The Roxbury Latin School (informally known as RL) is a private, college-preparatory all-boys day school located in West Roxbury, Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1645 by Puritan missionary John Eliot, Roxbury Latin bills itself as the oldest boys' school in North America and the oldest school in continuous existence in North America.

Roxbury Latin School
Address
Map
101 Saint Theresa Avenue

,
02132

United States
Coordinates42°16′32″N 71°9′27″W / 42.27556°N 71.15750°W / 42.27556; -71.15750
Information
TypePrivate, boys, day, college-prep
MottoMortui Vivos Docent
(The dead teach the living)
Established1645; 379 years ago (1645)
Sister schoolWinsor School
HeadmasterKerry P. Brennan
Faculty50
Grades712
GenderBoys
Enrollment(approx.) 300
Average class size12
Student to teacher ratio6:1
Campus size120 acres (49 ha)
Campus typeUrban
Color(s)     
Jewel red, white, sable black
Athletics10 sports
32 teams
Athletics conferenceISL
MascotFox
RivalsNoble and Greenough School
Belmont Hill School
Tuition$39,250 (2023-24)
Websitewww.roxburylatin.org

Roxbury Latin enrolls about 300 boys from the seventh through twelfth grades. Its $171 million endowment (as of June 2022) allows it to admit students on a need-blind basis and to provide financial aid that meets 100% of admitted students' demonstrated financial need. 38% of students are on financial aid. In addition, the school has a policy of charging frontline tuition that is "about 65% of that of other Boston-area independent schools." Tuition for the 2023-24 academic year is $39,250.

Sam Schaffer, the current head of the Upper School at St. Albans School in Washington, D.C., will become Roxbury Latin's 12th Head of School when Kerry Brennan retires in June 2024.

History edit

Early years edit

 
Rev. John Eliot (1604–1690), founder of Roxbury Latin School

Roxbury Latin was founded by residents of Roxbury, Massachusetts to teach Latin grammar to local students.[1][2] John Eliot, the local minister, believed that a religious society needed to be religiously literate—i.e., well-educated.[3] Like many of New England's oldest schools, the school started out as a one-room schoolhouse in Dudley Square with a single teacher, John Eliot's brother Philip.[4] The school's refusal to close during the American Revolution earned it the title of the oldest school in continuous existence in North America, as Boston Latin and New York City's Collegiate School both temporarily shut down during the war.[5][6]

Roxbury Latin's commitment to a college-preparatory education waxed and waned in its first two centuries of existence. In the 1660s it was listed as one of Harvard College's leading feeder schools, but between 1836 and 1844 the school sent only three students to any college.[7] The instability was largely due to the school's financial model. Roxbury Latin was funded by neither taxes nor tuition fees, but by local families who agreed to pay an annual subscription in perpetuity (in reality, until 1789) for the school's maintenance in exchange for free tuition.[8] Its budget was large enough that several distinguished gentlemen taught at Roxbury Latin early in their careers, including future Supreme Court justice William Cushing and Massachusetts governor Increase Sumner.[9] However, for the most part, the pay was so uncompetitive relative to the tax-funded schools (in some years Boston Latin paid its teachers twice as much) that most schoolmasters departed after a year or two.[10] Roxbury Latin did not hire a second schoolmaster until 1819.[11]

The school briefly converted to a semi-public institution from 1839 to 1860 in exchange for subsidies from the town of Roxbury, but was expelled from the public school system after it rejected too many students from the town's public elementary schools.[12]

Selective college-preparatory institution edit

 
The school at its former location on Kearsarge Avenue in 1899. The school met at various buildings on Kearsarge Avenue from 1835 to 1927.[13]

Under headmaster William Coe Collar (1867-1907), the school quadrupled in size and became the now-familiar college-preparatory institution.[14] Although Collar was a classicist—he wrote popular Latin and Greek textbooks—he expanded Roxbury Latin's classical curriculum beyond Latin, Greek, and mathematics, adding courses in English, modern languages, and science.[15] He also hired specialist teachers to cover these new subjects.[16] When Collar retired in 1907, Harvard president Charles Eliot (no relation[17]) said that "[t]here is no better preparatory school in the country."[18] Many of Collar's students went on to found or lead their own schools, including St. Paul's (Samuel Drury '97), Middlesex (Frederick Winsor '88), and Cate (Curtis Cate '03).[19]

