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113-704: Lexington Public Schools is a public school district in Lexington , Massachusetts , United States. The district comprises six elementary schools , two middle schools , and a high school . Each elementary and middle school is named after an important figure in Lexington's history. There are nine schools in the Lexington Public School district: Lexington's six elementary schools - Bowman, Bridge, Joseph Estabrook, Fiske, Harrington, and Maria Hastings - serve students in kindergarten through 5th grade. Bowman Elementary

226-562: A de jure or de facto official, administrative, or cultural language. Most of these countries are members of the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie (OIF), the community of 54 member states which share the official use or teaching of French. It is spoken as a first language (in descending order of the number of speakers) in France; Canada (especially in the provinces of Quebec, Ontario, and New Brunswick); Belgium ( Wallonia and

339-720: A French official to teachers in the department of Finistère , in western Brittany, included the following: "And remember, Gents: you were given your position in order to kill the Breton language". The prefect of Basses-Pyrénées in the French Basque Country wrote in 1846: "Our schools in the Basque Country are particularly meant to replace the Basque language with French..." Students were taught that their ancestral languages were inferior and they should be ashamed of them; this process

452-431: A comprehensive academic study entitled "The World's 10 most influential languages". In the article, Weber ranked French as, after English, the second-most influential language of the world, ahead of Spanish. His criteria were the numbers of native speakers, the number of secondary speakers (especially high for French among fellow world languages), the number of countries using the language and their respective populations,

565-460: A five-member Select Board. The day-to-day operations are handled by a Town Manager hired by the Select Board. A Representative town meeting , acts as the legislative body, made up of 203 members, including 21 citizens elected from each of nine precincts for three-year staggered terms, and it meets at least once a year. At-large member positions include the Select Board, Town Counsel, Town Clerk and

678-543: A foreign language. Due to the rise of French in Africa, the total French-speaking population worldwide is expected to reach 700 million people in 2050. French is the fastest growing language on the continent (in terms of either official or foreign languages). French is increasingly being spoken as a native language in Francophone Africa, especially in regions like Ivory Coast , Cameroon , Gabon, Madagascar , and

791-805: A language and culture immersion trip abroad. Similarly, top students in French have the opportunity to visit Quebec City , and top students in Mandarin have the opportunity to visit Beijing , Jinhua , and Shanghai , China . Students in both schools have the additional opportunity to participate in their respective school's orchestra, band, or chorus. Both schools field varsity teams in many sports, including cross-country running, soccer, basketball, track, field hockey, baseball, and softball. Led by coaches Sarah Doonan at Diamond and Joshua Frost at Clarke, Lexington's middle school math teams are renowned for their successes and mutual rivalry in competitions such as MathCounts ,

904-590: A period of prosperity and prominence among European nations. Richelieu established the Académie française to protect the French language. By the early 1800s, Parisian French had become the primary language of the aristocracy in France. Near the beginning of the 19th century, the French government began to pursue policies with the end goal of eradicating the many minorities and regional languages ( patois ) spoken in France. This began in 1794 with Henri Grégoire 's "Report on

1017-494: A relic of the old nominal case system of Latin longer than most other Romance languages (with the notable exception of Romanian which still currently maintains a case distinction), differentiating between an oblique case and a nominative case. The phonology was characterized by heavy syllabic stress, which led to the emergence of various complicated diphthongs such as -eau which would later be leveled to monophthongs. The earliest evidence of what became Old French can be seen in

1130-650: A result of French and Belgian colonialism from the 16th century onward, French was introduced to new territories in the Americas, Africa, and Asia. French has a long history as an international language of literature and scientific standards and is a primary or second language of many international organisations including the United Nations , the European Union, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization ,

1243-543: A school newspaper, called the "Clarke Barker", which is also run by the students and a 6th grade English teacher. Clarke's other extra-curricular vary in type, however most activities are either academic, artistic or athletic. New activities are created each year by the request of the students, if there is a faculty or parent coordinator. Most students that go through the Lexington Public Schools system end up at Lexington High School. Alternatively, students are given

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1356-536: A variant of Canadian French , is spoken in parts of New England . Missouri French was historically spoken in Missouri and Illinois (formerly known as Upper Louisiana ), but is nearly extinct today. French also survived in isolated pockets along the Gulf Coast of what was previously French Lower Louisiana , such as Mon Louis Island , Alabama and DeLisle, Mississippi (the latter only being discovered by linguists in

1469-585: A wide range of electives. Students are required to take courses in math, science, English, and social studies, each of which follows its own track. In math, students are required to take courses ranging up to algebra, with placement and level being determined individually. In science, students are required to take courses in earth science, life science, and chemistry and physics. In social studies, students are required to take courses focusing on ancient civilizations, world geography, and civics, in 6th, 7th and 8th grades respectively. In foreign languages, students have

1582-453: A working language along with English and German ; in some institutions, French is the sole working language (e.g. at the Court of Justice of the European Union ). French is also the 16th most natively spoken language in the world, the sixth most spoken language by total number of speakers , and is among the top five most studied languages worldwide, with about 120 million learners as of 2017. As

