Fredericksburg, Va. ? A funny thing happened on the way to higher standards: Schools remembered Latin.

As educators work to improve student performance in basic subjects such as reading, math, history and science, a few are finding that Latin, long thought stuffy and irrelevant, can help.

Classes in Latin, which once attracted only college-bound students, are drawing youngsters from all backgrounds. Sales of Latin textbooks and materials are up, and even elementary schools are starting programs. The number of students taking Advanced Placement exams in Latin is nearly double what it was a decade ago.

“I think Latin always traditionally comes to the fore when people think about raising standards because it’s a bedrock subject,” said Marion Polsky, a Latin teacher in Scarsdale, N.Y., and author of a popular series of basic Latin textbooks.

Broad application

Science uses Latin for everything from medical terminology to genus and species classification. Although Latin is no longer spoken, it once spread with the Roman empire across Europe, Asia and northern Africa and is the root of modern Romance languages such as Spanish, Italian and French.

Teachers love the cross-pollination of Latin terms with English, as well as science and history, said Frank Morris, an associate professor of classics at the College of Charleston.

“One of the things that makes Latin appealing to teachers is that it does multiple things for them,” he said. “It has a very broad application.”

Kyle Seton, a senior at Chancellor High School in Fredericksburg, Va., agreed. “We learn a lot of English terminology in here. We go more in-depth than English (class) would.”

The love affair with Latin is especially hot in Virginia, Texas and Massachusetts, three states pushing heavily for higher standards.

At Chancellor, Mark Keith teaches five Latin classes daily. Early one recent morning he greeted students with a chipper, “Salvete, discipuli!” (Greetings, students!)

They responded, a bit sleepily, “Salve, magister.” (Greetings, teacher.)

“Quomodo sentitis hodie?” (How do you feel today?)

Responses varied.

The lesson began with a translation of the Spotsylvania County motto. He tapped on the chalkboard beneath the words “Patior ut potiar.” (I suffer in order that I may possess.)

Several students quickly offered slicker translations.

One raised his hand and said: “I work for a living.”

Another: “No pain no gain.”

A third sang to himself, “I work hard for the money “

Talking the talk

Getting students to focus on speaking the language helps keep them interested, educators say.

“Instead of just drearily memorizing charts and not understanding how to apply the information, it’s taught more as a natural language,” Polsky said.

Forget verb conjugations. Latin students these days are talking, singing and translating love poems. A glass case outside Keith’s room is stuffed with trophies from speaking competitions.

“I always tell students, ‘We’re here to communicate with the Romans,”‘ Keith said.

Even with the new focus, enrollments are nowhere near the level of 100 or even 50 years ago, when studying Latin was often required.

In 1895, about 44 percent of American students took Latin, driven in no small part by the fact that it was the language of the Catholic Church. By 1962, after the Vatican began letting churches use their native languages, less than 7 percent of students were studying Latin.

The American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages reports that in 1990, there were 163,923 public high school students or 1.5 percent studying Latin. Ten years later, 177,477 public high school students or 1.3 percent took the language.

The College Board, which administers Advanced Placement exams, said the number of high school students taking Latin tests for college credit has risen 95 percent since 1993. Sales of Latin materials, including Polsky’s books, have risen steadily since the mid-1990s.

Since Virginia began implementing its stringent Standards of Learning tests in the mid-1990s, Keith said he has begun teaching not only college-bound students, but also teens who don’t plan to attend college.