Chess at Roxbury Latin is predominantly an independent activity. Any student may play any time he is free to do so, as sets are always available. For those interested in more formal competition, RL is a member of the South Shore Interscholastic Chess League (SSICL) which is a consortium of local private and public schools. Competitive chess is considered a winter activity in the SSICL. For the RL team there are typically eight matches during the season, and practices are held twice a week. RL players’ rankings are listed on an in-house live document (ladder) which is based on the outcomes of independently scheduled games. The top 5 to 7 players on the ladder compete in the SSICL matches. In some years there is also an individual tournament (Dempsey) at the end of the season.

The Classics Club was founded to promote enthusiasm for Classics by offering opportunities beyond the classroom for boys to broaden their knowledge of the languages and daily lives of the Greeks and Romans. Weekly meetings focus on preparation for Certamen competitions, which involve rapid-fire questions on topics ranging from the minutiae of Latin grammar and vocabulary, Latin-based etymology, Roman history and culture, and classical mythology in a Jeopardy!-like setting. The group attends various competitions in Massachusetts, but also hosts an intramural competition in the fall.

Debating and public speaking help boys learn skills of communication, persuasion, logic, critical thinking, research, the use of evidence, and thinking on their feet. Roxbury Latin boys compete among themselves and with students from other schools both in traditional debate formats (e.g., Oregon and Parliamentary) and in a wide range of public speaking events (e.g., persuasive, after dinner, impromptu, extemporaneous speaking, and interpretive reading). Through these competitions, boys gain self-confidence in performing before others and also experience the excitement and exhilaration created by the clash and interplay of competing ideas. 

In our program, first-year debaters and public speakers learn basic public speaking skills and forensic theory, competing in two interscholastic debating tournaments. After completing the first-year program, boys advance to novice and advanced level debating in a wide array of interscholastic competitions. 

Roxbury Latin public speakers and debaters compete both regionally and internationally. Most New England tournaments are sanctioned by the Debating Association of New England Independent Schools, founded at Roxbury Latin in 1978. Canadian and overseas tournaments are coordinated by the International Independent Schools Public Speaking League, of which Roxbury Latin is a charter member. In 29 of the last 31 years, at least one Roxbury Latin boy has qualified for the World Individual Debate and Public Speaking Competition. Host schools in recent years are located in Germany, Botswana, England, Cyprus, South Africa, Australia, Lithuania, Canada, and Hong Kong. In 2023-2024, more than 60 boys in Classes I through IV were involved in debating and public speaking throughout the year. Roxbury Latin speakers and debaters entered 16 tournaments, winning many team and individual awards. Declamations—the dramatic public recitation of memorized passages of Greek and Latin—are presented annually by boys of every class on Exelauno Day, March 4th. The day’s name is a play on the word exelauno, the recurring verb (“march forth”) in Xenophon’s Anabasis. Boys compete before the entire school for the David Taggart Clark prizes in Greek and Latin declamation.

The Dramatics program, which involves approximately a third of Roxbury Latin students in some capacity, stages three faculty-directed productions each year. Some years also feature a student-directed production:

• Fall Play: Open to boys in Classes I–III (with girls from neighboring schools)
• Winter Musical: Open to boys in Classes I–IV (with girls from neighboring schools)
• Spring Night of Scenes: Open to boys in Classes I–VI (with girls from neighboring schools)
• Student Production: In some years, based on interest and ability, a senior will initiate and direct a production in the spring.

The centerpiece of the Roxbury Latin Dramatics program is the 300-seat Robert P. and Salua J.A. Smith Theater, a well-appointed facility with fly and trap capabilities, an optional orchestra pit, and excellent acoustics for student voices. Our students fill all onstage roles and execute much of the technical work—especially set construction and lighting design—under the guidance of guest artists, working professionals in the Boston area.

In the 2023–2024 year, the Fall Play was The Play That Goes Wrong, by Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer, and Henry Shields. The Winter Musical was The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, with lyrics by William Finn, book written by Rachel Sheinkin, and conceived by Rebecca Feldman, with additional material by Jay Reiss. In the spring, the Junior Play was the Susan Nanus adaptation of Norton Juster’s classic book The Phantom Tollbooth. Roxbury Latin performers were joined across the year by students from The Winsor School, Newton Country Day School, Montrose School, Ursuline Academy, and The Rivers School.

Taking as its motto “Think globally, act locally,” RL’s Environmentally Concerned Organization of Students (ECOS) works to raise awareness about environmental issues and to reduce the impact that RL has on the environment. Students who are involved in ECOS support the school’s recycling efforts by emptying recycling bins across campus and by organizing the collection and composting of RL’s food waste. ECOS also promotes stewardship of the RL forest by hosting events in the fall and spring to clear trails and clean up trash. In addition to these ongoing efforts, each year ECOS focuses on a few specific initiatives to reduce RL’s ecological footprint. These have included raising money through concession sales at school plays to support the purchase of a new bike rack on campus; providing eco-friendly, reusable water bottles for the entire school to cut down on plastic waste; collecting textiles for recycling; and initiating a Paper Challenge to reduce paper use across the school. 

