The Boston Latin School is a public exam school founded on April 23 1635, in Boston, Massachusetts, making it the oldest school in North America.^[1][2]. The Public Latin School was formerly a bastion for educating the sons of the Boston Brahmin elite, enabling the school to claim many influential Bostonians as alumni. Its curriculum follows that of the 18th century Latin-school movement, which holds the Classics to be the basis of an educated mind. Four years of Latin are mandatory for all pupils that enter the school in 7th grade, three years for those who enter in 9th.

History

The school's first class was in single figures, but it now has 2,400 pupils drawn from all parts of 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^[3] are its most famous dropouts.

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 had been a top feeder school for Harvard, and has consistently sent large numbers of students to Harvard, recently averaging about twenty students per year. More than 99% of Boston Latin's approximately 300 annual graduates are accepted by at least one four-year college.

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. (It is important to remember when considering the dollar value of the endowment that it is mostly supplementary, on top of the roughly $10 million per year in untaxed operating grants the school receives from the Boston Public Schools, covering most teacher salaries and maintenance. The school also received a $34.6 million multiyear grant in the late 1990's for a major expansion project,^[4] pays no property taxes, and has many other expenses covered by the government.). The BLSA also helps procure summer internships and jobs for Boston Latin students.

On February 17, 2007, Cornelia Kelley, the school's first female Head Master, announced her retirement effective June 30, 2007. According to the Boston Globe, a panel to select her successor was to be composed of parents, students, faculty, and alumni.

Academics

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 transfer out. The school has historically been described as having a sink-or-swim environment, but in recent years there have been notable efforts to create a more supportive atmosphere.

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, particularly as measured by the yearly MCAS assessment required of all Massachusetts public schools. This is due in part to the fact that it is an exam school, while the suburban schools are not.

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.

Declamation is the most time-honored of the school's traditions. Pupils in classes VI to III, or from 7th to 10th grade, are required to give an oration in their English class three times during the year. There is also Public Declamation, where pupils from all grades, or classes as they are referred to, are welcomed to try out for the chance to declaim a memorized piece in front of an assembly. During Public Declamation, declaimers are scored on aspects such as "Memorization" "Presentation", and "Voice and Delivery", and 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 a move that was controversial among some alumni, the school decided in the early 2000s to decrease the requirement (non-retroactively) for students' Latin instruction by one year. The mandatory minimum period of Latin instruction was decreased for students admitted for 7th grade from five years to four years, and for students admitted for 9th grade from four years to three years. This decision was made by the head of the school's Latin department, in recognition of the fact that the requirement was hampering students' ability to take enough courses in important modern subjects like Physics, Chemistry, Computer Science, and modern languages. However, students retain the ability to study Latin through their sixth year, and many do so, partly in order to maximize the number of AP courses in which they are enrolled.

In a 1789 codicil to his will, Benjamin Franklin established a legacy to fund the Franklin Medals, which are 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.

Boston Latin's motto is Sumus Primi [we are the first]. This is meant as a double entendre, referring both to the school's date of founding and its academic stature.

Extracurricular activities

Publications

There are two main publications of the Boston Latin School: The Register is the school's literary magazine, and The Argo, the school newspaper. A third publication is the Boston Latin Lampoon, a humor magazine; however, the Lampoon is published only sporadically, aka never.

George Santayana founded The Register in 1881 to serve as the school newspaper. Over the years, however, it evolved into a purely literary magazine, publishing prose and poetry written by members of the student body, as well as artwork. There are generally two editors-in-chief, and it is published twice per year.

The Argo, the school's newspaper, is far younger, having been founded after it was clear that the Register had become a purely literary magazine. As of the 2006-2007 school year, it is published seven times a year.

Both the Register and the Argo are entirely student-produced, and both have won awards from the New England Scholastic Press Association. ^[5]

A new science publication, The Catapulta, has been published once in the Spring of the 2004-2005 school year, and a new edition is planned.

Sports

Boston Latin has played rival Boston English in Football every Thanksgiving since 1887, the oldest continuously operated high school rivalry in the United States.^[6] Boston Latin's teams are known as the Boston Latin Wolfpack. Historically, Boston Latin's hockey and volleyball teams, both boys' and girls', have been very good; for the most part, however, titles have been few and far between, possibly due to the emphasis the school places on academics before anything else. Unfortunatly, now the Boy's and Girl's Volleyball teams are one of the worst in the state. However, the Boys Varsity Hockey team recently won state in 2005, as well as the Girls Varsity Crew Team. In addition, the Girls Tennis Team were State Champions and undefeated from 2001-2003. The Boys Varsity Soccer Team experienced their most successful season to date in 2006. Boston Latin's colors are purple and white, which copycat Brooklyn Latin School stole.

BLSTV

The internal television station of Boston Latin School is BLSTV; it has been broadcasting since 2003. Every day BLSTV broadcasts the daily bulletin to all of BLS. All of the broadcasters are students, in either their Junior or Senior years. BLSTV also appears at most school events, filming and archiving all of their footage.

