Latin School of Chicago

"The members of the graduating class of 1954 respectfully and gratefully dedicate this year's Roman to Dr. Mark Neville, headmaster of The Latin School of Chicago. Dr. Neville, who came to us in 1951, has been responsible for many and important changes that have happened at our school. He formulated the educational policy which combined the three upper grades of The Girls Latin School of Chicago and the Chicago Latin School for Boys in 1952. He was also responsible for firmly establishing the co-educational pattern which resulted in the consolidation of both "Dr. Neville worked tirelessly for the betterment of our education and the strengthening of our characters. He has drawn from his many years of experience in the field of education to give us a well-balanced curriculum emphasizing not only the fundamentals of a secondary school education but also the importance of extracurricular activities." – 1954 Roman Headmaster Mark Neville The success of the Class of 1953 paved the way for the complete merger of the two schools in the fall of 1953, with Dr. Mark Neville appointed as the headmaster for the new Latin School of Chicago. Allen resigned in June 1953 to pursue other educational work. The middle and upper school students moved to the Scott Street building, and the lower school was located in the Dearborn building, where it continues to be today. Latin cheerleaders 56 L AT I N M AGAZINE Post-Merger Years Students and faculty alike had a generally positive outlook on the merger and the future of Latin School. Behind the scenes, however, the board of trustees was once again dealing with financial uncertainties. In 1953 the school was $641,000 in debt, with mortgage bonds in foreclosure and defaults on interest payments. In 1954, tuition was raised by 20 percent. Using the proceeds, the Latin School Foundation was able to negotiate with creditors to eliminate $553,000 in debt. The foundation went on to purchase the Kersey Coates Reed land and leased it back to the school. Sadly, in 1959 it became clear that maintenance of the campus had become too expensive, and the foundation sold the Kersey Coates Reed land and facilities. (The property later became home to Gordon Tech High School.) With the merger, Latin became a bigger school. The boys school enrollment totaled 230 students during the 1951-52 school year. After the merger was completed, the new school enrolled 504 students for the 1953-54 school year. By all accounts, however, Latin retained its close-knit atmosphere through the '50s and much of the '60s.

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