Collar financed this expansion by imposing tuition fees for the first time in Roxbury Latin's history, starting in 1882. Although these fees were high by contemporary standards—Roxbury Latin's $100/year tuition handily outpaced Andover and Exeter,[20][21] and was raised to $150 in 1892[22]—they did not raise enough money, as tuition was waived for students living in Roxbury, who at the time comprised 86% of the student body.[23] Although Collar turned Roxbury Latin into an elite prep school, the school consistently lost money under his leadership.[24] In the 1890s, Collar attempted to convert Roxbury Latin into a boarding school, which could charge higher fees, but the new boarding department was unpopular and quickly abandoned.[25] The board of trustees (a majority of which, by law, lived or worked in Roxbury) repeatedly rejected any attempt to move the school from Roxbury or to impose tuition fees on Roxbury boys.[26] These difficulties were still unresolved when Collar retired in 1907.[27]

Country day school edit

 
The school's escutcheon with the Pine Tree, a symbol of New England since the 17th century, and the Bible with the Christian symbol Alpha and Omega

In the decades following Collar's retirement, several constraints on Roxbury Latin's growth were removed. In 1913, the school's charter was revised to allow alumni, and not Roxbury residents, to control the board of trustees.[28] In 1927, the Massachusetts legislature passed an act confirming that Roxbury Latin would no longer have to educate Roxbury residents for free; however, the school did not charge residents tuition until 1935, and residents did not pay full tuition until 1961.[29]

In 1927, Roxbury Latin moved to its present location in West Roxbury. In accordance with the country day school movement, which argued that students should be educated outside the distractions and pollution of the city, Roxbury Latin's affluent alumni had demanded that the school move from Roxbury (which was now a working-class neighborhood) to a more suburban location.[30] Charles Eliot of Harvard (a harsh critic of the old board[31]) also backed the move, writing in Roxbury Latin's promotional materials that in order to maintain the school's ability to feed students to Harvard, it was "necessary to convert the School into a country day school" by leaving urban Roxbury.[32]

The new location had a noticeable effect on Roxbury Latin's demographics. Although West Roxbury was more affluent than Roxbury, it was heavily Irish Catholic, so mid-century Roxbury Latin was notably diverse (on religious grounds) by New England prep school standards. In the 1944-45 school year, Roxbury Latin educated a roughly equal number of Protestants and Catholics.[33] In addition, Jews were 14% of the student body.[33] The school admitted its first black student in 1960 and its first black graduates (from its old neighborhood of Roxbury) in 1964.[34] In lieu of the Roxbury tuition subsidy, which for school purposes included West Roxbury, the school began offering a conventional financial aid program in 1951; by 1963 roughly one-third of the student body was on scholarship.[35] However, a proposal to admit girls was rejected in the 1970s,[36] and Roxbury Latin remains a boys' school to this day.

In 2003, Roxbury Latin hired its current head of school, Kerry Brennan, the headmaster at Manhattan's Collegiate School.[37] Sam Schaffer, the current head of the Upper School at St. Albans School in Washington, D.C., will become Roxbury Latin's 12th head of school when Brennan retires in June 2024.[38]

Rankings edit

College placement edit

Roxbury Latin has been recognized in several lists of schools that send their students to selective universities.

  • 2002: Worth magazine ranked RL #1 in the nation for sending students to Harvard, Yale, or Princeton. Between 1998 and 2001, 21.1% of RL graduates matriculated at one of these three schools.[39]
  • 2008: PrepReview.com ranked RL #1 in the nation for sending students to the Ivy League schools, MIT, and Stanford.[40] 45% of RL graduates matriculated at one of these ten schools.[citation needed]
  • 2015: MainStreet ranked RL #5 in the nation for sending students to the Ivy League schools. 36% of RL graduates matriculated at one of these eight schools.[41]

In the five-year period from 2019 to 2023, Roxbury Latin placed 84 students at Ivy League schools, nearly half of whom (38) attended Harvard College.[42] Approximately 55 boys graduate from Roxbury Latin every year.[43]

General edit

In 2010, Forbes ranked Roxbury Latin the fifth-best prep school in the United States.[44]

Academics edit

Curriculum edit

Roxbury Latin has a 6:1 student-teacher ratio, and the average class size is 12.[45] The school offers Advanced Placement courses in certain subject areas, but not English or science, although students may sit for AP exams in those subjects anyway.[46]

Test scores edit

For the Class of 2021, the middle 50% SAT scores were 680-760 in English and 680-780 in math. The school states that "the median standardized testing of each class consistently hovers around 1500."[46] The 54 students in the Class of 2022 took 137 AP examinations by the end of their junior year, and 74% of the papers received a 4 or a 5.[46]