1695-437: Is 95%, and in the French collectivity of Wallis and Futuna , it is 84%. In French Polynesia and to a lesser extent Wallis and Futuna, where oral and written knowledge of the French language has become almost universal (95% and 84% respectively), French increasingly tends to displace the native Polynesian languages as the language most spoken at home. In French Polynesia, the percentage of the population who reported that French

1808-554: Is Chris Wai. The school was rebuilt from 2018 to 2020 due to a need for increased capacity. Lexington's two public middle schools - William Diamond MS and Jonas Clarke MS, commonly referred to as "Diamond" and "Clarke," respectively - serve students between 6th and 8th grade. Students at Diamond are generally fed in through Estabrook, Fiske, and Hastings, and students at Clarke are generally fed in through Bowman, Bridge, and Harrington. Like many middle schools, both Diamond and Clarke operate in an academic team system, in which each grade

1921-512: Is Meg Colella. Bridge was a High Performing National Blue Ribbon School in 2010. Estabrook Elementary is named after Joseph Estabrook (1669–1733), the first school teacher in Lexington. The current principal at Estabrook is Gerardo Martinez. The school garnered nationwide attention from the David Parker controversy, when parents sued the Lexington school system, arguing that their children were being coerced by public school teachers "to affirm

2034-514: Is Represented by State Representative Michelle Ciccolo , State Senators Cindy Friedman and Michael Barrett , all Democrats. Lexington is in Massachusetts's 5th congressional district , currently represented by Katherine Clark . Federally, Lexington is heavily Democratic, having not voted Republican since 1980. Even in Scott Brown's upset 2010 Senate special election , he received just 34% of

2147-533: Is a suburban town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts , United States, located 10 miles (16 km) from Downtown Boston . The population was 34,454 as of the 2020 census . The area was originally inhabited by Native Americans, and was first settled by Europeans c.  1642 as a farming community. Lexington is well known as the site of the first shots of the American Revolutionary War , in

2260-467: Is a widespread second language among the Lebanese people , and is taught in many schools along with Arabic and English. French is used on Lebanese pound banknotes, on road signs, on Lebanese license plates , and on official buildings (alongside Arabic). Today, French and English are secondary languages of Lebanon , with about 40% of the population being Francophone and 40% Anglophone. The use of English

2373-484: Is also a working language in nonprofit organisations such as the Red Cross (alongside English, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Arabic and Russian), Amnesty International (alongside 32 other languages of which English is the most used, followed by Spanish, Portuguese, German, and Italian), Médecins sans Frontières (used alongside English, Spanish, Portuguese and Arabic), and Médecins du Monde (used alongside English). Given

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2486-467: Is broken down into smaller groups of common teachers and students. Each of the grades in both schools are divided into three teams, with one exception. Diamond and Clarke have built a cross-town rivalry bridging academics and athletics. Both Diamond and Clarke have been among the top schools in MCAS testing. Academically, both schools offer a comparable curriculum comprising several core subjects in addition to

2599-628: Is enacted only in New Brunswick, where about one third of the population is Francophone. French is also an official language of all of the territories ( Northwest Territories , Nunavut , and Yukon ). Out of the three, Yukon has the most French speakers, making up just under 4% of the population. Furthermore, while French is not an official language in Ontario , the French Language Services Act ensures that provincial services are available in

2712-549: Is growing in the business and media environment. Out of about 900,000 students, about 500,000 are enrolled in Francophone schools, public or private, in which the teaching of mathematics and scientific subjects is provided in French. Actual usage of French varies depending on the region and social status. One-third of high school students educated in French go on to pursue higher education in English-speaking institutions. English

2825-404: Is known as Old French. The period of Old French spanned between the 8th and 14th centuries. Old French shared many characteristics with Latin. For example, Old French made use of different possible word orders just as Latin did because it had a case system that retained the difference between nominative subjects and oblique non-subjects . The period is marked by a heavy superstrate influence from

2938-644: Is led by Chief of Police Michael McLean. The Lexington Fire Department (LFD) provides both fire and rescue, and emergency medical services to the town of Lexington. The date of its formation is unknown. It is based in the Fire Department Headquarters, with a secondary East Lexington Station, having 61 firefighters and EMS personnel. It is led by Fire Chief Derek Sencabaugh. Lexington's public education system includes six elementary schools , two middle schools , and one high school . Students may attend Minuteman Regional High School as an alternative to

3051-594: Is named after the local pastor Jonas Clarke , who was present at the standoff at Lexington Green shortly before the shots that started the Revolutionary War. The current principal at Clarke is Dane Despres, and the assistant principals are Mary Barry-Ng and Jonathan Wettstone. The school mascot is Jonas Bark the Bulldog . Jonas Clarke Middle School has been rated one of the top schools in the United States , and received

3164-558: Is named for the Harrington family, which produced many notable town citizens, such as Jonathan Harrington who was killed in the Battle of Lexington , and another of the same name who was the battle's last survivor. The current principal at Harrington is Jackie Daley. Maria Hastings Elementary is named after Maria Hastings Cary, a local philanthropist and the founder of the town's main public library, Cary Library . The current principal at Hastings

