As Caringbah High School becomes the latest school to introduce Latin next year, students at North Sydney Boys High have been told the language will not be offered for the first time since the school was established more than 100 years ago.

The classical language is having a renaissance in many public schools, with partially selective Blacktown Girls' High introducing it this year and Caringbah, a fully-selective school in the Sutherland Shire, to make it compulsory for year seven in 2020.

North Sydney Boys High School.

St George Girls High School student Maja Vasic, who topped the state in Latin this year, said the subject provided a gateway into the lives of people from thousands of years ago to show "they’re not so different from us". "The complexity and subtlety of Latin grammar has taught me to pay close attention to detail, while the process of translation has taught me how to see the bigger picture," she said.

But about 60 students hoping to study Latin next year at North Sydney Boys were told in the second-last week of term that they would have to choose alternative electives next year, parents who wish to remain anonymous said. The Latin room was turned into a French one.