Boston Latin Academy | |
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Address | |
205 Townsend Street Boston, Massachusetts United States |
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Information | |
Type | Public Coeducational exam school |
Motto | Let Thy Life be Sincere |
Established | 1877 |
School district | Boston Public Schools |
Headmaster | Troy Henninger |
Faculty | approximately 90 |
Grade level | 7-12 |
Enrollment | approximately 1800 |
Color(s) | Black and Gold |
Mascot | Jabberwock/Dragon |
Website | www |
Boston Latin Academy (BLA) is a public school founded in 1877 in Boston, Massachusetts providing students in grades 7th through 12th a classical preparatory education.
Formerly named Girls' Latin School prior to 1977, the school was the first college preparatory high school for girls in the United States. Now coeducational, the school is currently located in the Roxbury neighborhood of Boston and is part of Boston Public Schools (BPS).
Boston Latin Academy (BLA) was founded on November 27, 1877, as Girls' Latin School (GLS). The school was founded as a result of citizen and parent participation with the intention to give college preparatory training to girls. A plan to admit girls to Public Latin School was formed by an executive committee of the Massachusetts Society for the University Education of Women. Three visionary and driving members of this executive committee, Emily Talbot, Florence Cushing, and Annie Fields deserve much of the credit for the school's founding. Henry Durant, president of Wellesley College and one of the most brilliant legal minds in Boston, was also greatly instrumental in outlining the legal route for the school to be established. A petition with a thousand signatures was presented to the School Board in September 1877. The board referred the question to the subcommittee on high schools. Meanwhile, Emily Talbot met with the headmaster of Public Latin School and asked that her daughter and another girl be admitted. Although Headmaster Moses Merrill was willing to teach the girls, he thought it best to wait for the subcommittee's decision. Ultimately the subcommittee recommended that a separate Latin School for girls be established.
Girls’ Latin School opened on West Newton Street in Boston’s South End on February 12, 1878. The school had only thirty-seven pupils in its three classes. The first thirty-seven students were divided according to aptitude into three classes; the Sixth, Fifth, and Third class. The first graduating class in 1880 included Alice M. Mills, Charlotte W. Rogers, Vida D. Scudder, Mary L. Mason, Alice S. Rollins, and Miriam S. Witherspoon; all six were accepted to Smith College.