3277-511: Is named for the descendants of Nathaniel Bowman , the progenitor of an important family in Lexington's history. The current principal at Bowman is Jenny Corduck. The mascot of the school is the Bowman Bear. Bridge Elementary is named for the descendants of Matthew Bridge, to whom the once-farmland around the school site formerly belonged. A mural on the front side of the school building represents "working together". The current principal at Bridge

3390-462: Is often considered to be a useful skill by business owners in the United Kingdom; a 2014 study found that 50% of British managers considered French to be a valuable asset for their business, thus ranking French as the most sought-after foreign language there, ahead of German (49%) and Spanish (44%). MIT economist Albert Saiz calculated a 2.3% premium for those who have French as a foreign language in

3503-775: Is one of the official languages of such major international and regional courts, tribunals, and dispute-settlement bodies as the African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights , the Caribbean Court of Justice , the Court of Justice for the Economic Community of West African States , the Inter-American Court of Human Rights , the International Court of Justice , the International Criminal Tribunal for

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3616-618: Is taught in universities around the world, and is one of the world's most influential languages because of its wide use in the worlds of journalism, jurisprudence , education, and diplomacy. In diplomacy, French is one of the six official languages of the United Nations (and one of the UN Secretariat 's only two working languages ), one of twenty official and three procedural languages of the European Union , an official language of NATO ,

3729-538: Is the language of business and communication, with French being an element of social distinction, chosen for its emotional value. French is an official language of the Pacific Island nation of Vanuatu , where 31% of the population was estimated to speak it in 2023. In the French special collectivity of New Caledonia , 97% of the population can speak, read and write French while in French Polynesia this figure

3842-479: Is the native language of about 23% of the Swiss population, and is spoken by 50% of the population. Along with Luxembourgish and German, French is one of the three official languages of Luxembourg , where it is generally the preferred language of business as well as of the different public administrations. It is also the official language of Monaco . At a regional level, French is acknowledged as an official language in

3955-492: Is the second-most spoken language (after English) in the states of Maine and New Hampshire . In Louisiana , it is tied with Spanish for second-most spoken if Louisiana French and all creoles such as Haitian are included. French is the third most spoken language (after English and Spanish) in the states of Connecticut , Rhode Island , and New Hampshire . Louisiana is home to many distinct French dialects, collectively known as Louisiana French . New England French , essentially

4068-424: Is the sole official language in the province of Quebec , where some 80% of the population speak it as a native language and 95% are capable of conducting a conversation in it. Quebec is also home to the city of Montreal , which is the world's fourth-largest French-speaking city, by number of first language speakers. New Brunswick and Manitoba are the only officially bilingual provinces, though full bilingualism

4181-738: The Aosta Valley region of Italy where it is the first language of approximately 50% of the population, while French dialects remain spoken by minorities on the Channel Islands . It is also spoken in Andorra and is the main language after Catalan in El Pas de la Casa . The language is taught as the primary second language in the German state of Saarland , with French being taught from pre-school and over 43% of citizens being able to speak French. The majority of

4294-419: The Battle of Lexington on April 19, 1775, where the " Shot heard 'round the world " took place. It is home to Minute Man National Historical Park . Native Americans inhabited the area that would become Lexington for thousands of years prior to European colonization of the Americas , as attested by a woodland era archaeological site near Loring Hill south of the town center. At the time of European contact,

4407-587: The Brussels-Capital Region ); western Switzerland (specifically the cantons forming the Romandy region); parts of Luxembourg; parts of the United States (the states of Louisiana, Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont); Monaco; the Aosta Valley region of Italy; and various communities elsewhere. French is estimated to have about 310 million speakers, of which about 80 million are native speakers. According to

4520-654: The Cotting School , Ipswitch , and Lexington Public Schools . Lexington is a sister city of: French language French ( français [fʁɑ̃sɛ] or langue française [lɑ̃ɡ fʁɑ̃sɛːz] ) is a Romance language of the Indo-European family . Like all other Romance languages, it descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire . French evolved from Gallo-Romance ,

4633-600: The Democratic Republic of Congo . There is not a single African French , but multiple forms that diverged through contact with various indigenous African languages . Sub-Saharan Africa is the region where the French language is most likely to expand, because of the expansion of education and rapid population growth. It is also where the language has evolved the most in recent years. Some vernacular forms of French in Africa can be difficult to understand for French speakers from other countries, but written forms of

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4746-509: The Democratic Republic of the Congo . In some North African countries, though not having official status, it is also a first language among some upper classes of the population alongside indigenous languages, but only a second one among the general population. In 2015, approximately 40% of the Francophone population (including L2 and partial speakers) lived in Europe, 36% in sub-Saharan Africa and

4859-530: The European Union , French was the dominant language within all institutions until the 1990s. After several enlargements of the EU (1995, 2004), French significantly lost ground in favour of English, which is more widely spoken and taught in most EU countries. French currently remains one of the three working languages, or "procedural languages", of the EU, along with English and German. It is the second-most widely used language within EU institutions after English, but remains

