New Canaan Country School Students Win Recognition on World Language Exams

New Canaan Country School students in the Upper School division (grades 7-9) made a strong showing in the recent 2019 national World Languages exams. Of particular note, the following students earned the highest possible prize in their respective languages: Ninth grader Seth Yoo of Pound Ridge, NY received a perfect score on his French exam. Eighth grader Ben Herdeg of New Canaan, CT placed in the top one percent of the country on the National Spanish Exam. Finally, eighth grader Sofie Petricone of Rowayton earned a gold medal on the National Latin Exam, and seventh grader Elsa Franks of Stamford earned the highest possible prize on the Introductory Latin Exam.

In Spanish, of the 33,600 students who sat for the exam nationwide, four other Gold Medals - the highest possible prize – were awarded to Country School students, placing eighth grader Fiona Burton of Stamford in the top five percent; and ninth graders Gwen Thompson of Darien, Daniela Soto of Stamford and Mason Zea of New Canaan in the top four percent of the United States. Earning silver medals while also placing in the top ten percent nationwide, were ninth graders Ellie Hanson of New Canaan, Himani Narayan of Norwalk, Ella Zea of New Canaan, and eighth grader Gracie Agulay of Stamford.

In French, additional medal awards went to: seventh graders Ethan Yoo of Pound Ridge, NY, Tanvi DebNath and Maria Flores of Stamford, eighth graders Sasha Intile of Rowayton, Maeve Baker of New Canaan, Amelia Lancaster of Darien, Riya Punjabi of Stamford and ninth grader Alexander Almeida of New Canaan.

On the National Latin Exam, additional prizes were awarded to seventh graders Catherine Charnin of Darien and Julia Cooper of New Canaan, eighth graders Lilly Krongard of New Canaan, Abigail O’Brien of Stamford, Mac Ryan of Pound Ridge, NY, Rett Zeigler of Rowayton, and ninth grader Cody Comyns of New Canaan.  

World Language Teacher Liz Pepe was pleased with the results, “Country School students did very well across the board. On behalf of the entire World Language department, I congratulate them all. These results are an affirmation of the student’s hard work and continuous improvement all year long.”

New Canaan Country School is a co-ed, independent, day school for students in Pre-K (ages 3 & 4) through Grade 9. Located on a 75-acre campus in New Canaan, the school serves families living in Westchester and Fairfield Counties. For more information, please visit www.countryschool.net.

Photo Captions:

1.  New Canaan Country School eighth grader Ben Herdeg of New Canaan, CT placed in the top one percent of the country on the 2019 National Spanish Exam.
2.  New Canaan Country School students receiving accolades on their National Spanish Exams include (front row from left to right): Ella Zea, Ellie Hanson, Himani Narayan, Mason Zea, Ben Herdeg; (back row): Gwen Thompson, Daniela Soto, Gracie Agulay and Fiona Burton.
3. New Canaan Country School students receiving accolades on their National French Exams include (front row from left to right): Front: Maria Flores, Tanvi DebNath; (back row): Amelia Lancaster, Maeve Baker, Alexander Almeida, Seth Yoo, Riya Punjabi, Sasha Intile. Missing: Ethan Yoo.

4. New Canaan Country School students receiving accolades on their National Latin Exams include (front row from left to right): Cody Comyns, Sofie Petricone, Lilly Krongard, Abigail O’Brien, Rett Zeigler; (back row): Catherine Charnin, Elsa Franks, Julia Cooper and Mac Ryan.