Boston Latin School

Boston Latin School

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Motto

Sumus Primi

Founded

April 23 1635

Headmaster

Ms Cornelia A. Kelley

School type

Public high school

Grades 7–12

Enrolment

c. 2,400

Mascot

Romulus and Remus at the teats of a wolf

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A public exam (or "magnet") school founded on April 23 1635, Boston Latin School in Boston, Massachusetts, is the oldest school in the United States. Its curriculum follows that of the 18th century Latin-school movement, which holds Classics to be the basis of an educated mind. Four years of Latin is mandatory for all pupils.

The school's first class was in single figures, but it now has 2,400 pupils drawn from throughout Boston. It has produced four Harvard presidents, four Massachusetts governors, and five signers of the Declaration of Independence. William Lloyd Garrison, Benjamin Franklin, and Louis Farrakhan are its most famous dropouts.

Admission to Boston Latin is determined by a combination of a student's score on the Independent School Entrance Examination (ISEE) and his or her recent grades, and is limited to residents of Boston proper. Although Boston Latin runs from the 7th through the 12th grade, it only admits students into the 7th and 9th grades. Consequently the higher grades have fewer students than the lower grades, as a relatively large number of students drop out of the school's sink-or-swim environment.

Current students assert with pride that Harvard College, founded a year later in 1636, was created for Boston Latin's first graduates. Whether or not that is true, Boston Latin has consistently sent large numbers of students to Harvard, recently averaging more than twenty students per year. More than 98% of Boston Latin's approximately 300 annual graduates are accepted by a four-year college.

Boston Latin has a history of pursuing the same standards as elite New England prep schools while adopting the egalitarian attitude of a public school. Academically, the school regularly outperforms public schools in rich Boston suburbs like Wellesley and Newton, particularly as measured by the yearly MCAS assessment required of all Massachusetts public schools. In contrast, Boston Latin's athletic performance is lackluster (with the notable exception of hockey).

Because it is a high-performing and well-regarded school in a city school system that is among the worst in the state, Boston Latin is usually at the center of controversy concerning its admissions process. Admissions are very competitive, and it is not uncommon for fewer than 20% of applicants to be admitted. Before the 1997 school year, Boston Latin automatically set aside a 35% quota of places in its incoming class for under-represented minorities, but dropped the policy when it was challenged in court by the father of a girl who was not admitted despite scoring higher on the ISEE/grades combination than more than 100 admitted students. Boston Latin subsequently defeated a legal effort to do away with its admissions process entirely and conduct admissions by blind lottery. Since 1997, the percentage of under-represented minorities at Boston Latin has fallen from 35% to under 19% in 2005, despite efforts by Boston Latin, the Boston Public Schools, and the Boston Latin School Association to recruit more minority applicants and retain more minority students.

Boston Latin has benefited enormously from the efforts of the Boston Latin School Association (BLSA), a private charity dedicated to fostering involvement by and donations from the school's substantial alumni base. The BLSA recently completed its major "Pons Privatus" ("Private Bridge") fund-raising campaign, which raised nearly $37 million in donations from alumni and an additional $20 million in planned gift intentions. At the time, it was the largest fundraising effort in the history of public secondary education. The BLSA also helps procure summer internships and jobs for Boston Latin students.

Public declamation is the most time-honored of the school's traditions. Pupils give an oration to the school five times during the year. Those who score well in three of the first four public declamations are given the chance to declaim in front of alumni judges for awards in "Prize Declamation".

In 1791, Benjamin Franklin established a legacy to fund the Franklin Medals. He stipulated that the medals be awarded to the school's top-ranking pupils at graduation. The second most prestigious awards – the Dixwell Prizes – are given to pupils excelling in Latin or Greek.

Headmaster John Lovell closed the school during the Revolutionary War by saying, "War's begun and school's done; deponite libros". The Roxbury Latin School uses the closure to claim that it is the oldest school in America. Its faculty was mostly Tory, and Roxbury Latin stayed open during the war. It now claims to be the "oldest school in continuous existence in America".

Among the less illustrious traditions at Latin School is Sixie Rush Day, when upperclassmen blatantly ignore any anti-hazing laws to terrify the entering seventh graders.

For the graduating class, it is traditional for a student to ask the headmaster to the senior prom, where they awkwardly dance with each other.

The school's motto is "Sumus Primi". This is meant as a double entendre, referring both to the school's date of founding and its academic stature.

Famous students

External links