Roxbury Latin installed its first solar array in 2012 on the roof of the Gordon Fieldhouse, consisting of 560 panels with an annual production of 155 megawatt hours (MWh) of electricity, which generates 7% to 8% of the school’s annual electricity use. This is all of the energy required to operate the Fieldhouse and the Palaistra. Surplus power generated is directed to the school’s HVAC system.

Roxbury Latin more than doubled its renewable electricity generation in 2020 with the installation of a second array on the roof of the Indoor Athletic Facility (IAF), consisting of 856 panels with an annual production of 385 MWh of electricity. This system generates about 50% of the energy that is needed to run the IAF; it also includes Tesla battery storage to capture surplus energy for later use on days when demand is lower. Together, these solar systems produce 540 MWh of electricity each year and prevent the generation of 274 metric tons of CO2e annually.

Roxbury Latin is firmly committed to reducing the amount of waste it sends to landfills and incinerators, and the school has robust recycling and composting programs to support that effort. Students involved in the Environmentally Concerned Organization of Students (ECOS) play an important role by emptying recycling bins across campus and by organizing the collection and composting of food waste in the Refectory during lunch each day. They also educate the community through homeroom announcements and signage about the importance of recycling, composting, and reducing waste. As part of a recent campaign, ECOS mounted posters next to all school printers, encouraging students and faculty to limit paper use. RL has also replaced all water fountains with water filling stations and, using funds from ECOS concession sales at school plays, purchased reusable water bottles for all members of the RL community in an effort to dramatically reduce plastic waste. Through its recycling and composting efforts, Roxbury Latin recycles approximately 22 tons of waste each year and composts 7,600 pounds of food scraps. Together, these efforts prevent 64 metric tons of CO2e from being released each year.

In 2008, Roxbury Latin purchased 48 acres of undeveloped forest adjacent to the school’s main campus. It is a mature, temperate deciduous forest dominated by oaks, maples, and pines, that contains more than 30 species of flora. In 2014, Roxbury Latin commissioned an ecological baseline study to better understand the forest’s history and composition, and to identify opportunities to use the forest field site in various science courses.

Throughout the year, students in Biology, Introduction to Physical Science (IPS), Science & Technology, and Environmental Science use the RL forest as a living laboratory, observing and investigating the earth’s ecological and physical systems. Students uncover the geologic and land-use history of the forest and take an in-depth look at the many ecosystem services it provides. These local forest explorations serve as an important springboard for learning about the earth’s other major biomes and aquatic ecosystems and the range of human impacts on the environment.

In 2018, to support the course work that occurs in the RL forest, Roxbury Latin built an outdoor classroom. This beautiful space offers students and teachers the opportunity to formally gather and learn in the environment they are studying. 

All incoming Grade 7 students take a year-long Science & Technology course. The boys begin the year in the RL forest where they learn about their local ecosystem and develop important observational, data collecting, sketching, and note-taking skills. The course also includes units on solid waste and energy. During the waste unit, students explore the environmental impacts of landfills and incinerators, and the benefits of recycling and composting. In the energy unit, they discuss efficiency, conservation, and the benefits of renewable energy sources including Roxbury Latin’s solar panels. Placing this curriculum at the start of the students’ time at RL helps to ensure that they really understand the issues and how they can do their part to address them while at RL.

In their Grade 8 IPS course, students learn about aquatic ecosystems and water quality. These lessons about ecosystems and the biotic factors in them are further reinforced in Biology during a student’s senior year. Roxbury Latin also offers a year-long senior elective in Environmental Science that looks at the impacts our growing population is having on the earth’s resources and actions we can take to be more environmentally sustainable. Students in this course begin by investigating the biotic and abiotic systems in the RL forest and use this as a platform for learning about the world’s major biomes. Other topics include energy, climate change, public health, waste management, agriculture, urbanization, and air and water pollution.

One of the distinctive aspects of Roxbury Latin’s educational program is the Hall speakers who come to campus to address the faculty and student body. Over the past several years Roxbury Latin has hosted several notable experts on climate change and other environmental issues:

• U.S. EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy
• McArthur Genius Grant Recipient Kate Orff
• Harvard Professor of Environmental Science Dr. Michael McElroy
• Executive Producers of NOVA Julia Cort and Chris Schmidt
• Yale Professor of Climate Communications Anthony Leiserowitz
• United Nations Science Advisor Maria Ivanova