Talk:Roxbury Latin School

Untitled
I'd like to make a correction. This is not the oldest school in the United States, or in North America. I'm not so sure about North America, but Boston Latin School is older than Roxbury Latin School, since Boston Latin School was founded in 1635. Harvard was created for the alumni of Boston Latin School to go to for college, and Boston Latin School is older than Roxbury Latin School by a decade.


 * The article does not say that Roxbury Latin is the oldest secondary school, it says that it's the oldest secondary school in continuous existence. During the Revolutionary War, Boston Latin shut down for a period of time,  while Roxbury Latin remained open.  Therefore, while Boston Latin may be the oldest school, having shut down, it doesn't hold the title of oldest school in continuous existence.

The Collegiate School claims to have been established in 1628, so Boston Latin is at least younger than one school. Yet, Collegiate has shut down for periods of time, so Roxbury Latin's claim still stands. P.S., Harvard wasn't founded for Boston Latin graduates, that's a ridiculous claim.

Edit war
Please stop! I'm sick of seeing this in my watchlist with just the same changes over and over. The current version - "oldest school in continuous operation" - with the reference to the school history - makes the most sense. "Existence" may be the "catch-phrase," but "operation" is more easily understood. Any chance of leaving it as is? --Brian Olsen 13:14, 17 June 2006 (UTC)

response: a school "exists" to teach students. If it isn't teaching students, it doesn't exist. Brian, I'd think you'd be in agreement. We have enough trouble fending off edits from BLS and the Collegiate School, who don't like the fact that RL has an older continuous existence.


 * I'm not arguing that "existence" is incorrect (I'm an RL alum myself, I get it), just that "continuous operation" is more easily understood by people unfamiliar with the school. I haven't edited it myself - I'm just sick of the damn edit war, and I was trying to propose a compromise. --Brian Olsen 01:42, 21 June 2006 (UTC)

response: I'll let it go, but as you know, the preferred term is existence, so I can't vouch for what others will do.

rebuttal: Regardless of what term is "preferred", the phrase itself: "oldest school in continuous existence" without any explanation is misleading. Make a footnote ON THE PAGE that clarifies this in light of collegiate, Boston Latin, and Harvard, and that would probably solve this whole problem.

Vandalism?
I was accused of "vandalism" for simply editing the article to note that the "continuous existence" was controversial. I mentioned that there is a school in Quebec City, founded in 1639, which bills itself as the oldest school in North America. Shouldn't that at least be mentioned?

My edits were deleted entirely and I am unable to respond to my accuser because s/he is evidently not registered.

Response: Listen hombre, your edits were poorly crafted, badly-written, and even if true--you provided absolutely no sourcing of course--were entirely unsuitable for the first paragraph of the entry.


 * Response: The misleading claim is still in the first paragraph of the article, with or without my edits. If you believe it is not appropriate for the first paragraph, then you should move it.  JPSheridan 17:11, 14 November 2006 (UTC)

Proposed correction
I believe there is an error in the main article and I want to give the originator the chance to make the correction.

The article states that the school received a charter from Charles I. The most recent history of the school, Schola Illustris, makes no mention of a royal charter to the school. The original governing document was The Agreement (p.93ff) signed by Eliot, Governor Dudley and the 64 'donors'. This charter was superceded by the Charter of 1789 issued by the General Court of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts (p. 134). Rbyoung 02:10, 27 June 2007 (UTC)

A royal charter to the school was given. The original seal stamped by King Charlie I is on display in the library. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.63.20.73 (talk) 22:58, 10 June 2009 (UTC)

Info request
Where was the school before it moved to West Roxbury? Surely there's a better answer than "Roxbury"?

I quote from the school's own website: "From 1860 until 1927, Roxbury Latin resided in a small building on Kearsarge Avenue in Roxbury. In the mid-1920s, a 50-acre estate in West Roxbury was procured, and the School moved to its present campus in 1927."  An image of the school's former home (c. 1905) is available at 

Assessment
I am assessing this article after a request as C / High. The title of it being the oldest school in North America is a significant show of importance, as well as its impressive list of alumni. The requirements for Top-importance however are extremely high and only about one school on average per country should get this rating. Wider discussion at WikiProject Schools may be required first, and it would be good if the alumni were fully sourced. As for the content of the article, I would say it is on the low end of C-class. The lead is way too long, it should only introduce and summarise the article per WP:LEAD. The other sections need to be referenced, and much needs to be expanded. WP:WPSCH/AG shows the missing sections of the article. An obvious missing section is History; I'm sure given the school's age there is plenty of material on this. In articles with similar importance the school's history has got its own article e.g. History of Baltimore City College. The article really needs more references; five just isn't enough for an article even of its existing size. Finally, some pictures and the school logo would be good. Camaron · Christopher · talk 14:50, 13 January 2010 (UTC)

Former location
Please add more history to the article. What is the exact former location? -96.233.19.238 (talk) 20:09, 18 May 2013 (UTC)

"From 1860 until 1927, Roxbury Latin resided in a small building on Kearsarge Avenue in Roxbury. In the mid-1920s, a 50-acre estate in West Roxbury was procured, and the School moved to its present campus in 1927. The eminent architect William Perry of Perry, Shaw & Hepburn designed the new school building; the firm would later—in part due to its success at Roxbury Latin—be entrusted with the restoration of Colonial Williamsburg." www.roxburylatin.org/about-rl/who-we-are/rooted-in-history/read-more/index.aspx -96.233.19.238 (talk) 20:15, 18 May 2013 (UTC)