Glastonbury Public Schools Foreign Language

Russian Program

About the Russian Program

Our students begin to study Russian in grade 7, and they can continue through Russian 6 AP in grade 12. The curriculum focuses on culture, speaking, listening, reading and writing.

Glastonbury has the largest Russian program in the state of Connecticut. It was founded shortly after the Sputnik satellite was launched by the Soviet Union in 1957. The 2008-2009 school year marked our 50th anniversary teaching Russian in Glastonbury.

Our Russian Exchange program has been in place since 1988. Glastonbury High School was one of the first 25 schools in the country to have an exchange with Russia and the countries of the former Soviet Union. Students apply to be part of the program, hosting during one academic year, and traveling the next. Our partner school is the School for Global Education in St. Petersburg. While on the exchange students live with a host family (usually the family of the student they have hosted). They attend school, tour the wonderful sites of the city, and attend cultural programs such as the ballet and the circus. The exchange also includes a Moscow tour, highlighting the major sites of that city.

50th Anniversary of Teaching Russian in Glastonbury Public Schools

In the 2008-2009 school year, Glastonbury Foreign Language Department celebrated our fiftieth year of teaching the Russian language in our schools. We are the only public school in the country to have reached this milestone.

Russian Program Highlights

  • Russian has been taught in Glastonbury since 1958.

  • Glastonbury Public Schools has the largest Russian program in Connecticut, and one of the largest in New England.

  • Russian is taught from grade 7 through 12.

  • Russian 6 is an Advanced Placement course.

  • We offer an exchange program to St. Petersburg for students in the upper levels.

  • All courses are taught with an emphasis on culture in addition to the 4 skills of speaking, listening, reading and writing.