Cheryl Lowe founded Highlands Latin School after decades of work in education. Her approach has proven that a focus on an academic school culture, within a classical Christian setting, leads to impressive results. Highlands Latin is a small family school but is ranked in the top 1% in the nation on the ITBS Standardized Test for K-8, and has the highest 5-year average SAT and ACT scores in Louisville.

SAT Scores

* Current year in progress

2011 National Latin Exam

Each year, nearly 140,000 students participate in the prestigious National Latin Exam competing for awards and medals based on proficiency in Latin translation and grammar. Out of 1,211 students taking the test in Kentucky, Highlands Latin students were only 10% of the test takers but received 88% of the perfect scores and 37% of the gold medals in the state.

Highlands Latin School uses the Iowa Test of Basic Skills (ITBS) to test every student in Kindergarten-8th Grade. We selected the ITBS because it is one of the longest running (since 1936), most respected, standardized tests in the country. It has been administered for years with little change, providing a consistent and relevant comparison of our students against others across the country.

2011 ITBS Results

For 2011, HLS scored in the top 1% of all schools taking the ITBS for the seventh year in a row. HLS students scored an average of 3.7 grades above their actual grade level. The grade equivalency chart below includes scores for each grade.

HLS 7th and 8th grades received the maximum possible grade equivalency on the ITBS, 13+.

An important series of numbers for parents is the longitudinal change in our students’ scores each year they attend Highlands Latin. An outperforming school should increase grade equivalency relative to actual grade each year a student attends. At Highlands Latin, our kindergarten students score about 2 grades above their grade level. By 6th grade, our students score almost 6 grades above their grade level. By 7th grade, they exceed the upper grade equivalency limit for the ITBS. Put simply, for each year our students attend Highlands Latin, they improve about 1.6 years in comparison to the average student.

2010 ITBS Results

For 2010, HLS scored in the top 1% of all schools taking the ITBS for the sixth year in a row.

2009 ITBS Results

For 2009, HLS scored in the top 1% of all schools taking the ITBS for the fifth year in a row.

2008 ITBS Results

For 2008, HLS scored in the top 1% of all schools taking the ITBS for the fourth year in a row.  For the second year, both the 7th and 8th grades scored the highest possible grade equivalency of 13+.

2007 ITBS Results

For 2007, HLS scored in the top 1% of all schools taking the ITBS for the third year in a row.  For the first time, both the 7th and 8th grades scored the highest possible grade equivalency of 13+.
Below is a grade equivalent graph. HLS students scored an average of 3.5 grades above their actual grade level, an improvement over 3.36 for 2006 and 3.25 for 2005.

For the first time, we were able to run longitudinal statistics for students attending HLS for three or more years.  Students who have attended HLS for three or more years scored an average of 3.81 grades above their actual grade, and the students increased their grade equivalency an average of 1.74 years for each year they attended HLS.

2006 ITBS Results

For 2006, HLS scored in the top 1% of all schools taking the ITBS for the second year in a row.

2005 ITBS Results

For 2005, HLS scored in the top 1% of all schools taking the ITBS.