Dear community member,
The ability to speak more than one language is a superpower, and it’s one that 40% of students in our school community are fortunate to possess.
In fact, Santa Cruz County students speak more than 50 languages, with English and Spanish the most common followed by Mixteco, Mandarin, and Arabic.
This week, the talents of multilingual students were on full display at the 2025 World Languages Showcase. Organized by the Santa Cruz COE in partnership with student leadership group Multilingual Youth Taking Action, the showcase took place at Soquel High. It featured the voices of dozens of talented students from across the county reciting (and singing) in Spanish, French, Mandarin, Hindi, and more.
It was an inspirational evening, and an important reminder of how rich and diverse the fabric of this school community truly is. And as a former multilingual student myself, it is a topic especially close to my heart as an immigrant and from a multicultural household that spoke Arabic and Spanish.
The spotlight on our shared love of language didn’t stop there. Barbara Huebner, Multilingual Achievement Coordinator at Santa Cruz COE and one of the showcase’s key organizers, shared more about our county’s diversity of language in a presentation Thursday to the Santa Cruz County Board of Education commemorating Multilingual Learner Advocacy Month. As Barbara highlighted, multilingualism correlates to enhanced cognition, academic performance, and so much more, providing yet another example of how our diversity is our strength.
We are also incredibly proud of the growing number of students who are achieving the State Seal of Biliteracy across local districts — a statewide recognition of high school graduates who have demonstrated a high level of proficiency in speaking, reading, and writing languages in addition to English.
And to our multilingual students: ¡Sí se puede, na ka̱a̱ kuu yi’i, 加油, चलो, واصل العمل الرائع, allez-y! — keep up the great work!
Yours in education and equity,
Dr. Faris Sabbah
County Superintendent of Schools