4972-547: The Francien dialect is one that not only continued but also thrived during the Middle French period (14th–17th centuries). Modern French grew out of this Francien dialect. Grammatically, during the period of Middle French, noun declensions were lost and there began to be standardized rules. Robert Estienne published the first Latin-French dictionary, which included information about phonetics, etymology, and grammar. Politically,

5085-399: The French colonial empire , there are numerous French-based creole languages , most notably Haitian Creole . A French-speaking person or nation may be referred to as Francophone in both English and French. French is an official language in 27 countries , as well as one of the most geographically widespread languages in the world, with about 50 countries and territories having it as

5198-820: The International Olympic Committee , the Council of Europe , the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development , Organization of American States (alongside Spanish, Portuguese and English), the Eurovision Song Contest , one of eighteen official languages of the European Space Agency , World Trade Organization and the least used of the three official languages in the North American Free Trade Agreement countries. It

5311-705: The NEML , the American Mathematics Competitions (AMC), and in the Intermediate Math League of Eastern Massachusetts (IMLEM). Clarke's current run of seven consecutive IMLEM championships was immediately preceded by nine consecutive championships by Diamond. Two Lexington natives have won the Mathcounts national championship: Jonathan L. Weinstein in 1991 and Alec Sun in 2013. William Diamond Middle School has also won many second and third place titles at

5424-609: The Oaths of Strasbourg and the Sequence of Saint Eulalia , while Old French literature began to be produced in the eleventh century, with major early works often focusing on the lives of saints (such as the Vie de Saint Alexis ), or wars and royal courts, notably including the Chanson de Roland , epic cycles focused on King Arthur and his court , as well as a cycle focused on William of Orange . It

5537-657: The Puritan Great Migration . In 1639, the Massachusetts General Court purchased the land that would become present-day Lexington, then within the boundaries of Cambridge , from the Naumkeag Squaw Sachem of Mistick . The area that is now Lexington was first settled c.  1642 as part of Cambridge, Massachusetts . As the population increased, Lexington was incorporated as a separate parish, called Cambridge Farms, in 1691. This allowed

5650-687: The Red Line through Lexington, terminating in Bedford. Despite Lexington and Bedford being on board with the idea, Arlington residents lobbied against the plan and it was shot down by the Board of Selectmen. Lexington, as well as many of the towns along the Route 128 corridor, experienced a jump in population in the 1960s and 1970s, due to the high-tech boom. Today, many companies are still moving into Lexington, with Takeda and BAE Systems both having major operations within

5763-488: The United States Census Bureau , the town has a total area of 16.5 square miles (42.8 km ), of which 16.4 square miles (42.5 km ) is land and 0.1 square miles (0.4 km ), or 0.85%, is water. Lexington is bordered by Burlington , Woburn , Winchester , Arlington , Belmont , Waltham , Lincoln , and Bedford . It has more area than all other municipalities that it borders. As of

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5876-735: The World Trade Organization , the International Olympic Committee , the General Conference on Weights and Measures , and the International Committee of the Red Cross . French is a Romance language (meaning that it is descended primarily from Vulgar Latin ) that evolved out of the Gallo-Romance dialects spoken in northern France. The language's early forms include Old French and Middle French . Due to Roman rule, Latin

5989-590: The census of 2010, there had been 31,394 people, 11,530 households, and 8,807 families residing in the town. The population density was 1,851.0 inhabitants per square mile (714.7/km ). There were 12,019 housing units at an average density of 691.1 per square mile (266.8/km ). The racial makeup of the town was 68.6% White , 25.4% Asian (15.4% Chinese , 4.8% Asian Indian , 3.2% Korean ), 1.5% Black or African American , 0.1% Native American , 0.0% Pacific Islander , 0.5% from other races , and 2.6% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.3% of

6102-455: The 1990s) but these varieties are severely endangered or presumed extinct. French is one of two official languages in Haiti alongside Haitian Creole . It is the principal language of education, administration, business, and public signage and is spoken by all educated Haitians. It is also used for ceremonial events such as weddings, graduations, and church masses. The vast majority of the population speaks Haitian Creole as their first language;

6215-474: The 20th century, when it was replaced by English as the United States became the dominant global power following the Second World War . Stanley Meisler of the Los Angeles Times said that the fact that the Treaty of Versailles was written in English as well as French was the "first diplomatic blow" against the language. During the Grand Siècle (17th century), France, under the rule of powerful leaders such as Cardinal Richelieu and Louis XIV , enjoyed

6328-437: The 8th grade teams are named Alliance , Fusion , Harmony , and Unity . Along with many other extra-curricular activities, Diamond has a school newspaper, called the "Diamond Press",(previously known as the Diamond Dispatch) which is run by the students and a 6th grade English teacher. In addition, a fall play and winter musical are staged every year in the fall and winter respectively. Both productions are collaborated upon by

6441-510: The Canadian capital, is also effectively bilingual, as it has a large population of federal government workers, who are required to offer services in both French and English, and is just across the river from the Quebecois city of Gatineau . According to the United States Census Bureau (2011), French is the fourth most spoken language in the United States after English, Spanish, and Chinese, when all forms of French are considered together and all dialects of Chinese are similarly combined. French