Boston Latin Theater Company

Boston Latin School's Drama Company traditionally performs three to four plays a year, includng a spring musical, under the direction of drama teacher/director, Christa Crewdson. Traditionally, the school also sends one play to the Massachusetts High School Drama Guild. Their 2007 entry, "Kid Simple: A Radio Play in the Flesh" by Jordan Harrison, reached the semi-final round where it won multiple awards for sound design, costumes, and acting. Even more impressive, previous entries into the MHSDG The Dining Room by A.R. Gurney (2003) and Dimly Perceived Threats to the System by Jon Klein (2004), completed in conjuction with Sara Teasedale, the school's former drama teacher, have reached and excelled at the competition's State Finals. The Boston Latin Theater Company prides itself upon its hard-work and long hours dedicated to precise acting skills, exquisite technical design, and professional stagecraft. In addition, Boston Latin School has its own student-created, student-run improvisational theater group, the Yellow Submarine Improv Troupe, renowned for its practice of letting any student join without an audition.

Musical arts

• Boston Latin School also has an extensive music program. A good portion of the students at Boston Latin School are a part of one of the "pseudo-academic" (students are graded each term, but grades not weighed into GPA) music programs, or are a part of a music group after school.
• The "pseudo-academic" classes include Introductory, Junior, and Senior Concert Bands, Concert Choirs, and String Orchestras. After-school musical ensembles include the a cappella Wolftones and Wolfettes, Football Pep Band, Show Choir, Gospel Choir, Big Band, Junior Big Band, Flute Ensemble, and the Honors Orchestra (among others). There are, however, fully academic music classes (where grades are factored into the GPA), such as Introduction to Music Theory, and a very rigorous Advanced Placement Music Theory class.
• Each year, all of the musical groups display their talents at Boston Latin School's Holiday Concerts and Music Nights. The former is two nights in mid-December and the latter two nights in Spring (normally April), where students perform several selections of music that they have been working on for those who wish to attend. There are many musical groups that perform.
• Boston Latin School also has an all male a capella singing group, Wolftones, which is held after school. There is also an all girls singing a capella, called the Wolfettes. These groups also perform on the holiday and spring concerts.
• Musical groups from Boston Latin School also perform at the MICCA festival in April. In 2006, the Boston Latin School Senior String Orchestra received a gold medal for the second year in a row while the Senior Concert Band and Concert Choir received bronze medals. In 2007, the Senior Strings received a gold medal while the Wind Ensemble received a silver medal. The Boston Latin Big Band has made it to the IAJE State Finals 6 years in a row and has placed as high as second in the Berklee College of Music High School Jazz Festival. In 2007, the Big Band won a gold medal at the IAJE state finals.

Visual Arts

• The Boston Latin School visual arts program, while not as extensively funded as the music program, still commands a viable part of the workload. Seventh and eight grade students are expected to take regular basic art classes, meant as introductions to the visual arts. Older students then have the option of taking an elective arts course, including a regular foundations class and a rigorous 2 year Advanced Placement course designed to prepare students for art college and build portfolios.
• The Boston Latin School visual arts program boasts 3 large 2D art studios, a firing kiln, a computer lab, and a photography lab (although no photography classes are currently available). The program is staffed by two teachers, Mr. Stephen Harris and Mr. Carlos Byron, with additional pottery classes taught afterschool from alumna Caitlin Jolly.
• The art program also hosts an Arts Night, similar to the Music Nights, which is dedicated to the work of students in the 2 year Advanced Placement program.

Boston Latin School Junior Classical League

Since its conception in 2000, Boston Latin School has been an active participant on the local, state, national levels of the National Junior Classical League, fostering a tradition of deeper academic study of the Classics, along with creative expression through visual and creative arts. Boston Latin School hosts a certamen scrimmage (much like a quiz bowl competition) each year in late November or early December, and sends delegates to the State Convention in April, and often the National Convention, which takes places in July or August. In the past years, Boston Latin School's JCL chapter has grown substantially since its founding; Boston Latin School often contributes dedicated certamen players to represent Massachusetts on a national level in certamen.

There are also many other extra-curricular activities, such as Wolfpack Volunteers, Youth Climate Action Network, Clay Club, many cultural clubs, Dungeons & Dragons Club, and more.

Miscellaneous

• In Season 1, Episode 18 of The West Wing, Rob Lowe's character, Sam Seaborn mentioned Boston Latin School in a discussion of public school reform and school vouchers. He said, “Boston Latin, the oldest public school in the country, is still the best secondary school in New England.” Mallory O'Brien replies "They all can't be Boston Latin and Bronx Science."
• On January 8, 2002, President George W. Bush visited Boston Latin School after signing the No Child Left Behind Act earlier that day.^[7]
• In Season 1, Episode 12 of Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, Matthew Perry's character Matt Albie mentioned that his nephew had a 3.8 GPA at Boston Latin. While this was portrayed as a top-notch GPA, the school's use of above-4.0 grade point averages for its many honors and AP classes would actually put such a student in the second quarter of his class, and such a student would be unlikely to be a Merit Scholar, as the show claims.

Notable alumni