Latin School of Indianapolis
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The Latin School of Indianapolis served from 1955 to 1978 as a pre-seminary boys' high school for the Catholic Archdiocese of Indianapolis. During its first two academic years the Latin School operated as part of Cathedral High School, an all-boys Catholic high school founded in 1918. According to an article in The Indianapolis Starpublished March 25th, 1961 the original enrollment was "just 24 boys". During those two years the school was named the Cathedral Latin School. With the academic year the Latin School moved into dedicated facilities consisting of four classrooms attached to the Holy Rosary Church. The formal name was changed to Bishop Bruté Latin School after the first Bishop of Vincennes, which at the time included all of Indiana. The Latin School was located at 520 Stevens Street.
The concept of the Latin School originated with Father Joseph D. Brokhage (S.T.D., ordained in Rome in 1939), who would become a Monsignor in 1964. He modeled it academically along the lines of the Boston Latin School, the oldest public school in America, but for the purpose of preparing high school boys for entry into a seminary, principally the St. Meinrad Seminary and Benedictine Archabbey in southern Indiana. Brokhage served as both rector of the school and pastor of Holy Rosary parish. Under his leadership, the school grew steadily and added a large wing of classrooms, a recreation room and a gymnasium/auditorium along Stevens Street. An ambitious program was launched in 1963 to build a group of dormitories for out-of-town students. This plan was only partially carried out. An article titled "Latin School Has New Dormitory" in the now-defunct Indianapolis News on October 16th, 1963 names "Dugan Hall" as the first dormitory built. The dorm was built with funds provided by the Latin School Foundation -- a foundation started by the District Council of Catholic Men. The article says, "Dugan Hall is named for the late Msgr. Henry Dugan who was a member of the advisory board when the Latin School was started."
The school attained a high degree of academic rigor and boasted a classical-style curriculum along with Church related subjects. For a period, Latin was a required course for all four years at Latin School. Greek was required during senior year until 1966. The majority of the instructors were priests from the Archdiocese who taught in their areas of specialization.
An article which appeared in The Indianapolis Star on March 10th, 1978 ("Archdiocese To close Latin School For Lack of Support, Pupils") noted, "In spite of its notable achievements and its high accreditation by the North Central Association enrollment has decreased from 154 students in 1971 and 1972 to 80 students this year. Another factor in the decision is sharply rising costs." The Indianapolis Star article mentioned that 500 young men had graduated all told, and 86 of those were ordained priests by the Archdiocese of Indianapolis.
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