Sixty Three SHS Students Earn Language Awards Including DESE State Seal of Biliteracy
2026 Seal of Biliteracy recipients span 10 languages
SALEM (May 7, 2025) – Seniors Sindi Sula and Maria De Melo Barros and junior Ann-Neyissa Jean earned the each earned the Massachusetts Department of Secondary and Elementary Education (DESE) State Seal of Biliteracy with Distinction and led 63 Salem High School students who earned similar honors in a ceremony Friday morning.
The DESE Seal of Biliteracy is an award granted by state-approved school districts that recognizes high school students who attain high-functioning and academic levels of proficiency in English and at least one other world language – through reading, writing, listening and speaking – by the time they graduate.
Along with English, Spanish (52 students) and Portuguese (five), SHS students in this year’s Seal of Biliteracy class spoke 10 different languages: Haitian Creole (three), Vietnamese, Indonesian, Filipino, Fulani, Albanian and Russian.
In addition to the SHS students and staff in attendance were scholars from the Bentley Academy Innovation School Dual Language Program, who were invited to discover the significance of and observe the Seal of Biliteracy ceremony.
“The growth of interest in the State Seal of Biliteracy shows what a significant advantage and skill multilingualism is in today’s world,” said Andre Fonseca, Director of Multilingual Learner Education at Salem Public Schools. “We were proud to have our students from the Bentley dual language program attend today’s ceremony so they can see the rewards of speaking one or more languages.”
Students who received a score of 472 or higher on the MCAS as well as an intermediate or higher score in all four domains – reading, writing, listening and speaking – received the Seal of Biliteracy. Students who attained a 501 on the MCAS and a score of ‘advanced low’ or higher in all four domains received the Seal of Biliteracy with Distinction.
Additionally, the Global Seal of Biliteracy was presented to students who scored 455 or higher on the MCAS exam and intermediate mid-range and above on all four domains of their partner language. The Language Opportunity Coalition Award was presented to scholars who also scored 455 or higher on the MCAS with intermediate low-range and above in their partner language.
Ms. Sula, who received the Seal with Distinction in Albanian last year, received Distinction honors again in Spanish, along with Ms. Jean in Haitian Creole and Ms. De Melo Barros in Portuguese.
Senior Midasendjie Jeune, who earned Seal of Biliteracy honors in Haitian Creole, Portuguese and Spanish, was among three students to earn honors in multiple languages. Junior Vitor Souza De Moura earned Seal honors in Portuguese as well as Global Seal of Biliteracy status in Spanish, while junior Fisnik Gilaj earned the Language Coalition Award in Albanian and Spanish.
Along with Ms. Sula, five students repeated Seal honors from last year including seniors Johan Polanco (Spanish), Dewa Trisna (Indonesian), Brooks Workman (Spanish) and Rylan Workman (Spanish).
Among the Seal of Biliteracy categories, 18 students earned the State Seal of Biliteracy while 14 students earned the Global Seal of Biliteracy, and 29 the Language Opportunity Coalition Award.
Among the guests at the ceremony included Dominick Pangallo, Interim Superintendent Kate Carbone, Salem School Committee member AJ Hoffman, and SHS Principal Glenn Burns.
The Seal of Biliteracy program at SHS supports the four core priorities of the District’s 2023-26 Strategic Plan: elevating learning, empowering educators, centering belonging and strengthening the District’s foundation.
