Gaining momentum: Highlands Latin School Owensboro gears up for August opening

Feb. 20—Families and future students gathered Sunday afternoon at Lewis Lane Baptist Church for an open house for Highlands Latin School Owensboro — a new private, classical, Christian, traditional private school that will open in late August.

The school, which will operate out of the church, is just months away from welcoming its first students, and Charlotte Burton and Carrie Oliver, co-directors for the school, are looking forward to bringing another educational option to the Owensboro area.

"We're excited about it for the community," Burton said. "We're gaining momentum and making sure we have all 'i's' dotted and 't's' crossed and everything up ready to go."

Pastor Ben Stamper said the partnership with HLS Owensboro is a blessing after taking on the post about 22 months ago and not having much foot traffic at the facility weekly since the height of the coronavirus pandemic.

"I thought this was an answer to a little preacher's prayer and the church's prayer; and we're thrilled to be able to partner with (the school)," he said.

HLS Owensboro will offer instruction in core subjects by using the Memoria Press Classical Christian Curriculum — which is used by multiple private schools and homeschool students throughout the country.

The school itself is not a start-up entity, as it will be modeled after the Highlands Latin School in Louisville, a Trademark partner school of the Classical Latin School Association, which has been in existence for 20 years with a focus on classical, Christian and traditional education.

Oliver has granddaughters that attend the school in Louisville.

"Being a retired classroom teacher, I just thought this was awesome," she said.

The Owensboro campus will be limited to 60 students in the first year — 12 in the kindergarten class and 16 in the first through third grades — with the intention of adding a grade on each year.

The school will operate from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesday through Friday while looking to "offer a challenging, traditional academic experience that enlivens the mind and refines the soul."

The school held its first open house last month.

"It was very well received," Burton said. "We had over 100 people in the community that came."

The school will place an emphasis on teaching Latin, which will begin in second grade.

Shane Saxon, assistant director of the Classical Latin School Association and director for Trademark Schools, said there are a number of benefits to learning the classical language, and it can be "transformative" in a student's learning process.

"When you study Latin, it gives you the ability to understand structure, rigor and specificity," he said. "Latin is the language of our culture ... (and) gives our students the ability to understand the country that they live in and contribute to it meaningfully."

Oliver said the language helps expand the mind and gives students a "better understanding of English grammar."

"When you start learning the Latin words, you might know 10 new words because of the derivatives of Latin," Oliver said. "When you teach phonics in kindergarten and first grade, in second and third they're starting to read a little bit more difficult words and paragraphs; and when they meet these new words, if it's a word they've had in Latin, they probably already know the base or root word of it ... so it kind of speeds up how they can read through more difficult material."

Tuition for HLS Owensboro will be $5,400 per year plus $400 for materials, books and supplies.

There will be a discount offered to families with more than one child, with Burton saying the cost will be "comparable to other private schools."

Another open house is scheduled in March.

For more information on HLS Owensboro, visit highlandslatin.org/Owensboro or call 270-903-2211.