6554-614: The Caribbean that are collectively referred to as the French West Indies , namely Guadeloupe , Saint Barthélemy , Saint Martin , and Martinique . French is the official language of both French Guiana on the South American continent, and of Saint Pierre and Miquelon , an archipelago off the coast of Newfoundland in North America. French was the official language of the colony of French Indochina , comprising modern-day Vietnam , Laos , and Cambodia . It continues to be an administrative language in Laos and Cambodia, although its influence has waned in recent decades. In colonial Vietnam,

6667-408: The Empire, this local elite had been slowly abandoning Gaulish entirely, but the rural and lower class populations remained Gaulish speakers who could sometimes also speak Latin or Greek. The final language shift from Gaulish to Vulgar Latin among rural and lower class populations occurred later, when both they and the incoming Frankish ruler/military class adopted the Gallo-Roman Vulgar Latin speech of

6780-416: The Germanic Frankish language , which non-exhaustively included the use in upper-class speech and higher registers of V2 word order , a large percentage of the vocabulary (now at around 15% of modern French vocabulary ) including the impersonal singular pronoun on (a calque of Germanic man ), and the name of the language itself. Up until its later stages, Old French , alongside Old Occitan , maintained

6893-410: The High-Performing National Blue Ribbon Award in 2013. The 6th grade teams are named Atlantis , Quest , and Voyager ; the 7th grade teams are named Enterprise (legacy), Endeavor , Adventurer , and Explorer ; and the 8th grade teams are named Apollo , Artemis , Discovery , and Curiosity . The S.G.A. (student government association) is the student-run government of Clarke. Clarke also has

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7006-410: The Indian Ocean, 15% in North Africa and the Middle East, 8% in the Americas, and 1% in Asia and Oceania. French is the second most widely spoken mother tongue in the European Union . Of Europeans who speak other languages natively, approximately one-fifth are able to speak French as a second language. French is the second most taught foreign language in the EU. All institutions of the EU use French as

7119-441: The Latin spoken in Gaul , and more specifically in Northern Gaul. Its closest relatives are the other langues d'oïl —languages historically spoken in northern France and in southern Belgium, which French ( Francien ) largely supplanted. French was also influenced by native Celtic languages of Northern Roman Gaul like Gallia Belgica and by the ( Germanic ) Frankish language of the post-Roman Frankish invaders. Today, owing to

7232-402: The OIF, approximately 321 million people worldwide are "able to speak the language" as of 2022, without specifying the criteria for this estimation or whom it encompasses. In Francophone Africa, it is spoken mainly as a second language. However it has also become a native language in a number of urban areas, especially in regions like Ivory Coast , Cameroon , Gabon, Madagascar , and

7345-411: The Revolutionary War, Lexington grew modestly while remaining largely a farming community, providing Boston with much of its produce. Many of these farms became dense housing developments and subdivisions by the 1970s. One notable housing development was the Peacock Farm residential neighborhood . It was designed by architect Walter Pierce and was built between 1952 and 1958. As of 2012, the neighborhood

7458-423: The School Committee chairman. Article LXXXIX Section 8 of the Massachusetts Constitution permits towns with a population greater than 12,000 to adopt a city form of government. The Town of Lexington meets the population requirement to become a city, but has not done so, in part because it would lose its ability to engage citizens in local government under the Representative Town Meeting form of government. Lexington

7571-567: The Science Olympiads over the past few years. Both schools have a plethora of other clubs and teams. The school is named after William Diamond, the 16-year-old drummer for the Lexington Minutemen during the Battle of Lexington and Concord . The current principal at Diamond is Marlon Davis, and the assistant principals are Bayard Klimasmith and Elizabeth Sharp. The current names of the 6th grade teams are Innovator , Pathfinder , Adventurer , and Discoverer . The 7th Grade Teams are named Determination , Fortitude , Resilience , and Tenacity.

7684-468: The USAF " Experimental SAGE Subsector " for testing a prototype IBM computer that arrived in July 1955 for development of a computerized "national air defense network" (the namesake " Lexington Discrimination System " for incoming ICBM warheads was developed in the late 1960s). Lexington is located at 42°26′39″N 71°13′36″W  /  42.44417°N 71.22667°W  / 42.44417; -71.22667 (42.444345, −71.226928). According to

7797-439: The area may have been a border region between Naumkeag or Pawtucket to the northeast, Massachusett to the south, and Nipmuc to the west, though the land was eventually purchased from the Naumkeag. The contact period introduced a number of European infectious diseases which would decimate native populations in virgin soil epidemics , leaving the area largely uncontested upon the arrival of large groups of English settlers in

7910-405: The average family size was 3.10. In the town, the population was spread out, with 26.4% under the age of 18, 3.5% from 18 to 24, 22.7% from 25 to 44, 28.5% from 45 to 64, and 19.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 44 years. For every 100 females, there were 88.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 83.5 males. In 2018, the mean home price was $ 910,584, and

