Latin as a world language?

[Anonymous]

Is Latin only offered at some high schools? My child is zoned for Einstein, and I only see Spanish, French, and Japanese. Is there a way to take a language not offered at the home school in MCPS? I thought with the IB program, there might be more language options at Einstein…

[Anonymous]

I think you can only take ones at your home school, though it might be worth asking if there are additional classes through the virtual academy (if your child can be successful that way).

[Anonymous]

They lack the teachers. Latin, in particular, has always been a difficult hire.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think you can only take ones at your home school, though it might be worth asking if there are additional classes through the virtual academy (if your child can be successful that way).

I believe the virtual academy has Spanish, French, and ASL only.

[Anonymous]

Thanks. I didn’t see it in the virtual academy classes, but I’m going to ask the school if it would be possible through dual enrollment since it’s a class listed at Montgomery College.

[Anonymous]

My son took 4 years of Latin at Walter Johnson, including AP Latin. We're European and speak our native language at home, so he took the AP exam for that as well (the exam was at his high school, but he did not take the classes in MCPS).

When the Virtual Academy opened during the pandemic, they only offered Spanish and French. I believe Walt Whitman has the largest offering of languages, since it has the State Department-desired Russian, Arabic, Mandarin, in addition to Japanese, Italian and the usual Spanish and French. But it doesn't have Latin!

I'm now resigned to the fact that MCPS high schools differ significantly in their course offerings, since I have teens and we've been here since they started in elementary. But at first, I was shocked and displeased. It's not exactly equitable to offer different things for different populations.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My son took 4 years of Latin at Walter Johnson, including AP Latin. We're European and speak our native language at home, so he took the AP exam for that as well (the exam was at his high school, but he did not take the classes in MCPS).

When the Virtual Academy opened during the pandemic, they only offered Spanish and French. I believe Walt Whitman has the largest offering of languages, since it has the State Department-desired Russian, Arabic, Mandarin, in addition to Japanese, Italian and the usual Spanish and French. But it doesn't have Latin!

I'm now resigned to the fact that MCPS high schools differ significantly in their course offerings, since I have teens and we've been here since they started in elementary. But at first, I was shocked and displeased. It's not exactly equitable to offer different things for different populations.

Yes, totally agree!

[Anonymous]

Despite trying hard, equity can only stretch so far.

[Anonymous]

My daughter wanted to continue with Latin but it is not being offered at Blair anymore. Apparently no teacher this coming school year. She is switching to ASL

[Anonymous]

WJ still offers Latin.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Despite trying hard, equity can only stretch so far.

As long as the County Council continues to underfund the school budget, as they have for 25 years or more.

[Anonymous]

As a data point, my son is a rising 10th grader at Wootton and takes Latin. He tells me that his teacher covers multiple high schools and that it was announced that Latin is being phased out at Wootton. Supposedly the program will be supported for the next few years as students age out but no new students.

I guess this is equity at work? Though I am willing to accept that the demand/appreciation of Latin and classical education is in decline.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As a data point, my son is a rising 10th grader at Wootton and takes Latin. He tells me that his teacher covers multiple high schools and that it was announced that Latin is being phased out at Wootton. Supposedly the program will be supported for the next few years as students age out but no new students.

I guess this is equity at work? Though I am willing to accept that the demand/appreciation of Latin and classical education is in decline.

I think some folks like to blame "equity" for everything, but in this case I think it's just supply/demand and teacher shortage. MCPS has been fine with offering disparate options in terms of WL, and they have not pulled back on Japanese or Russian at highly segregated schools.

Latin is not in demand at the HS level, teachers are hard to come by, and sometimes it's okay to shift resources from an under-subscribed course to an over-subscribed one.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a data point, my son is a rising 10th grader at Wootton and takes Latin. He tells me that his teacher covers multiple high schools and that it was announced that Latin is being phased out at Wootton. Supposedly the program will be supported for the next few years as students age out but no new students.

I guess this is equity at work? Though I am willing to accept that the demand/appreciation of Latin and classical education is in decline.

I think some folks like to blame "equity" for everything, but in this case I think it's just supply/demand and teacher shortage. MCPS has been fine with offering disparate options in terms of WL, and they have not pulled back on Japanese or Russian at highly segregated schools.

Latin is not in demand at the HS level, teachers are hard to come by, and sometimes it's okay to shift resources from an under-subscribed course to an over-subscribed one.

I just think it stands to reason that every school should have a common curriculum, with identical offerings, with the exception of stand-alone programs for special education and magnets, since these are open to out-of-cluster students, and buses are offered, which makes them accessible to the wider student body.

[Anonymous]

Richard Montgomery offers Latin. Unfortunately DC can't take because they need a modern language for IB.