|  | | Q. | Do you need to live in Boston to attend Boston Latin School?
| | A. | YES, you do need to live in Boston. Boston includes:
Allston
Boston – Back Bay, Downtown, Fenway, North End, South End, West End
Brighton
Charlestown
Dorchester – Codman Square, Fields Corner, Grove Hall, Uphams Corner
East Boston
Hyde Park - Readville
Jamaica Plain
Mattapan
Roslindale
Roxbury
Roxbury Crossing
South Boston
West Roxbury
NO EXCEPTIONS. Somerville, Quincy, Brookline, etc. are NOT part of Boston.
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| Q. | What is the name of the entrance test? When is the test date? | | A. | The Independent Schools Entrance Exam (ISEE) for admission will be held on a Saturday in November. Eligible students must officially be in grades 6 or 8. Boston Latin School accepts into grades 7 & 9 only. Check the Boston Public Schools website for exam information by clicking here.
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| Q. | Is entrance based solely on test scores?
| | A. | No, in addition to the ISEE, the Boston School Department requires a Grade Point Average for each candidate. The GPA is based on grades in English and Math for the final marks for Grade 5 or 7 and for the first half of grades 6 or 8.
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| Q. | I don’t live in Boston, but plan on moving to Boston. How can I get my child into Boston Latin School?
| | A. | You have two options. You can take the test in Boston and pay a fee or you can take the exam in another city/state and have the results sent to Boston. The testing deadline for those living outside Boston is December 31 of each year. Residency deadlines have changed recently. You must live in Boston and provide proof of residency by the first Friday of November in any given year. Read the complete rules at the Boston Public Schools website by clicking here.
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| Q. | How do I sign my child up to take the exam? | | A. | Information packets will be available at ALL Boston Public School middle schools in mid-September each year. Testing locations and times will be included in the information packet.
NOTE: Packets ARE NOT AVAILABLE at Boston Latin School.
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| Q. | Is there a prep course or book about the entrance exam? What about prep courses?
| | A. | There are many ISEE prep books available. One example is the Barron’s ISEE Book, which includes practice exams. Prep books can be found in any large bookstore. The Educational Records Bureau (ERB) also publishes the “What to Expect on the ISEE”, which can be purchased for $15 by calling 800-446-0320 or order online at www.iseetest.org.
If you have any more questions, please e-mail Maria Vieira at mvieira@boston.k12.ma.us. Her phone number is 617-635-9512.
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| Q. | What is Boston Latin School?
| | A. | Boston Latin School (BLS) is a public school that begins in grade 7 and ends in grade 12, making it both a middle and a high school. Many people say that BLS is one of the best schools in the whole country! However, only young people who live in the city of Boston can go to BLS. This is great news for you because it means that when you get to be a seventh grader, you can possibly take advantage of all the great learning opportunities that BLS has to offer. The classes at the school are so challenging that all students leave well prepared to be successful in the future. Some adults who studied at Boston Latin are now multi-millionaires, government officials, and even Hollywood actors!
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| Q. | Where is Boston Latin School?
| | A. | From Park Street Sta. take Green Line 'E' to Longwood/ Hosp. Walk down Longwood Ave.; go right on Ave. Louis Pasteur. From Forest Hills Sta. take Copley bus (#39) to Longwood Ave. Proceed as above. From Dudley or Ruggles Station or Boston City Hospital take Central Sqr. bus (#47) to Ave. Louis Pasteur or take Kenmore Sq. bus (#8).
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| Q. | Do Kids Have Any Fun There?
| | A. | Boston Latin School isn’t just about doing lots of schoolwork. While that is a big part of it, students have a lot of cool activities to do during the school day, and after school as well. During the day, you might take art, theater, or a musical instrument. After school, you can choose to do whatever interests you. Take a look at some of the clubs you could belong to at BLS:
STEP SQUAD – “Stepping involves creating complicated rhythms with your hands and feet. It sounds simple, but it’s really tough and we practice a lot of hours to make our routines come together. We perform at football games, pep rallies, and we even enter statewide competitions. Step Squad is one of the most popular groups at Latin School, even though most of the students didn’t even know what stepping was until they saw us for the first time.” –Terien Thompson, Class of 2005.
