Norwood High School to Drop Latin Program Due to Dwindling Enrollment-September 27, 1990

Citing declining student interest and a lack of cost-effectiveness, Norwood school administrators announced last night that Latin courses will officially be cut from the high school curriculum after June.

Program Termination Due to Low Enrollment

Speaking before the school committee, foreign languages department chairman Cheryl Brown explained the decision to phase out the ancient language. “We hung onto it longer than a lot of other schools,” Brown said during a break in the meeting. “But the Latin enrollment just got to the point where it was too small to justify. It wasn’t cost-effective anymore.”

While typical French or Spanish classes boasted around 25 students, enrollment for Latin had plummeted to just four students for the year. Although approximately nine students attempted to sign up for Latin for the upcoming September term, teachers advised them to select an alternative language.

Despite the historical significance of Latin as a foundational anchor of the school’s foreign language curriculum over generations, the transition met with little resistance. Brown noted that the community response was subdued, stating, “There was no public outcry to save Latin. The kids who wanted it next year just said it was too bad and went ahead to choose another class.”

Reflecting on the cultural shift away from classical studies toward modern languages like German, French, and Spanish, Brown summarized, “One of the big cries today is relevance, relevance, relevance… And people don’t say it’s relevant.”

Archival Note: This article has been dynamically reconstructed from the original public record print archives of the Patriot Ledger