Punahou School is celebrating a new milestone in world language education as four Academy students become the first students at Punahou to earn the internationally recognized Global Seal of Biliteracy through the Academy’s new Multilingual Proficiency Recognition program.
Led by World Languages Department Head Ian Earle ’89 and Mandarin Chinese faculty member Elisa Lo, the program recognizes multilingual students who demonstrate high levels of proficiency in two languages other than English through assessments such as AP and STAMP exams. The initiative will officially launch schoolwide in the 2026 – 2027 academic year and will be included in the Academy course catalog.
This year’s inaugural recipients are Sofia Chin Chi ’26 (Spanish and Chinese), Charles Qinglin Ye ’26 (Japanese and Chinese), Steven Xuchen Yang ’27 (Spanish and Chinese) and Yinan Wang ’26 (Japanese and Chinese). All four students helped pilot the program and were recognized for their linguistic achievement and global citizenship.
The Multilingual Proficiency Recognition was created to celebrate students’ diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds while fostering a stronger sense of belonging within the Punahou community. Students who qualify receive international certification from the Global Seal of Biliteracy organization, which can be included on résumés, college applications and professional portfolios.
While some Hawai‘i public schools participate in the state Seal of Biliteracy initiative, Punahou is believed to be the first private school in Hawai‘i to offer the internationally recognized Global Seal of Biliteracy.
Earlier this month, Earle and Lo attended the Hawaii Association of Language Teachers (HALT) conference, where the keynote speaker – the director of the Global Seal of Biliteracy organization – encouraged schools worldwide to adopt the program.
As the initiative expands next school year, Punahou’s World Languages Department hopes the program will continue to honor multilingual excellence while encouraging more students to pursue advanced language study and celebrate their cultural heritage.