Latin Curriculum at Highlands Latin School

The study of the classical language, Latin, is the core of a classical education. Latin begins as early as second grade and continues every year, culminating in the translation of Latin literature in grades 9-12.

All new students in both the lower and upper schools are enrolled in an age-appropriate beginning Latin class. New students join with more advanced students in the Upper or Lower School Latin Choir and Assembly. The Latin Choirs are directed by Dr. Louis Bailey and the Latin Assemblies by the Headmistress, Mrs. Lowe.

The Latin Assembly features individual and group recitation of Latin prayers and the full Latin grammar. It aids new students in learning the grammar and provides much needed drill and review for more advanced students. The Latin Choirs sing classical music in both Latin and English and perform in the Christmas and Holy Week Cantatas.

The Latin Curriculum follows a traditional scope and sequence and is consistent with the grammar, logic, and rhetoric stages of the trivium:

The Grammar School, grades 3-6, emphasizes the memorization of the Latin grammar by the ancient method of oral recitation and form drills.
Grades 6-8 focus on the study of syntax and beginning translation using memorized music, prayers, and other readings such as Aesop's Fables and the Gospel of Mark.
Grades 9-12 read Latin literature - Caesar, Cicero, and Vergil.
Students who enroll in Latin in middle and high school follow the same sequence but at an accelerated pace.

Memorizing the Latin grammar is a great challenge and thrill for students. The mastery of the grammar greatly enhances English language skills and builds the kind of confidence that comes only from great achievement. Latin develops the mind of the young student like no other subject. There is no substitute for the mental development provided by the study of the Latin grammar. Our Latin program is unique in that, for those students who begin in the Lower School, it achieves mastery of the Latin grammar before high school, a practice which was the norm prior to the 20th century, but is unknown today.

Most of the classroom materials used to teach the Latin grammar (Prima Latina, Latina Christiana, Lingua Angelica, and the First Form Series) have been developed by Mrs. Leigh Lowe and the Headmistress, Mrs. Cheryl Lowe. For Latin literature, Henle is used for Caesar and Cicero. Pharr's Aeneid is studied for two years to prepare for the AP Latin Exam.