Things Have Changed at Boston Latin

There has been a flurry of activity on the Boston Latin School blsparents listserv ever since one parent discovered the delightful and informative article in your Winter issue, “The Case of James Edward Wright” by Rebecca Noel. It reminded many of us that as parents we are as concerned about how to protect our children’s health and provide them with the “proper” outdoor activities as we are with their education, whether you live in the 21st century or around the mid 19th century. I also found it interesting that the word ‘coasting’ has such a continuing legacy as a term for sledding. And the coup de resistance, how they ever got away with keeping their son out of Boston Latin School for 12 months over a four-year period! If you are out without a doctor’s note for more than six days in a given term, you automatically receive grades of “F” in every subject. I don’t think he’d be attending Harvard today had he missed that many days to go coasting! Thank you for a delightful read!

Rosemary Kelly
Co-chair of School Parent Council and Mom of a II-zee (Junior at Boston Latin School)

P.S. They still maintain the old British method of referring to a student by one of the six years of their grade level; so a 7th grader is a Sixie and a senior in high school is a One-zee.