Finances edit

Tuition and financial aid edit

Tuition for the 2023-24 academic year is $39,250.[45] Roxbury Latin admits boys on a need-blind basis and commits to provide financial aid that meets 100% of admitted students' demonstrated financial need.[47] 38% of the student body is on financial aid.[45] In the 2023-24 academic year, 87 of the 116 families (75%) receiving financial aid grants had family incomes above $150,000/year.[48]

The school has an unusual policy of charging frontline tuition that is "about 65% of that of other Boston-area independent schools."[48] For reference, at Roxbury Latin's athletic rival Belmont Hill, frontline tuition for the 2023-24 academic year is $61,400, a difference of $22,150.[49] However, the average financial aid grant at Roxbury Latin is $26,258,[45] while the average aid grant at Belmont Hill is $48,800,[49] a difference of $22,542. Roxbury Latin's other athletic rival, Nobles, has similar tuition and aid figures as Belmont Hill ($60,100 tuition and $44,935 average grant).[50] All three schools claim to meet 100% of admitted students' demonstrated financial need.[47][49][50]

Endowment and expenses edit

In June 2022, Roxbury Latin's financial endowment stood at $171 million.[45] In its Internal Revenue Service filings for the 2021-22 school year, Roxbury Latin reported total assets of $279.9 million, net assets of $248.5 million, investment holdings of $183.4 million, and cash holdings of $5.2 million. Roxbury Latin also reported $18.6 million in program service expenses and $2.8 million in grants (primarily student financial aid).[51]

Athletics edit

Roxbury Latin's athletic teams play in the Independent School League, a group of private day and boarding schools in Greater Boston.[52] The school offers varsity, junior varsity and lower-level teams in football, cross country, soccer (fall), basketball, ice hockey, wrestling (winter), baseball, tennis, lacrosse, and track and field (spring).[53]

Teams of note include:

  • Tennis. Roxbury Latin has won the conference championship eight of the last 11 seasons in which a title was awarded. It won the NEPSAC Class B tournament in 2013, 2019, and 2022, and has been a finalist four other times since 2011.[54]
  • Wrestling. Roxbury Latin's former head coach Steve Ward is a member of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame. At the time of his induction, his all-time record at Roxbury Latin was 357-57-1.[55]
  • Track & Field. The track team has won its division of the New England Prep School Track Association championship in nine of the last eleven years, including five in a row from 2011 to 2015. The team also won the Independent School Track Association Championship in 2012 and 2013.[citation needed]

Extracurriculars edit

Roxbury Latin offers a school newspaper, several language clubs, a debate team, a Model United Nations group, and various community service clubs.

Theater edit

The theater program shows one junior play and one senior play per year, and one musical every other year. The theater program offers RL students the opportunity to meet girls from neighboring schools.[56]

 
Photo of the Smith Theatre during the 2024 Roxbury Latin Winter Musical "25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee"

Music edit

Roxbury Latin offers a variety of singing groups, including a middle school choir, a high school glee club, and a fourteen-boy a cappella group. Additionally, the school operates a jazz band, a guitar ensemble, and certain chamber ensembles.[57]

Robotics edit

Roxbury Latin participates in Vex Robotics, an annual interscholastic robotics competition. The school team placed 5th in the New England Division in 2009.[58] In 2010, it placed 2nd out of 19 teams, a school record. In 2023 the school qualified three teams for nationals.[59]

Chess edit

The chess club has won or shared the South Shore Interscholastic Chess League title in 2 of the last 5 years.[citation needed]