8023-420: The city limits. The urbanization and massive job growth resulted in soaring property values, and the school system becoming nationally recognized for its excellence. The town participates in the METCO program, which buses minority students from Boston to suburban towns to receive better educational opportunities than those available to them in the Boston Public Schools. Lexington was the Cold War location of

8136-460: The correctness and the normalcy of homosexuality " and same-sex marriage . The bulk of the legality of the controversy revolved around whether parents have a right to receive parental notification and opt their elementary school children out of such content. Federal courts ruled against the Parkers. The school was torn down and rebuilt in time for the 2014–15 school year due to PCB contamination. This

8249-627: The danger by two alarm riders, Paul Revere and William Dawes , who alerted the countryside of the British military movements. When the British arrived on the Lexington Common not long after sunrise, they faced 77 men of the Lexington militia, commanded by Captain John Parker . Someone — still unknown to this day — fired a shot, provoking an exchange of musket fire between the two sides. Eight Lexington militia men were killed, dozens more wounded. After

8362-508: The demographic prospects of the French-speaking nations of Africa, researcher Pascal-Emmanuel Gobry wrote in 2014 that French "could be the language of the future". However, some African countries such as Algeria intermittently attempted to eradicate the use of French, and as of 2024 it was removed as an official language in Mali and Burkina Faso . Significant as a judicial language, French

8475-591: The drama and technical departments, with the addition of the chorus department for the musical. Students have the option of auditioning for the cast or applying for the stage crew. Although Diamond does not have a formal student-run government, the Student Council determines spirit days, fundraisers, and other matters. Many of the 7th and 8th grade French and Spanish classes compete in the National French Exam and National Spanish Exam, respectively. The school

8588-448: The economic power of the countries using the language, the number of major areas in which the language is used, and the linguistic prestige associated with the mastery of the language (Weber highlighted that French in particular enjoys considerable linguistic prestige). In a 2008 reassessment of his article, Weber concluded that his findings were still correct since "the situation among the top ten remains unchanged." Knowledge of French

8701-585: The elites primarily spoke French, while many servants who worked in French households spoke a French pidgin known as " Tây Bồi " (now extinct). After French rule ended, South Vietnam continued to use French in administration, education, and trade. However, since the Fall of Saigon and the opening of a unified Vietnam's economy, French has gradually been effectively displaced as the first foreign language of choice by English in Vietnam. Nevertheless, it continues to be taught as

8814-670: The first battle of the American Revolutionary War , the Battle at Lexington , took place. On the night of April 18, the British Army sent out 800 grenadiers and light infantry soldiers on foot from Boston , with the intention of destroying Colonial gunpowder and cannons that were being stored in Concord , as well as capturing two leaders of the Sons of Liberty , John Hancock and Samuel Adams , who were staying in Lexington. Hancock and Adams were warned of

8927-506: The first government authority to adopt Modern French as official was the Aosta Valley in 1536, while the Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts (1539) named French the language of law in the Kingdom of France . During the 17th century, French replaced Latin as the most important language of diplomacy and international relations ( lingua franca ). It retained this role until approximately the middle of

9040-858: The former Yugoslavia , International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda , the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea the International Criminal Court and the World Trade Organization Appellate Body . It is the sole internal working language of the Court of Justice of the European Union , and makes with English the European Court of Human Rights 's two working languages. In 1997, George Weber published, in Language Today ,

9153-818: The gender of the corresponding word in Gaulish. The estimated number of French words that can be attributed to Gaulish is placed at 154 by the Petit Robert , which is often viewed as representing standardized French, while if non-standard dialects are included, the number increases to 240. Known Gaulish loans are skewed toward certain semantic fields, such as plant life ( chêne , bille , etc.), animals ( mouton , cheval , etc.), nature ( boue , etc.), domestic activities (ex. berceau ), farming and rural units of measure ( arpent , lieue , borne , boisseau ), weapons, and products traded regionally rather than further afield. This semantic distribution has been attributed to peasants being

9266-450: The language are very closely related to those of the rest of the French-speaking world. French is the second most commonly spoken language in Canada and one of two federal official languages alongside English. As of the 2021 Canadian census , it was the native language of 7.7 million people (21% of the population) and the second language of 2.9 million (8% of the population). French

9379-474: The language, although it has now given way to Tamil and English. A former French mandate , Lebanon designates Arabic as the sole official language, while a special law regulates cases when French can be publicly used. Article 11 of Lebanon's Constitution states that "Arabic is the official national language. A law determines the cases in which the French language is to be used". The French language in Lebanon

9492-602: The language. The Act applies to areas of the province where there are significant Francophone communities, namely Eastern Ontario and Northern Ontario . Elsewhere, sizable French-speaking minorities are found in southern Manitoba, Nova Scotia , Prince Edward Island and the Port au Port Peninsula in Newfoundland and Labrador, where the unique Newfoundland French dialect was historically spoken. Smaller pockets of French speakers exist in all other provinces. The Ontarian city of Ottawa ,

9605-475: The last to hold onto Gaulish. The beginning of French in Gaul was greatly influenced by Germanic invasions into the country. These invasions had the greatest impact on the northern part of the country and on the language there. A language divide began to grow across the country. The population in the north spoke langue d'oïl while the population in the south spoke langue d'oc . Langue d'oïl grew into what

