Language Requirements

Originally, language learning at EHS lacked flexibility. Latin was required for much of the first half of the 19th century, with Ancient Greek being the required language when Latin was completed. French, German and Spanish were only languages that could be learned in addition to the required Latin and Ancient Greek. This desire for a student body fully fluent in two dead languages is one that did not pertain to just Episcopal during the early part of the century. In fact, in Classics in American Education, it is argued that Latin and Ancient Greek persist "because of rigidity and pedagogical elitism," according to Thomas Jefferson and Ben Franklin. [1]  It is the view of Latin and Ancient Greek as two sophisticated languages, spoken by the intellectual high society members, that encouraged EHS to continue to require the languages, giving their student body a step up in elitism. Episcopal first began to change its language policy in 1958, when not only was Latin required, but also an additional second language. The options were French, German, Spanish, and of course, Ancient Greek. The language policy fully opened up in 1968, just ten years later, when there was a complete choice of language. [2] The Latin requirement was removed from graduation terms, and any language, as long as it was learned for a minimum of two years, could satisfy the language graduation requirements.  The language options were then Russian, German, French, Spanish, Ancient Greek and Latin, options almost entirely available today, except with Chinese displacing Russian. 

1 citation text Marshall, J. C. Douglas. "THE CLASSICS IN AMERICAN EDUCATION." The Classical Outlook 53, no. 8 (1976): 88-90. http://www.jstor.org/stable/43937196.

2 Brisk, Maria Estela Allende. "LANGUAGE POLICIES IN AMERICAN EDUCATION." The Journal of Education 163, no. 1 (1981): 3-15. http://www.jstor.org/stable/42772933.