NCLG

Why Latin in Middle School?

Why do we require Latin as a core academic course in the Middle School? This is a natural question as the Lower School enrichment program features Spanish.

St. Margaret's Middle School has emphasized Latin as the mandatory foreign language experience for at least twelve years, actually predating the Spanish enrichment program in Lower School. We deliberated long and hard about requiring Latin, and our on-going evaluation of the Middle School program in its entirety confirms our commitment to Latin. Some of the reasons for our firm position include vocabulary development, improved reading skills, increased grammatical competence, a full understanding of Western European traditions, character education, and preparation for modern Romance languages.

Our Middle School Latin program directly and uniquely supports our English program. Educational research unequivocally confirms a connection between the study of Latin and vocabulary development in English. Latin students develop greater reading comprehension and "word attack" skills that  come with the ability to recognize root meanings in unfamiliar words. Also, Latin's very nature demands a thorough understanding of the parts of speech and the components of a complete English sentence. Obviously, this supports our students' composition skills.

As a required course in our sixth and seventh grades, Latin provides a common experience and theme for our Middle School. Our interdisciplinary, thematic units integrate Latin into the fabric of our studies and the units themselves are often driven by the content of our Latin courses. Our annual "Dies Latina" celebrates not only Roman culture and the Latin language but our common, unifying heritage as well.

St. Margaret's Middle School has an unabashed focus on the role of Western European civilization in history and on our lives. Do not confuse this stance with intolerance or lack of interest in multiculturalism. Understanding the profound impact of Rome and Eastern Europe on today's world provides a foundation for students to accept other cultures. Hispanic students in particular learn to see themselves as heirs to a tradition centuries old, not just newcomers in an alien world. 

Our Middle School does rightfully claim to be academically rigorous, and we firmly believe that important character development results when students tackle subjects they perceive to be difficult. Students emerge with an expanded sense of capacity only achieved by those who are challenged and held to a higher standard.

Upon reaching 8th grade, students (and their parents) may select from four language choices. For the last three years, most students have elected to continue in Latin. In this year's eighth grade class, we have forty students in Latin IB, twenty-seven in Spanish I (eight of whom are new to St. Margaret's and therefore ineligible for Latin), fourteen in French, and five in Japanese. Students "vote with their feet" and they, along with their parents, clearly support Latin as a Middle School experience.

After completing two or three years of Latin in the Middle School, students in our Upper School who elect to take a Romance language report that they find French and Spanish easier to learn because of their understanding of Latin. Indeed, Latin is a highly regular, basic language that provides the linguistic foundation for Latin's less  regular "children" -- Spanish and French. And if Advance Placement scores are any indication, our Upper School language program is highly successful. Our Upper School foreign language teachers (including the Spanish teachers) firmly believe that the Middle School Latin program contributes to this success.

Peter Relic, current president of the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS), recently wrote about the future of education, offering many bold innovations such as long-distance schooling; schools without sites; no SAT's; a thirteen-year sequence of Spanish, French, Arabic, or Japanese; and the abandonment of the 180 day school year, just to mention a few.  But he added, "I am not necessarily advocating any of these. I think that a middle school requirement of Latin for all students might be more important than any of them!"

Our Middle School has grown very rapidly in the last several years, and we currently enroll at each grade level more students than any other division at SMES.  Our growth has been fueled by a demand for a traditional, rigorous academic program. Virtually every new parent has expressed to Judy Haidinger, our Director of Admissions, or to me that our requirement of Latin signals our high expectations.  In a time when schools are accused of "dumbing down" the curriculum or lowering standards, our school stands firmly committed to a course that is more than a simple language class; Latin is our proud cachet.

David Boyle
Assistant Headmaster, Middle School Principal
San Juan Capistrano, CA

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