Boston Latin School worth moving to Boston for chance to attend? (Lawrence: transfer, catholic schools)

[BMenard]

If I wanted to attend Boston Latin School and I wanted to live in Boston, I would recommend West Roxbury. This is probably the nicest and most suburban like community in Boston. Most of the children in the West Roxbury attend St. Theresa's School (Catholic) and a very high percentage of those children move on to Boston Latin after the 6th grade.
If they do not attend BL, they go to one of the many area Catholic High Schools - Catholic Memorial or Xavarian (boys) or Ursuline Academy or Mount Alvernia (girls).

[CityGirl52]

Yes, I agree with BMenard's post.

Another great (high) school with an outstanding reputation, if you end up checking out Newton to live in is the "Newton Country Day School of the Sacred Heart" which is located right at 785 Centre Street. It's a wonderful private Girls Catholic (day) High School. A very good friend of mine's daughter went there. All I can say is WOW, what an education her kid got there and then she went on to an incredible ivy league undergraduate school after that private high school education. Now getting her doctorate degree. It certainly paid off very well & I'd say it was worth every dime they are paying & of course have paid so far:

Welcome to Newton Country Day School

On the other side of the City of Boston in Brighton is "the Mount" which was always outstanding and a lot of the students went on or are going to Boston College as one of their undergraduate schools they attend. It's "Mount Saint Joseph Academy" in Brighton. That one might be a good one to put on your agenda when it's high school time down the road:

www.mountsaintjosephacademy.org

My younger sister went to Boston Latin back when it was strictly "Boston Latin School" in the City of Boston & Boston English was what it was too back then. I certainly can't keep up with these other schools they created out of that original one! It kills me what they've done to tell you the truth, whatever floats their boat is what I always say these days with all these changes. There's certainly nothing any one can do about it now any way. The older original "Boston Latin School" (in my book) was always outstanding. Always. I'm sure these other schools created are fine, just down a notch in my mind, lol! Well it was always the brightest, finest & the best top students that passed the test to get in to Latin in the City and it was quite an honor to attend that school. When I was a kid, it was two or may be three in the whole school that got accepted to go to Latin. I'm sure there's a lot of people out there that remember those days! That's the Boston Latin School I remember (very) well!

Milton, MA is a town that you might want to consider as well. We'll have you dizzy with trying to make this huge decision, won't we?!

Milton isn't far from the City of Boston & they have Milton Academy which is a co-ed, independent prep, boarding (& day) school. It consists of 9-12 Upper School and K-8 Lower School. Boarding is offered starting in the 9th grade. Milton is noted for its prestige and strong academic programs & produced some notable alumni. A Nobel Laureate, some U.S. Congressmen, Senators & a Massachusetts Governor, also a Medal of Honor recepient.

www.milton.edu

[RC1981]

Not sure if it's been mentioned yet or not, but you will have to live physically within the city limits of Boston in order for your child to be eligible to go to Latin...the other Boston Public Schools are pretty much all horrible.

If I were you, I'd move to Brookline or Newton. Both offer pretty easy access to Wayland and are in no way the kind "rural suburb" you're trying to avoid. They pretty much have the best schools in the state (check out Brookline High School's alumni list), but you might find it a bit out of your price range. If you're willing to up your price a bit you could probably find some awesome places that are very family oriented in those areas.

Alternatively you could check out the northern suburbs, like Melrose. Melrose High is a great school and the area will totally fit your budget. Not sure if the commute to Wayland will be as easy though...probably won't be. Melrose is a great community though and will be right in your price range, and the schools are awesome.

[MeetyouatDunkies]

Originally Posted by tooldude

Boston Latin is overrated anyways. Even if it's a good school, there are bad students that go there. I've heard some of the students get in trouble for dealing drugs and getting into fights.

Haha cynical much? You sound like a Latin Academy kid.. just teasing! The drug/fighting reasoning is lame tho. That happens in every public school, even in the wealthier suburbs. The "bad" students usually get weeded out by poor academic performance anyway, because they didn't put the time in.

Overrated? Just look at the statistics of the graduating classes. What other public school can say they consistently get that many kids into Harvard, MIT etc a year? Not to mention the number of kids getting scholarships to other amazing universities. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but my full ride to Boston College is telling me my years at BLS were worth it.

