Oak Hill Academy Students Seize the Day in the National Latin Exam
Latin is perceived by some to be a “dead language”, but not for many of the finest independent schools in NJ, including Oak Hill Academy in Monmouth County, NJ. There is evidence that students who take Latin do better than their classmates in the areas of reading comprehension, vocabulary, critical thinking, and problem solving. This is precisely why Oak Hill students have taken Latin since the school’s inception in 1981, making it one of the top private schools in New Jersey focused on academic excellence.

Over 100,000 students from all 50 states and 20 foreign countries (from Australia to Belize to Greece to Guernsey to Korea to Switzerland) recently participated in the 2025 National Latin Exam.  Receiving highest honors and Gold medals and Summa Cum Laude certificates (answering 35-40 correct) taking the Beginning Latin Exam (40 questions) for the eighth grade class were Grace Zheng, Gianna Angioletti, Michaela O’Connor, Jia Jain, Benjamin Leber, James Badishkanian, Ishaana Shah, Shane Regan and Owen Sweeney. Nicholas Mascarenhas, Mia Cerefice and Aurelia Pellegrini received silver medals and maxima cum laude certificates for scoring 32-34 correct.

Oak Hill seventh grade students take the Introduction to Latin Exam (also 40 questions). Maura Gilson earned our only Perfect Paper (first since 2017) answering all 40 questions correctly as well as the Gold Medal and Summa Cum Laude certificate.  Joining Maura in earning the Gold Medal and Summa Cum Laude (answering 37-40) were Talia Waldman, James Fu, Logan Jaladoni, Owen Fennell, Karina Patel, Noa Wellner, Averie Mendoza, and Bry-elle Postell.  Receiving Silver medals and Maxima Cum Laude certificates (answering 35-36 correct) in the seventh grade were Veronika Yakubov, Riya Sethi, Caitlyn Ho, Boden DeVivo, Parker Weine, Elliott Li, Kaelan Harrington, Lydia Griffith, Krish Patel, Kristoffer Padjen, Nayan Patel and Keira DeAngelis. Overall Oak Hill Academy students secured 48 medals and certificates (Summa, Maxima, Magna, and Cum Laude) out of the 65 students who took the exam!

The National Latin Exam is offered under the joint sponsorship of the American Classical League and the National Junior Classical League.  The ACL/NJCL National Latin Exam has been approved by the National Association of Secondary School Principals and placed on the Advisory List of National Contests and Activities.

Oak Hill Academy has participated in the exam and has consistently won awards for the last thirty-six years. Much of the credit goes to Oak Hill Academy’s Latin teacher, Mrs. Lisa Coakley, a key figure in making Oak Hill Academy one of the leading independent schools in NJ for Latin education.