Beginning with the coming academic year, Roxbury Latin is launching an innovative teaching fellows program. Partnering with the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education, RL is offering new, aspiring middle- and upper-school teachers the opportunity to earn a Master’s degree in education while completing two-year teaching fellowships on our West Roxbury campus. The program provides the foundation for exemplary teaching by combining classroom experience, attentive mentoring, and a broad, rich understanding of learning theory and pedagogy. Fellows are prepared to provide their students with an exceptional educational experience. Part of a distinguished cohort of fellows from ten outstanding independent day schools (Gilman, Greenwich Academy, Hopkins, North Shore Country Day, Princeton Day, Riverdale Country School, Roxbury Latin, Shipley, St. Anne’s-Belfield, and Trinity-NYC), the fellows are mentored and taught both by faculty colleagues at RL as well as professors at Penn. Roxbury Latin is the only Massachusetts member of the day school cohort of the Independent School Teaching Residency Program (ISTR).

We have not only reached, but exceeded, our goal of $3,450,000 for the 2016-2017 Annual Fund. Annual Fund donations total $3,711,081, setting another record. Amazing!

Annual Fund Chairman Bill Maffie ’88, ALGC Co-Chairs Bryan Anderson ’88, Jay Mitchell ’96, Andy McElaney ’96 along with Parent Fund Co-Chairs Michael and Ellen Berk and Vice Co-Chairs David Bryant and Ellen Berkman have done an outstanding job leading a team of dedicated volunteers. As a result, parent participation is 99.7 percent this year. Parents have raised an impressive $1,328,106—the tenth consecutive year that parent donations have topped $1 million. Our alumni volunteers have also worked diligently to ensure that the 2016-2017 Annual Fund has been a banner year. Special thanks to the Alumni Leadership Giving Committee and their members for another record-setting year, raising over $1 million for the third year in a row.  In total, our alumni have raised $1,483,750. Finally, we continue to be heartened by the response of our past parents who remain committed to RL’s mission as their donations have totaled $588,362.

The continued level of commitment to Roxbury Latin demonstrated through the Annual Fund is both a ringing affirmation of the difference the School makes in boys’ lives and a testimonial to the tireless devotion of the men and women who served this year as Annual Fund volunteers.

We extend our deepest gratitude to all those who invested in our School this year and allowed us to preserve our unique financial model. On behalf of the boys and faculty—your beneficiaries—we thank you for your continued support. There is no better way to honor the boys and their teachers…today and always. Excellence did indeed compel a response. Thank you!

On June 29 and 30 at Roxbury Latin, fifty teachers from Boston’s public schools attended professional development workshops led by instructors from i2 Learning. Why were these teachers here right after the end of the school year? To prepare to lead STEM projects with their sixth, seventh, and eighth grade students next fall during the second annual Boston STEM Week. In mid-August, more than 100 more Boston teachers will undergo the same training on Roxbury Latin’s campus.

As it did in 2016, Boston STEM Week (October 23-27, 2017) will transform middle school classrooms in Boston into learning labs, where students will work in teams to solve real-world problems that encourage hands-on experimentation and critical thinking. Regularly scheduled classes in the participating schools will be replaced with immersive, hands-on STEM curriculum developed by MIT and other leading STEM organizations. (“STEM” is an acronym for the fields of science, technology, engineering, and math.)

i2 Learning and Boston STEM Week are both the brainchildren of RL alumnus Ethan Berman ’79, who believes that the school-age years are crucial to the development of children’s skills and interest in STEM disciplines. Mr. Berman approached Roxbury Latin back in 2012 as a partner in his vision for a camp. The following summer, i2 Camps launched in Boston, New York, and New Jersey. Today i2 Learning has expanded to include summer camps in 23 locations across the US as well as Jordan and Kenya, and STEM immersion weeks in more than 60 schools, with more joining each month. Mr. Berman served on RL’s board of trustees from 2010 to 2016.

Headmaster Kerry Brennan was re-elected President of the International Boys’ Schools Coalition at its recent conference at Baltimore’s Boys’ Latin School. The IBSC, founded in 1995, includes 266 schools representing 250,000 boys in twenty countries.

On 18 June, RL’s 2017 valedictorian, Siva Emani, was presented with his Presidential Scholarship Medallion at a ceremony at the White House in Washington, D.C. He was accompanied by his RL sponsor, Dr. Peter Hyde. Since the United States Presidential Scholars Program was established in 1964, Siva is the fourth RL boy to receive this prestigious award.

Presidential Scholarships recognize the most distinguished graduating seniors for their accomplishments in many areas: academic success, leadership, and service to school and community. In May, Siva received word that he had been selected as one of just 104 students nationwide to receive a United States Presidential Scholarship (every year, at least one boy and one girl are selected from each state, plus Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico).

Candidates for Presidential Scholarships are originally identified by their SAT or ACT scores, and they progress through the selection process based on an analysis of their essays, high school transcripts, recommendations from teachers, personal characteristics, leadership, service, and extracurricular activities.

