in Spanish, but PHS also had graduates deemed to be fluent in French, German, Arabic, Vietnamese, and Italian.

The graduates to the attain the Seal were:

Rose-Anita Jules, Paule Nguetsop, Meglena Mileva, Baker Alomari, Anh Vu, Antoni Lubrano, Isis, Ramirez Rea, Connor Dunham, Isela Maceda-Luis, Airam J. Lorenzo Volquez, Justice L. Langley, Ivany Castaneda Deras, Johan Dabare, Victoria Garon, Reva Gujral, Yulian Salazar, Andrew Tenorio, Aryan Agrawal, Ishika Bhagat, Krupa Bhagat, Amanda Nguyen, Naiya D. Patel, Aparna Rajakumar, Hamshika Rajkumar, Gabriella Saenz, Percival Singson, Kanika Syal, Jo Guerra Gonzalez, Arham Jain, Melany Linares, Aidan Mohammed, Isabelle Nguyen, Victoria Opitz, Dheeresha Parmar, Darsh A. Patel, Ved Patel, Snigdha Podugu, Nia Sharma, Elijah Barbosa, Valentina Camacho, Angie Carrera Vides, Thanh Du, William Mann, Jiya Parikh, Heta J. Patel, Tushti D. Patel, Julia Alvarado, Aliya N. Cornejo, Dominic A. Gabri, Leah M. Germosen, Jasmin Milian, Madison Miranda Castillo, Caety O. Pineda Romero, Kimberly M. Rodas, Dennis J. Rojas, Alex, Visente Escobar, Niyati Gandhi, Janvi Raj, and Enobong George.