2026 Massachusetts DESE Seal of Biliteracy, Language Opportunity Coalition Biliteracy Achievement Award Recipients
State Seal of Biliteracy with Distinction
- Maria De Melo Barros (Sr.), Portuguese
- Ann-Neyissa Jean (Jr.), Haitian Creole
- Sindi Sula (Sr.), Spanish
State Seal of Biliteracy
- Valery Bartolo Abreu (Jr.), Spanish
- Luiz Batista Viana (Jr.), Portuguese
- Natalia Castillo (Jr.), Spanish
- Eva Cruel De La Cruz (Sr.), Spanish
- Isaiah-Makari Edwards (Sr.), Spanish
- Gilianna Espinal (Jr.), Spanish
- Midasendjie Jeune (Sr.), Haitian Creole, Portuguese, Spanish
- Monserratt Juarez (Sr.), Spanish
- Taisha Lora (Jr.), Spanish
- Janessa Medina (Jr.), Spanish
- Cesar Mesa (Sr.), Spanish
- Johan Polanco (Sr.), Spanish
- Karelis Saez Rivera (Jr.), Spanish
- Ashely Saldana Suarez (Sr.), Spanish
- Vitor Souza De Moura (Jr.), Portuguese
- Visnely Tiburcio (Sr.), Spanish
- Waskelly Veloz Pena (Sr.), Spanish
- Brooks Workman (Sr.), Spanish
Global Seal of Biliteracy
- Sandierick Arendell Suazo (So.), Spanish
- Lismairy Betancourt Figare (Jr.), Spanish
- Jeremy Camarena Seijas (Jr.), Spanish
- Manuel Canas Panameno (Sr.), Spanish
- Jeyren Estevez (Jr.), Spanish
- Albert Guerrero (Sr.), Spanish
- Alvin Laurent (Sr.), Haitian Creole
- John Medina Ortiz (Jr.), Spanish
- Raymond Nguyen (Sr.), Vietnamese
- Emylly Oliveira Nunes (Jr.), Portuguese
- Rosa Salcedo Minier (Sr.), Spanish
- Vitor Souza De Moura (Jr.), Spanish
- Dewa Trisna (Sr.), Indonesian
- Samantha Visto (Sr.), Filipino
Language Opportunity Coalition Award
- Ester Acevedo (Jr.), Spanish
- Mariam Aleksanyan (Sr.), Russian
- Hawa Bah (Jr.), Fulani
- Luiz Batista Viana (Jr.), Spanish
- Alexis Canela Reinoso (Jr.), Spanish
- Josue Centeno Nunez (Sr.), Spanish
- Luis De Luna (Jr.), Spanish
- Karoleena Deng (Jr.), Spanish
- Yulliam Encarnacion (Sr.), Spanish
- Zeyah Fee (Jr.), Spanish
- Armany Genao (Jr.), Spanish
- Fisnik Gilaj (Jr.), Albanian, Spanish
- Yuriel Gonzalez Vargas (Jr.), Spanish
- Tanny Lara (Jr.), Spanish
- Kevin Lopez Mendez (Jr.), Spanish
- Jazlyn Martinez (Jr.), Spanish
- Andris Martinez Garcia (Sr.), Spanish
- Noemi Matul (Sr.), Spanish
- Brian Mbombap (Sr.), French
- Sebastian Minaya-Ubiera (Sr.), Spanish
- Kaitlin Modaff (Jr.), Spanish
- Gemma Murphy (Sr.), Spanish
- Victor Nunez (Sr.), Spanish
- Railany Nunez Ramos (Jr.), Spanish
- Frederick Ramirez (Jr.), Spanish
- Romel Rijo (So.), Spanish
- Kobe Sanchez Rojas (Sr.), Spanish
- Yadniel Vega (Sr.), Spanish
- Rylan Workman (Sr.), Spanish
About Salem Public Schools
Salem Public Schools is an urban public school district in Salem, Massachusetts. Salem is a small, diverse city with a proud maritime and immigrant history. Our leaders and our teachers are all passionate about education and understand the urgency of improving student achievement with equity and social-emotional needs as the lens we view all of our work through. We respect and value the racial, cultural, and linguistic diversity of our students and their families, and have a strong commitment to the Salem community. Salem Public Schools staff serve all of our students, regardless of ability or language. Salem Public Schools enrolls approximately 4,000 students across its eleven schools.
