Middle School Students Earn Top Marks on National Latin Exam
Brendan Jolley headlined the list of 27 CM students who earned an award for their score on the National Latin Exam in March.
West Roxbury, Mass.— Despite skipping an entire year of Latin, a middle school student at Catholic Memorial School finished among the country’s top high school students on the National Latin Exam in March.
Eighth grader Brendan Jolley, of Milton, earned Magna Cum Laude for his third place performance on the Latin II exam. According to Brendan’s Latin II teacher Mr. Brian Clark, the feat proves rare for a high school student let alone a middle school student.
“I was surprised,” said Mr. Clark.
“I thought there would be some gaps of material that I thought I’d have to review with him. But, knowing him from last year, I knew deep down that he could jump an entire year of Latin and still succeed.”
CM’s middle school Latin students performed remarkably well on their respective National Latin Exams as a whole, accounting for 23 of the 27 students at CM to win an award for their test score. All 23 students scored above the national average on their respective exams.
On the Latin I exam, 10 different 8th grade students at CM earned awards for their high scores. The recipients included Mario Evangjeli, who won Gold Summa Cum Laude, and TJ Elrod, Declan Smith, and Brendan McKinney, who each won Silver Maxima Cum Laude.
The immediate success of these students on the exam caught the attention of Mr. Clark.
“It’s really exciting,” he said.
“I’m so happy that so many of the 8th graders won awards, it shows that there will be growth at the high school level for the next three, four years.”
When students enter CM in the 7th grade, every student must take an Introduction to Latin course with Mr. Denis Tobin. The curriculum then allows middle school students to choose their language elective after the 7th grade. Students may choose either Chinese or Spanish, or continue studying Latin.
“With regards to World Language, it is worth noting that students who possess superior ability in a language can be matched to the appropriate level,” said Ms. Mary Concannon, a guidance counselor at the middle school.
“This is done through placement testing, both written and oral, and through teacher recommendation.”
While it’s not uncommon for 8th graders to take Latin I alongside freshmen in high school, the majority of students who take Latin II, III, or IV enroll as high school students.
However, in rare cases such as Brendan’s, some students may skip the Latin I track after the 7th grade and opt to take Latin II in the 8th grade instead. The size of each class gives Mr. Clark a lot more flexibility when recommending where to place students each year.
“I love how small of a school we are,” Mr. Clark added.
“It lets me structure the Latin program in a way that is engaging to all students through a range of language, history, mythology, and culture.”
See below for the full list of award winners:
Eighth grader Brendan Jolley, of Milton, earned Magna Cum Laude for his third place performance on the Latin II exam. According to Brendan’s Latin II teacher Mr. Brian Clark, the feat proves rare for a high school student let alone a middle school student.
“I was surprised,” said Mr. Clark.
“I thought there would be some gaps of material that I thought I’d have to review with him. But, knowing him from last year, I knew deep down that he could jump an entire year of Latin and still succeed.”
CM’s middle school Latin students performed remarkably well on their respective National Latin Exams as a whole, accounting for 23 of the 27 students at CM to win an award for their test score. All 23 students scored above the national average on their respective exams.
On the Latin I exam, 10 different 8th grade students at CM earned awards for their high scores. The recipients included Mario Evangjeli, who won Gold Summa Cum Laude, and TJ Elrod, Declan Smith, and Brendan McKinney, who each won Silver Maxima Cum Laude.
The immediate success of these students on the exam caught the attention of Mr. Clark.
“It’s really exciting,” he said.
“I’m so happy that so many of the 8th graders won awards, it shows that there will be growth at the high school level for the next three, four years.”
When students enter CM in the 7th grade, every student must take an Introduction to Latin course with Mr. Denis Tobin. The curriculum then allows middle school students to choose their language elective after the 7th grade. Students may choose either Chinese or Spanish, or continue studying Latin.
“With regards to World Language, it is worth noting that students who possess superior ability in a language can be matched to the appropriate level,” said Ms. Mary Concannon, a guidance counselor at the middle school.
“This is done through placement testing, both written and oral, and through teacher recommendation.”
While it’s not uncommon for 8th graders to take Latin I alongside freshmen in high school, the majority of students who take Latin II, III, or IV enroll as high school students.
However, in rare cases such as Brendan’s, some students may skip the Latin I track after the 7th grade and opt to take Latin II in the 8th grade instead. The size of each class gives Mr. Clark a lot more flexibility when recommending where to place students each year.
“I love how small of a school we are,” Mr. Clark added.
“It lets me structure the Latin program in a way that is engaging to all students through a range of language, history, mythology, and culture.”
See below for the full list of award winners:
Intro to Latin:
Ribbon and Certificate: Kaelan Chudzinski and Gabe Malaret
Certificate: Johnny Burns, Jonathan Celli, Luke Gagnon, Kazuki Goode, Christopher Helm, Santi Lozano, Isaac Sydnor, Holden Walsh, Paul Yandrisevits, Shiyuan Zhang
Latin I:
Gold Summa Cum Laude: Mario Evangjeli
Silver Maxima Cum Laude: TJ Elrod, Brendan McKinney, Declan Smyth
Cum Laude: Chris Camozzi, Owen Galvin, Ryan Higgins, Alex Jingan Li, Matt Salafia, James Sansone
Latin II:
Magna Cum Laude: Joe Cutting, Brendan Jolley, Will Masferrer
Latin IV:
Magna Cum Laude: Aidan Healy
Cum Laude: John Marcucci
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Catholic Memorial, the Christian Brothers School of Boston, prepares boys for college, manhood and a world full of unknown challenges, ambiguity and complex problems and the importance of relationships.