Notable alumni edit

Colonists edit

Business edit

Sciences edit

Arts, literature, music, and journalism edit

Politics, military, and public service edit

Athletics edit

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ Jarvis, F. Washington (1995). Schola Illustris: The Roxbury Latin School, 1645-1995. Boston, MA: David R. Godine. pp. 93, 101–03, 110.
  2. ^ "History". The Roxbury Latin School. Retrieved 2024-03-08.
  3. ^ Jarvis, pp. 98-99.
  4. ^ Jarvis, pp. 94, 170.
  5. ^ Jarvis, p. 132.
  6. ^ "Headmaster's Welcome". The Roxbury Latin School. Retrieved 2024-03-08.
  7. ^ Jarvis, pp. 102-03, 151.
  8. ^ Jarvis, pp. 93, 103-04, 135.
  9. ^ Jarvis, p. 127.
  10. ^ Jarvis, pp. 114, 116, 127-29.
  11. ^ Jarvis, p. 144.
  12. ^ Jarvis, pp. 153-54, 158, 162.
  13. ^ Jarvis, pp. 150-51, 283, 397.
  14. ^ Jarvis, p. 191.
  15. ^ Jarvis, pp. 255, 287.
  16. ^ Jarvis, p. 284.
  17. ^ James, Henry (1930). Charles W. Eliot, president of Harvard University, 1869-1909, Volume 1. AMS Press. p. 5.
  18. ^ "Obituary for William Coe Collar (Aged 83)". The Boston Globe. 1916-02-28. p. 12. Retrieved 2024-03-15.
  19. ^ Jarvis, p. 311.
  20. ^ Allis, Jr., Frederick S. (1979). Youth from Every Quarter: A Bicentennial History of Phillips Academy, Andover. Hanover, NH: University Press of New England. pp. 295 (in 1883 Andover charged day students $60/year).
  21. ^ Williams, Myron R. (1957). The Story of Phillips Exeter. Exeter, NH: Phillips Exeter Academy. pp. 75-76 (in 1895 Exeter charged day students $81/year).
  22. ^ Jarvis, p. 329.
  23. ^ Jarvis, p. 304.
  24. ^ Jarvis, p. 329.
  25. ^ Jarvis, pp. 258, 332.
  26. ^ Jarvis, pp. 339-41.
  27. ^ Jarvis, pp. 343-44.
  28. ^ Jarvis, p. 355.
  29. ^ Jarvis, pp. 396, 411-12, 448.
  30. ^ Jarvis, pp. 355-56, 389.
  31. ^ Jarvis, p. 352.
  32. ^ Jarvis, p. 389.
  33. ^ a b Jarvis, pp. 433-37.
  34. ^ Jarvis, p. 445.
  35. ^ Jarvis, p. 448.
  36. ^ Jarvis, p. 467.
  37. ^ Gootman, Elissa (2003-12-04). "Metro Briefing | New York: Manhattan: Collegiate School Departure". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2024-03-15.
  38. ^ "Head of School Search". The Roxbury Latin School. Retrieved 2024-03-08.
  39. ^ Mathews, Jay (2002-09-02). "Feeder School List Hard to Digest". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2024-03-08.
  40. ^ "The 50 Best Private Day Schools in the United States". The Best Schools. Archived from the original on 2018-02-24. Retrieved 2024-03-08.
  41. ^ "TheStreet 2015 Rankings of Top US Private Schools". thestreet.com. 15 October 2015.
  42. ^ "Matriculation". The Roxbury Latin School. Retrieved 2024-03-08.
  43. ^ "Enrollment Data (2022-23) - Roxbury Latin (00350808)". profiles.doe.mass.edu. Retrieved 2024-03-08.
  44. ^ "Forbes 2010 America's Best Prep Schools Rankings". forbes.com.
  45. ^ a b c d e "RL Facts". The Roxbury Latin School. Retrieved 2024-03-08.
  46. ^ a b c https://www.roxburylatin.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/RL-School-Profile_2020-2021.pdf[bare URL PDF]
  47. ^ a b "Need-Blind Enrollment". The Roxbury Latin School. Retrieved 2024-03-08.
  48. ^ a b "Tuition". The Roxbury Latin School. Retrieved 2024-03-08.
  49. ^ a b c "Belmont Hill Tuition & Financial Aid | Belmont Hill School". www.belmonthill.org. Retrieved 2024-03-08.
  50. ^ a b "Tuition and Financial Aid". Noble & Greenough School. Retrieved 2024-03-08.
  51. ^ "Roxbury Latin School Inc, Full Filing - Nonprofit Explorer". ProPublica. Retrieved 2024-03-08.
  52. ^ "Independent School League". www.islsports.org. Retrieved 2024-03-08.
  53. ^ "Team Pages". The Roxbury Latin School. Retrieved 2024-03-08.
  54. ^ Berg, Erin (2023-05-23). "Varsity Tennis Wins ISL Title and Finishes Second in New England". The Roxbury Latin School. Retrieved 2024-03-08.
  55. ^ "Steven Ward". nwhof.org. Retrieved 2024-03-08.
  56. ^ "Dramatics". The Roxbury Latin School. Retrieved 2024-03-08.
  57. ^ "Music". The Roxbury Latin School. Retrieved 2024-03-08.
  58. ^ "Botball Team Places 5th in Regional Tourney". Roxbury Latin School.
  59. ^ "VEX Success!". Roxbury Latin School.
  60. ^ Bender Forms Group to Promote OLPC's Sugar UI « PC World. Retrieved on 2014-05-26.
  61. ^ Stuart McNay Goes For The Gold In London « CBS Boston. Boston.cbslocal.com (2012-08-01). Retrieved on 2013-07-15.

Further reading edit

External links edit