9718-743: The local Lexington High School . In 2012, 2017, 2018, 2023, and 2024, Lexington High School won the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) National Science Bowl competition. In 2019 and 2021, Jonas Clarke Middle School won the National Middle School Science Bowl competition. Elementary Schools Middle Schools High Schools Lexington is home to the Lexington Symphony, which performs regularly at Cary Hall. Major employers in Lexington include Takeda (formerly Shire ), BAE Systems , MIT Lincoln Laboratory , Novo Nordisk , Agilent , Global Insight , CareOne ,

9831-510: The median household income was highest for mixed race households, at $ 263,321. Hispanic households had a median income of $ 233,875. Asian households had a median income of $ 178,988. White households had a median income of $ 154,533. Black households had a median income of $ 139,398. American Indian or Alaskan Native households had a median income of $ 125,139. As of 2022, Lexington had the highest Asian population in Massachusetts, reflecting 32% of

9944-462: The median price of a house was $ 1,050,821. According to a 2018 estimate, the median income for a household in the town was $ 191,350, and the median income for a family was $ 218,890. Males had a median income of $ 101,334 versus $ 77,923 for females. The per capita income for the town was $ 70,132. About 1.8% of families and 3.4% of the population were below the poverty line , including 3.2% of those under age 18 and 3.4% of those age 65 or over. By race,

10057-420: The necessity and means to annihilate the patois and to universalize the use of the French language". When public education was made compulsory , only French was taught and the use of any other ( patois ) language was punished. The goals of the public school system were made especially clear to the French-speaking teachers sent to teach students in regions such as Occitania and Brittany . Instructions given by

10170-540: The opportunity to attend the regional vocational school, Minuteman Regional High School, and a few each year decide to take the opportunity. Additionally, some students that go through the Lexington Public Schools system prefer to attend regional private schools. The current interim principal at Lexington High School is Andrew Baker, and the interim assistant principal is Dan Melia. There are five deans: Scott Kmack, Nicole Canniff, Habiba Davis, Patrick Larkin, and Linda Bartlett. Lexington, Massachusetts Lexington

10283-810: The option to take a sequence of courses in French , Spanish , or Mandarin Chinese . The Mandarin Language program is ranked one of the best Mandarin Language programs in the country, and the school and Mandarin teachers have received many awards, such as the Confucius Institute Award and various cash and technological prizes from the Chinese Government . Top students in Spanish have the opportunity to visit Costa Rica , or in past and recent years, Spain , as part of

10396-528: The other main foreign language in the Vietnamese educational system and is regarded as a cultural language. All three countries are full members of La Francophonie (OIF). French was the official language of French India , consisting of the geographically separate enclaves referred to as Puducherry . It continued to be an official language of the territory even after its cession to India in 1956 until 1965. A small number of older locals still retain knowledge of

10509-410: The population. There were 11,530 households, out of which 38.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 66.0% were married couples living together, 7.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 24.1% were non-families. Of all households, 20.8% were made up of individuals, and 12.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.66 and

10622-544: The population. Thirty-three percent of Lexington residents were born outside of the United States. This racial diversity is largely reflected in the Lexington Public Schools, where Asians compose over 45% of the student population. MBTA bus operates three routes that connect with the Red Line at Alewife station in Cambridge . The city of Lexington operates three weekday bus routes via its own Lexpress service, with their inbound terminus being Depot Square . The town uses

10735-462: The preferred language of certain institutions or administrations such as the Court of Justice of the European Union , where it is the sole internal working language, or the Directorate-General for Agriculture . Since 2016, Brexit has rekindled discussions on whether or not French should again hold greater role within the institutions of the European Union. A leading world language , French

10848-447: The residents to have their own local church and minister, although they were still under jurisdiction of the Town of Cambridge. Lexington was incorporated as a separate town in 1713. It was then that it got the name Lexington. How the town received its name is the subject of some controversy. One view is that it was named in honor of Lord Lexington , an English peer . Another view is that it

10961-464: The rest largely speak French as a first language. As a French Creole language , Haitian Creole draws the large majority of its vocabulary from French, with influences from West African languages, as well as several European languages. It is closely related to Louisiana Creole and the creole from the Lesser Antilles . French is the sole official language of all the overseas territories of France in

11074-663: The rout, the British marched on toward Concord. There, several hundred militia and minute men from nearby towns assembled near the Old North Bridge to turn back the British and prevent them from capturing and destroying the Colony's stores of gunpowder and military equipment. Today, the town annually commemorates the battle on the Battle Green in the Downtown with a reenactment, as part of its Patriots Day festivities. For decades after

11187-462: The total number of French speakers will reach approximately 500 million in 2025 and 650 million by 2050, largely due to rapid population growth in sub-Saharan Africa . OIF estimates 700 million French speakers by 2050, 80% of whom will be in Africa. In a study published in March 2014 by Forbes , the investment bank Natixis said that French could become the world's most spoken language by 2050. In

