1965 - small town Georgia - 8th grade - prior to integration.
I never knew what the criteria was, but I was placed in
what was called at the time the “accelerated group”.
Which meant we had to take Latin I, Latin II, Algebra I, Algebra II, etc.
I hated it, and would rather have not had the pressure.
But I did not have a voice in the decision.
Later in life, I appreciated it.
50 years later I can still recite:
is, ea, id; eius, eius, eius; eum, eam, id.
Latin was once the mark of a superior education. (It still is) In fact, half of our Founder Fathers graduated from college where they were required to debate their professors in Latin. And, since most of our Founders could read and write Latin, our Founding documents could have been written and debated in Latin.