A student-run, student-led organization founded in 2007 to aid the mission of Habitat for Humanity International, the RL chapter of Habitat for Humanity works in partnership with Greater Boston Habitat and other local affiliates to fulfill the four functions of a campus chapter: building, fundraising, advocating, and educating. The group has sent many student volunteers to work at local home building sites in and around Greater Boston. In order to take part in these builds and support local affiliates, the group has raised tens of thousands of dollars through bake sales and hosting a three-on-three basketball tournament each winter. In addition, Class I boys may work as an intern with Greater Boston Habitat as an Independent Senior Project (ISP) at the end of their senior year.

In Model United Nations (MUN), boys attend conferences along with students from many other public and independent schools from across the nation. Each school represents one or more member nations in the various policy-making bodies of the U.N., and each participant plays the role of a diplomatic “delegate.” To prepare for these simulations, each boy must research his country and its role in the international community, the problems on his committee’s agenda, and the procedures, capabilities, and limitations of the U.N. Delegates must work together to write up the results of their research as part of a position paper, submitted several weeks before each conference. At the conference sessions, delegates articulate their country’s policy on each agenda item and seek to implement it through consensus with representatives of other countries. During several days of debate and political negotiation, delegates work together to formulate and pass resolutions on such topics as nuclear disarmament, economic cooperation and development, the preservation of the global environment, international efforts to halt drug trafficking, etc.

Students at all levels may audition for one or more of the school’s musical ensembles. 

The Glee Club is open by audition to boys in Classes I-IV. It rehearses during the academic day and performs several concerts during the school year—occasionally with girls’ choral groups and with orchestral accompaniment. The Glee Club repertoire includes a selection of sacred music, folk songs, musical theater pieces, and traditional songs for men’s chorus. Each year the Glee Club collaborates with a girls’ chorus to perform a major choral work. Recent performances have included Bach, Cantata No. 4; Fauré, Requiem; Rutter, Gloria; Mozart, Coronation Mass; Brahms, Requiem; Bernstein, Mass; Schubert, Mass in G; Thompson, Frostiana; Mozart, Requiem; and Vivaldi, Gloria. The Glee Club also makes a spring tour—most recently to Italy; Nashville and Memphis, Tennessee; Austria and the Czech Republic; Los Angeles; Washington, D.C., and Virginia; and Puerto Rico. Nearly 100 boys participate in the Glee Club.

The Latonics, made up of about 15 singers selected from the Glee Club, perform challenging a cappella music including madrigals, motets, folk songs, spirituals, and contemporary popular songs, often in original arrangements by group members. They rehearse twice a week after athletics practice and maintain an extensive performance schedule. Over the years, the Latonics have produced 11 albums.

The Junior Chorus is open by audition to boys in Classes V-VI. Its repertoire includes three- and four-part arrangements, both accompanied and a cappella. The Junior Chorus rehearses once each a week. It performs in December and April at Glee Club concerts. 

The Jazz Band, Chamber Ensembles, and Guitar Ensemble are available to those boys who demonstrate proficiency in instrumental performance. The makeup of these ensembles varies in accordance with student talent and interest. The Jazz Band, Chamber Ensembles, and Guitar Ensemble rehearse once a week after sports practices and perform several times during the academic year. Jazz Band repertoire ranges from Big Band standards to blues, funk, and rock fusion. A Jazz Combo, drawn from the Jazz Band, performs more challenging repertoire. Guitar Ensemble’s repertoire is rooted in the classic rock tradition. Additionally, through the chamber music program, instrumentalists are combined and coached in some of the great Classical repertoire. 

Each term, by arrangement with the Director of Music, boys with special musical skills or talents perform in recital before the school. These performances often include chamber ensembles gathered by the Director of Music.

Students produce three school publications. The Tripod, the School newspaper, is published five times each year. Under the leadership of senior editors, students from all classes gather news, take photographs, and write articles. The editors are responsible for content and layout. Forum, a magazine of literature and the arts, is published twice each year. It includes short fiction, poetry, photography, and artwork by students of all classes. It, too, is student designed and edited. At the end of each year, the senior class publishes a Yearbook, whose contents include pictures and articles of both the highlights of the year and the saga of the class’s career at Roxbury Latin. These publications reflect the spirited camaraderie, vital creative energy, and warm humor characteristic of our students. 

As with other school activities, The Tripod, Yearbook, and Forum depend upon and enjoy the widespread support of students from all quarters. Typically, in addition to their extensive publications duties, editors are varsity athletes, members of the Glee Club and Model U.N., and lead actors in school plays. We believe that our student publications draw strength from the broadened perspectives brought to them by boys with such wide-ranging interests. In addition to the journalistic experience that they gain through writing and editing, boys who work on school publications are also afforded the opportunity to learn modern techniques of electronic layout and design and digital photography. All three student publications are produced using Adobe Photoshop and InDesign desktop publishing software. No prior knowledge of these programs is required or expected, however; students learn on the job.

The Robotics Team meets from mid-fall through early-spring and aligns itself with VEX Robotics, a national and international competitive robotics organization. During the past several seasons, our student-led teams of boys in Class IV through Class I have designed, built, and coded robots that have regularly qualified for the VEX Southern New England Championship and the World Championship, typically hosted in Dallas, Texas. Boys in Class VI and Class V meet weekly throughout the fall and winter for a guided introduction to VEX Robotics.