However..

Uprooting your life to send your kid there is a little extreme. A school's reputation/work environment is a huge factor in any student's success, but the student has to be willing to do the work. Latin is a sink or swim environment, and a serious commitment.

I don't know if it's changed since I took the entrance exam (roughly 10 yrs ago) but I believe you have about a year to move/prove residency within the city limits after your child is accepted. If this hasn't changed then you can make an easier decision and not take such a risk.

There are other great public school systems just outside of the city such as Newton. Just be prepared to pay to move there.

Hope I helped!

[Urban Peasant]

Originally Posted by MeetyouatDunkies

I don't know if it's changed since I took the entrance exam (roughly 10 yrs ago) but I believe you have about a year to move/prove residency within the city limits after your child is accepted. If this hasn't changed then you can make an easier decision and not take such a risk.

I think it's gotten even harder recently. Now they expect all incoming students to have attended at least one year of Boston Public School (say 6th grade for example) in order to get into BLS. When I started BLS long ago, all it took was a couple months move into the city to establish residency and you were in.

Anyways, I kind of get what ToolDude is saying. Even as a BLS grad, I'd have to say that BLS is a little overrated and that there are other schools nearly as good. I mean there's still BLA our rival, where I had worked for a short while. Then there are the numerous suburban high schools who have all the amenities that even BLS can only dream of.

Heck, with really supportive parents, a kid can probably even succeed in a school like Boston English and get into the college of his/her choice. The problem with such schools is that they don't have enough supportive parents which is why their student bodies seem to underperform all the time.

[maggiekate]

Originally Posted by BMenard

If I wanted to attend Boston Latin School and I wanted to live in Boston, I would recommend West Roxbury. This is probably the nicest and most suburban like community in Boston. Most of the children in the West Roxbury attend St. Theresa's School (Catholic) and a very high percentage of those children move on to Boston Latin after the 6th grade.
If they do not attend BL, they go to one of the many area Catholic High Schools - Catholic Memorial or Xavarian (boys) or Ursuline Academy or Mount Alvernia (girls).

Some even go to Hingham and Notre Dame which was in Roxbury and did
move, Holy Name also was good.

[HenryAlan]

First, I think it's important to note that you can get a very good education in Boston Public Schools, not just because of BLS. That said, don't move to Boston just for a school (or anywhere else for that matter). Move there because you want the urban, big city experience. If you want that experience, you can feel confident in the educational options. But if you don't want it, look for one of the many suburbs with good schools. One cautionary note about suburban schools. Some will look very good on paper but good test scores are often the result of the population, not the quality of the education. I have friends in the suburbs with children in supposedly top rated districts, and in many cases, the schools their children attend are clearly not as good as the schools my children attend in Boston.

[asha01]

From what I am seeing, Outside of the city is best. I am trying to move back home to Boston from Orlando and I am thinking of private school in the suburbs or really good school district and then moving into that suburb. I also noticed that everyone is accurate and that you get more for your money outside the city.

[snatale1]

Originally Posted by tooldude

I've heard some of the students get in trouble for dealing drugs and getting into fights.

You just described every high school on the planet!

[snatale1]

Originally Posted by konafamily

So, we have the possibility of relocating to the Boston area for work. Myself, wife and 10 year old daughter. We currently live in the greater Cleveland area and, all jokes aside, our school system is fantastic.

From what we have read, Boston Latin School is one of the best hight schools in the area, and we are fine with living in Boston, but don't want her to have bad schools until she (might) get in to there.

I would say we are looking at $400k max for the house and don't want to move several times.

Other areas we are thinking are Arlington, Belmont, Lexington, etc.

We want to be close to Boston and are not looking for the rural experience.

Any help or gudiance would be great. Are there good middle schools in Boston for the two years before BLS? Are the other HS's in the area just as good as BLS and so we should look elsewhere?

Many thanks for all the help!

You'd be better off moving to a surrounding city/town. $400k won't get you very far in or around Boston. Arlington, Belmont or Lexington are all very nice, but pricey. Latin is a good school. but not worth moving into Boston for. Roxbury Latin would be better then Boston, at least it's not in the ghetto.