M-A’s AP Spanish Literature class was canceled for the second year in a row this year, leaving students who wanted to continue their Spanish learning in search of alternatives. The alternative Spanish course, Conversational Spanish through Film, was also not offered either year, making AP Spanish Language the only available advanced Spanish course. While a number of students signed up for the courses, both failed to meet the requirement for enrolled students and were subsequently shut down.
The AP Spanish Literature course is available to all students who have completed the AP Spanish Language and Culture course through either the Heritage Speakers program or the Spanish Language Learners program. Due to its academic rigor, the course is typically advertised to students who have a strong interest in advanced Spanish.
“I was told since middle school that [AP Spanish Literature] was going to be an option for me,” senior Hailey Preuss said. “It was really frustrating to me because I thought that I was for sure gonna take this course, and I’d heard from people who took it previously that it was super helpful and just an awesome and enlightening course.”
After discovering that the course would not be offered again this year, a group of M-A parents united to try and work with the District in order to find other potential course offerings for students.
“There ended up being about 11 families who got together, wrote to the administration, and actually spoke to them as well. They were expressing interest and trying to figure out creative solutions,” parent Katherine Robinson said. “Vice Principal Rigotti was the one who was working with us on this, and she was really willing to look into a lot of different ideas.”
Despite the collaboration between parents and administrators, the school was still ultimately unable to offer any form of on-campus AP Spanish Literature. Students were left instead to either take the class independently online or to take a different class offered at M-A.
Parents did, however, successfully push administration to more honestly present the availability of the course across websites and school reports.
“This course is listed on the school’s report that’s published every year that states all the courses that school offers, and AP Spanish Lit was still on there,” Robinson said. “There had to be a little work on that because the college counselors send that report with all of your college applications. And so we wanted to make sure that there was a note there that explained which academic years AP Spanish Lit was offered.”
“I thought ‘Oh, it’ll probably not be next year but the year after,’” senior Katherine Cueva, who was interested in taking the course, said. “But then my senior year I was surprised and disappointed that they actually did not have it.”
Angelica Rodriguez, who has in past years taught AP Spanish Literature, shared students’ disappointment in not being able to have the class.
“I know last year we had a group of students that were really, really interested in taking the class, and they were disappointed not to be able to take it,” Rodriguez said.
Given the course’s strong focus on literature and academic writing, it stands out from other Spanish courses, which have a more cultural focus.
“[In] other Spanish classes, it’s more conversational and short and sweet writing,” senior Harper Franklin, who also wanted to take the class, said. “Like you’re writing emails and you’re talking to friends on the AP test and stuff. So I was interested in being able to have a Spanish class almost like an English class.”
“It’s setup where students can really exchange ideas and grow from each other’s ideas. And that doesn’t happen in some classes, not at that level,” Rodriguez said. “That’s the part that I really enjoy.”
AP Spanish Literature does, however, have a reputation among students for being rigorous and academically difficult. The supposed challenge may have played a role in not enough students signing up to take the class. “I also heard from my friends that had taken it a couple years ago that it was really hard,” Franklin said.
Despite the class’ reputation, Rodriguez points out that the students who sign up anyways are usually more prepared to deal with the additional challenge.
“Once students are in the class, it’s like they were the ones motivated. They were the ones that wanted the class and they make it happen rather than me kind of pushing the class to everyone,” Rodriguez said.
After the course was canceled this year, students speculated about potential reasons for the lack of sign ups. “I kind of just thought that it was because there wasn’t enough demand,” Cueva said. “But then I kept talking to people who had the intent to take it, so I was kind of confused.”
Rodriguez points to both the rigor of the course, as well as confusion surrounding class options as two potential reasons for lack of enrollment. “There’s another class, [Conversational Spanish through Films] that’s already a class that was approved but it has never been taught at M-A. So I think students were a little confused, and so we don’t get enough students for one class, and I think they both cancel each other,” Rodriguez said.
For students like Cueva who didn’t get a chance to participate in the course, this decision might mean that their academic experience with Spanish has come to an early end. “I’m a little bit sad that I missed this opportunity, because it probably is something that I wouldn’t do, and I think it would have been a really cool class,” she said.
“Now that I’m not taking Spanish, I think my Spanish has deteriorated,” sophomore Laura Wang, who had also signed up to take the class, said. “I really wanted to take it because there’s a lot of interesting literature that I wanted to be able to read and discuss.”
Other students echoed this sentiment, agreeing that the absence of an academic class has negatively impacted their Spanish levels. “I do still speak Spanish with my family to some degree, but definitely, my reading and writing has probably declined to some extent,” Cueva said.
“It’s always disappointing not to teach a class that I really love,” Rodriguez said.
The AP Spanish Literature course will be offered again for the 2026-27 school year and students will have the opportunity to take the course if enough sign ups are received.