At Roxbury Latin’s Closing Exercises on 3 June, just prior to presenting Siva with the William Coe Collar Award, Headmaster Kerry Brennan seized the opportunity to sing Siva’s praises: “This year’s winner is the ranking scholar in his talented class. He is a remarkable listener. He is a thoughtful questioner. He is a talented includer of others and their ideas. He is indefatigable, persistent, patient, hardworking, kind, and caring. He quivers with energy and excitement; he deflects credit and freely offers compliments to others; he offers friendship generously and collaborates with patience and delight. This is a remarkable person, a young man of unwavering integrity and noble aspirations.”

Click here to read Siva Emani’s Valedictory Address.

A message from Headmaster BrennanDear Friends:

I am sorry to share the sad news that David Frank died today.  He had been battling cancer and various complications over the past several weeks.

David gave thirty-four years of his life to RL, its mission, and the fortunate boys who were in his various English classes and plays.  As Director of Drama, David brought great imagination, energy, and a unique sense of possibility to each theatrical event.  He was a force behind the creation of the Smith Theater – an ideal venue for schoolboy theatre.

David was a brilliant polymath.  He could have taught anything (and tried his hand at Latin and music classes during his time at RL), but principally he was a devoted, effective teacher of English.  His students encountered a rare intellect in David.  While many of us who have taught for a while would rely a bit on past years’ work for our lesson plans and assessments, not David for whom each quiz or test presented a new, delicious opportunity to create anew.  What mini masterpieces all of these were!  David was also a warm, generous colleague – a pleasure to know and a continual inspiration.

We mourn his loss and celebrate the great and good impact he had on scores of RL boys and many of us over the years.  David and I started our RL careers on the very same day in 1978 and worked together for many years on various musical productions.  I will miss that collaborative spirit and that remarkable mind, and especially David’s capacity for friendship.  

We will work with David’s family in order to plan a fitting memorial service in the Smith Theater on a date to be named later.  Please keep David and his family in your prayers.

Sincerely,

Kerry P. Brennan

Headmaster

On Tuesday, May 23, the boys in Class II completed their final exams a week early. Then, on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday of this week, all 50 boys in Class II kicked off the new “RL@Work” program by visiting alumni, parents of alumni, current parents, and friends of RL at their work places in Boston. RL@Work will conclude next Tuesday, May 30.

Led by Director of Studies Andrew Chappell, RL@Work is designed to give Class II boys a chance to reflect on key themes of leadership, collaboration, problem solving, and critical thinking; to see the ways our alumni are applying the lessons they learned at RL in their work lives; and to give accomplished alumni and friends of the School a chance to share life insights with current RL students.

Each morning, the boys ride a bus to their first workplace destination, then they enjoy a variety of engaging, informative presentations, activities, and case studies at various locations before returning to RL at the end of the day. This week, the boys have received wonderful advice about how to find purpose in life, being open to new ideas, following one’s passions, staying connected with other RL alumni, working hard, leading with integrity, and serving others.

We thank all those alumni, parents of alumni, current parents, and friends of RL who helped make the first RL@Work so successful. The full schedule of workplaces, alumni, and activities is below.

Wednesday, May 24, 2017

Law, Justice, Politics

  Morning Activities Dan Cloherty ’84 and Greg Noonan ’94, Collora  Dave Giordano ’96, Giordano and Chavous Bob O’Connor ’85 and Paul Evans ’03, DLA Piper Tim Silva ‘88, WilmerHale

Afternoon Activities Adams Courthouse and Moakley Courthouse – Tours and Observation

Dan Conley PP’14, Rob Arcangeli ’00, Matt Fitzgerald ’00, Peter Pasciucco ’01, Rob Settana ‘01, Frank Kanin ’06, and Ramon Pascual ‘07 – Office of the Suffolk County District Attorney Evening Activities Sam Kennedy, President of the Boston Red Sox/Fenway Sports Group

Mike Regan ’04, Steve Kelley ’09, Zach Markell ’10 Red Sox vs. Rangers game at Fenway Park

Thursday, May 25, 2017 Entrepreneurship

  Morning Activities Gareth Cook, P’20, New York Times Magazine, Contributing Writer

  Dave Grossman ‘97 and Jake Grossman ‘00, Grossman Companies Gavin Murphy ‘98, Annkissam Greg Schmergel ‘86, Nantero

Afternoon Activities

John Werner, P’21 along with 25 leaders in innovation/entrepreneurship at MIT Media Lab

Friday, May 26, 2017 Entrepreneurship

Morning Activities Bing Broderick and Bettina Scemama, PP’15, Dudley Dough Dave Grossman ‘97 and Jake Grossman ‘00, Grossman Companies  Chris Mitchell ‘89, Spectrum Equity Gavin Murphy ‘98, Annkissam

Afternoon Activities ISP Presentations at Roxbury Latin, and Class Meeting

Tuesday, May 30, 2017 Medicine/Science

  Morning Activities:Harvard Medical School, MEDscience Simulation Lab

Paul Weitzel ‘86, Boston Sports and Shoulder Center, New England Baptist Hospital Andrew Eyre ‘02, Stratus Center and Emergency Department at Brigham and Women’s Hospital

Afternoon Activities Dan Driscoll ’74, Effi Hochberg ’88, and Gene Lambert ’87 – Panel Discussion and Tour of The Ether Dome at Mass General Hospital

  Cookout and Games at Roxbury Latin