The Roxbury Latin School is the oldest school in continuous operation in North America. The school was founded in Roxbury, Massachusetts by the Rev. John Eliot under a charter received from King Charles I of England. Since its founding in 1645, it has educated boys on a continuous basis.
Located since 1927 at 101 St. Theresa Avenue in the West Roxbury neighborhood of Boston, the school now serves about 290 to 300 boys in grades seven through twelve. Eliot founded the school "to fit for public service both in church and in commonwealth in succeeding ages," and the school continues to consider instilling a desire to perform public service among its principal missions.
The school's endowment is estimated at $143.8 million, the largest of any boys' day school in the United States. The school maintains a need-blind admissions policy, admitting boys without consideration of the ability of their families to pay the full tuition.
Its previous headmaster, F. Washington Jarvis, who retired in the summer of 2004 after a 30-year tenure, published two books about Roxbury Latin: a history of the school and a collection of his speeches to boys at Roxbury Latin (With Love and Prayers). The title of the former, Schola Illustris, was the phrase Cotton Mather used to describe the school in 1690, following John Eliot's death. In addition to those books, Richard Walden Hale published Tercentenary History of the Roxbury Latin School in 1946. Roxbury Latin continues to hold a unique place in the history of American education.
Roxbury Latin School is a member of the Independent School League and NEPSAC. It has an unofficial sister school relationship with The Winsor School in Boston as well as an African brother school, the Maru a Pula School.
Read more about Roxbury Latin School: Rankings, Transportation, Athletics, Extra-curriculars, Music, Notable Alumni
Famous quotes containing the words latin and/or school:
“What’s the Latin name for ‘parsley’?
What’s the Greek name for Swine’s Snout?”
—Robert Browning (1812–1889)
“The happiest two-job marriages I saw during my research were ones in which men and women shared the housework and parenting. What couples called good communication often meant that they were good at saying thanks to one another for small aspects of taking care of the family. Making it to the school play, helping a child read, cooking dinner in good spirit, remembering the grocery list,... these were silver and gold of the marital exchange.”
—Arlie Hochschild (20th century)