Legacy Academy students excel on Universal Latin Exam

For the second year in a row, Legacy Academy students received high honors for their scores on the Universal Latin Exam. Students who were awarded medals scored in the top percentiles among their peer groups on this national assessment created by the Institute for Classical Languages.

“I ask at the beginning of each class, ‘Why do we study Latin at Legacy Academy?’ My students respond, ‘Because it is the key to the language and culture of Western civilization,’” said Susan Louden, Latin teacher. “Though Latin was once essential to education, it is rare to find schools today that teach it. But the benefits inside and outside the classroom are numerous. Legacy students gain a deep knowledge of how language works. They better understand English and other Western languages. More importantly, doing hard things like learning Latin builds character. Students learn to reason, think critically and communicate effectively.”

Five Legacy students received a gold Augustus medal, which indicates a score in the 85th percentile or higher; they are Lane Barbrow, fourth grade; Finn Louden, fifth grade; Olivia Parks, fifth grade; Anna Louden, seventh grade; and Paige Barbrow, eighth grade.

Two students earned the silver Caesar award for placing in the top two-thirds of their peer groups: Matthew Cooper, fifth grade, and Aria Smith, sixth grade.

“Legacy Academy’s faculty and our engaging curriculum speak for themselves. Our students are challenged to excellence and rise to the occasion time and again,” said Karen Barbrow, head of achool. “Legacy offers a unique educational model that is part of a national movement. We believe the study of Latin is one of our classical distinctives.”

The ULE awards were presented to Legacy Academy students during the school’s third annual spring showcase May 16. This year’s theme was The Light and Life of the Renaissance, depicting the spiritual and cultural rebirth after the Dark Ages. In the playful style of “tableau vivant,” a French phrase meaning living pictures, students portrayed some of the Renaissance’s most important characters. They also sang Renaissance songs a cappella in the round and enacted an excerpt from Shakespeare’s “The Tempest.”

“Our school is also unique in what it celebrates,” said Barbrow. “We look back at the past as the foundation for our present and future. Legacy Academy teaches its students to love what is good, true, and beautiful about each of the time periods we highlight in our spring showcases.”