11300-673: The two official languages—along with Dutch —of the Brussels-Capital Region , where it is spoken by the majority of the population (approx. 80%), often as their primary language. French is one of the four official languages of Switzerland, along with German, Italian, and Romansh , and is spoken in the western part of Switzerland, called Romandy , of which Geneva is the largest city. The language divisions in Switzerland do not coincide with political subdivisions, and some cantons have bilingual status: for example, cities such as Biel/Bienne and cantons such as Valais , Fribourg and Bern . French

11413-508: The urban intellectual elite. The Gaulish language likely survived into the sixth century in France despite considerable Romanization . Coexisting with Latin, Gaulish helped shape the Vulgar Latin dialects that developed into French contributing loanwords and calques (including oui , the word for "yes"), sound changes shaped by Gaulish influence, and influences in conjugation and word order. Recent computational studies suggest that early gender shifts may have been motivated by

11526-479: The use of French in official government publications, public education except in specific cases, and legal contracts; advertisements must bear a translation of foreign words. In Belgium, French is an official language at the federal level along with Dutch and German. At the regional level, French is the sole official language of Wallonia (excluding a part of the East Cantons , which are German-speaking ) and one of

11639-399: The vote, to Coakley 's 64%. The Lexington Police Department (LPD) is responsible for law enforcement in the town of Lexington, handling investigations, patrol, and traffic safety/control, with 51 sworn officers. They also host a youth academy for children aged 12–17 as well as a Police Explorers Program (For high school students interested in the comprehensive learning of Law Enforcement). It

11752-481: The workplace. In 2011, Bloomberg Businessweek ranked French the third most useful language for business, after English and Standard Mandarin Chinese . In English-speaking Canada, the United Kingdom, and Ireland, French is the first foreign language taught and in number of pupils is far ahead of other languages. In the United States, French is the second-most commonly taught foreign language in schools and universities, although well behind Spanish. In some areas of

11865-402: The world's French-speaking population lives in Africa. According to a 2023 estimate from the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie , an estimated 167 million African people spread across 35 countries and territories can speak French as either a first or a second language . This number does not include the people living in non-Francophone African countries who have learned French as

11978-791: Was during the period of the Crusades in which French became so dominant in the Mediterranean Sea that became a lingua franca ("Frankish language"), and because of increased contact with the Arabs during the Crusades who referred to them as Franj , numerous Arabic loanwords entered French, such as amiral (admiral), alcool (alcohol), coton (cotton) and sirop (syrop), as well as scientific terms such as algébre (algebra), alchimie (alchemy) and zéro (zero). Within Old French many dialects emerged but

12091-400: Was gradually adopted by the inhabitants of Gaul. As the language was learned by the common people, it developed a distinct local character, with grammatical differences from Latin as spoken elsewhere, some of which is attested in graffiti. This local variety evolved into the Gallo-Romance tongues, which include French and its closest relatives, such as Arpitan . The evolution of Latin in Gaul

12204-633: Was known in the Occitan-speaking region as Vergonha . Spoken by 19.71% of the European Union's population, French is the third most widely spoken language in the EU, after English and German and the second-most-widely taught language after English. Under the Constitution of France , French has been the official language of the Republic since 1992, although the Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts made it mandatory for legal documents in 1539. France mandates

12317-563: Was named after Lexington (which was pronounced and is today spelled Laxton ) in Nottinghamshire , England . In the early colonial days, Vine Brook , which runs through Lexington, Burlington , and Bedford , and then empties into the Shawsheen River , was a focal point of the farming and industry of the town. It provided water for many types of mills, and in the 20th century, for farm irrigation. On April 19, 1775, what many regard as

12430-601: Was on the National Register of Historic Places . Lexington always had a bustling downtown area, which remains to this day. Lexington began to prosper, helped by its proximity to Boston, and having a rail line (originally the Lexington and West Cambridge Railroad , later the Boston and Maine Railroad ) service its citizens and businesses, beginning in 1846 until 1981. In 1984, Due to the rapid urbanization that occurred in many other suburbs like Lexington, The MBTA proposed expanding

12543-575: Was shaped by its coexistence for over half a millennium beside the native Celtic Gaulish language , which did not go extinct until the late sixth century, long after the fall of the Western Roman Empire . The population remained 90% indigenous in origin; the Romanizing class were the local native elite (not Roman settlers), whose children learned Latin in Roman schools. At the time of the collapse of

12656-637: Was the first time in the United States that a school was torn down for that reason. Fiske Elementary is named for the Fiske family, which circa 1678 was the first family to settle on East Street. The current principal at Fiske is Brian Baker. The current facility was constructed between 2005 and 2007. A Fiske that was formerly located on Maple Street adjacent to Harrington Elementary School closed in February 2007, reopening as an office building, Lexington Public Schools Administrative Offices, in 2008. Harrington Elementary

12769-554: Was the language they use the most at home rose from 67% at the 2007 census to 74% at the 2017 census. In Wallis and Futuna, the percentage of the population who reported that French was the language they use the most at home rose from 10% at the 2008 census to 13% at the 2018 census. According to a demographic projection led by the Université Laval and the Réseau Démographie de l'Agence universitaire de la Francophonie ,

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