GOSPEL CHOIR – “Gospel Choir is a great way to unwind after a long school day. You don’t have to have a certain religious background to join, and you don’t have to be the best singer either. You just have to come with enthusiasm, ready to clap your hands and sing out strong. It’s great to perform at school music events and see the crowd really get into the music.” – April Nieves, Class of 2004.
TALENTED AND GIFTED CLUB – “T.A.G. is an after school club which not only provides help with academic work, but is also a social environment where you can relax and have fun. T.A.G. is geared to promoting Hispanic cultures and incorporating others. It promotes this by having guest speakers to talk about their occupations, and success in life, encouraging others to succeed. We’ve also organized ski trips and even a trip to Six Flags! The members of T.A.G. also display their creativity and talents in our annual show, Ritmo/Sabor Latino, which educates B.L.S. students about our culture and traditions.” –Karen Herrera, Class of 2004.
Step Squad, Gospel Choir and TAG are three of the over fifty groups you could possibly join! We have everything from a club for people who like video games, to a group that puts on a yearly fashion show. There are some organizations based on your desire to learn more about the culture and traditions of people from various backgrounds.
Are you the athletic type? BLS has more sports available than many other schools in the city. Most of them have teams for boys and girls, and have different levels depending on your age and ability.
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| Q. | What Does BLS Offer That Sets It Apart?
| | A. | Boston Latin offers a variety of courses. As its distinctive tradition, students are required to take Latin for four years. The school also recently added a wonderful Art Wing, where it offers music, art, theater, and photography classes. A state of the art library has thousands of books and hundreds of computers.
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| Q. | If I Get Into Boston Latin, Will I Do Well? | | A. | Getting into BLS is a very proud moment for young people, and it means that you have the necessary skills to succeed at the school. However, not everyone who goes to Latin School will finish. It’s not because they’re not smart enough, but it’s because they couldn’t handle the amount of work, and weren’t prepared for their new responsibilities.
Believe it or not, what you’re doing now in elementary school is already deciding how well you’re going to do at Latin School. How is that possible? Well, the study habits that you form now will follow you to seventh grade and beyond. For example, are you doing your homework every night? Are you following the exact directions that your teacher gives you for your assignments? Do you ask for help when something is confusing to you? If you answered “No” to any of these questions, you might be putting yourself in a tough position to excel at Latin School. BLS expects you to do hours of homework every night. Teachers expect the work to be done completely and correctly, and they want you to tell them if you don’t understand something.
If you answered “Yes” to all of the questions, that’s great. But guess what? You could still be doing more to get ready for BLS. If you finish your homework in less than an hour every night, you should be doing extra work. EXTRA WORK? Yes, extra work. Read books for pleasure when you finish the work your teacher assigned. It doesn’t matter if it’s Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, or an R.L. Stein mystery; reading anything will help get you ready for all the books you’ll have to read in seventh grade.
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| Q. | Sounds Great! How Do I Get to Go There?
| | A. | Entrance into BLS is partly based on what you get on a test that you take in the sixth grade, called the ISEE (Independent School Entrance Exam). So one thing you have to make sure to do if you want to go to Boston Latin is to sign up for the test! The exam is given at different schools in Boston, so there will definitely be a place near you.
The ISEE lasts for about three hours. You must take the test in pencil, and it is all multiple choice. You might think multiple choice tests are easy, but they aren’t always that way. This test is designed to check your knowledge of things you have already learned in school, and perhaps a little more. The sections on the test include math, reading comprehension, and vocabulary. For Reading Comprehension, you will be given a short passage to read and then you answer questions on it. In the Vocabulary section, you will have to figure out the meaning of certain words depending on how they are used in the sentence. They might be words you’ve never seen before. To do well on the Math sections, you should know basic geometry, word problems, how to multiply and divide, and even fractions.
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