Cambridge Rindge and Latin School
Encyclopedia
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| Name | Cambridge Rindge and Latin School |
| Address | 459 Broadway |
| Town | Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138 |
| Established | See Article |
| Community | Urban |
| Type | Public Secondary |
| Religion | Secular |
| Students | Coeducational |
| Grades | 9 to 12 |
| Accreditation | New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC) |
| District | Cambridge Public School District |
| Nickname | CRLS or Rindge, Falcons |
| Mascot | Falcon |
| Colors | Black Silver Silver (color) Silver is the metallic shade resembling gray, closest to that of polished silver.The visual sensation usually associated with the metal silver is its metallic shine. This cannot be reproduced by a simple solid color, because the shiny effect is due to the material's brightness varying with the... |
| Newspaper | The Register Forum |
| Website | Link |
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The Cambridge Rindge and Latin School is a public high school in Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Greater Boston area. It was named in honor of the University of Cambridge in England, an important center of the Puritan theology embraced by the town's founders. Cambridge is home to two of the world's most prominent...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
The school, serving grades 9 through 12, is a part of the Cambridge Public Schools.
Once two separate schools called Cambridge High and Latin and the Rindge Technical School, the merged entity today is now commonly abbreviated as CRLS or Rindge.
The students are divided into subdivisions called 'Small Learning Communities.' Currently the Small Learning Communities are called C, R, L, and S.
Until June 2000, the subdivided schools were known as the Houses of Pilot, Fundamental, House A, Academy, Leadership, and the Rindge School of Technical Arts or RSTA. In 1990, RSTA became a "house" within the main CRLS school. The "Houses" then became "Small Schools" 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5.
The High School Extension Program, at the site of the old Longfellow School, just down Broadway, offers a nontraditional approach to the high school learning process, handling only 60–100 students at a time.
CRLS is also noted as being one of the most racially diverse schools in Massachusetts and one of few to feature a heterogeneous student classroom mix.
Since 2003 the City of Cambridge has been mobilizing an ambitious plan to renovate the current high school. The project they claim would be "the first major renovation and refurbishing of the 35-year old high school building."http://www.cpsd.us/cpsdir/CRLS_renovation.cfm The project has continued to be pushed back, due to state funding issues and other obstructions along the way. In 2006 the state announced a return in funding and by the Spring 2007 the School Committee started looking at a wider ranging renovation for the building. The plan has until now proceeded and as currently planned, the major renovations are expected to begin after the close of the 2008-2009 School year. The renovations according to schedule should last from 2009-2011.http://www.cpsd.us/cpsdir/CRLS_renovation.cfm
As of 2009, freshman began studying at a new campus just up Broadway. It is planned that this freshman academy will only be temporary.
History
CRLS is actually several separate schools combined into a greater whole. In 1642, the year Harvard College’s first class of nine young men graduated, the General Court made it the duty of Cambridge to require that parents and masters properly educate their children or be fined if they neglected to do so. (Girls, however, did not usually attend public schools until in 1789, when Boston voted that “children of both sexes” should be taught in the reading and writing schools of their newly reorganized system.) In 1648, Cambridge set up a public grammar school, Master Elijah Corlett's "lattin schoole," making Cambridge the fifth town (after Boston, Charlestown, Dorchester, and Salem) in the Massachusetts Bay Colony to do so. Corlett’s schoolhouse came into the possession of Old Cambridge in 1660, and over the next century was succeeded by several new buildings. The public school that evolved from Cortlett’s original was a “grammar school” in a double sense: an English grammar school for Old Cambridge and a Latin grammar school (teaching the rudiments of Latin and Greek) for all Cambridge. The school generally aimed to prepare students for admission to college:“And by the side of the colledge a faire GRAMMAR Schoole, for the training up of young Schollars, and fitting of them for ACADEMICALL LEARNING, that still as they are judged ripe, they may be received into the colledge of this Schoole. Master CORLETT is the Mr., who hath very well approved himselfe for his abilities, dexterity and painfulness in teaching and education of the youth under him.”
By 1832, public schools in Cambridge were open to girls as well as boys. In 1838, Cambridgeport organized a public high school to serve all of Cambridge at the corner of Broadway and Winsor Streets. However, since the location was not easily accessible to either Old Cambridge or East Cambridge, most of the new high schools’ students were drawn from Cambridgeport. In 1843, Old Cambridge set up the Female High School, and East Cambridge completed its Otis schoolhouse. Not until 1848 did plans to merge the high schools of the three competitive wards overcome sectional differences. This marked the origin of the Cambridge High School, which began in a new building erected at the corner of Amory and Summer streets and was immediately flooded with over 135 applicants.
The Cambridge High School was divided in 1886: its classical department became the Cambridge Latin School and its remaining departments the Cambridge English High School. The English High School was located at the corner of Broadway and Fayette Streets, while the Latin School was transferred to the Lee Street church, which had been renovated to receive it. At the time of the separation, the high school contained 515 pupils, and 16 teachers. Six teachers and 165 pupils went to the Latin school. In September 1888, the Cambridge Manual Training School for Boys (to become Rindge Tech), founded and maintained by Frederick Hastings Rindge
Frederick Hastings Rindge
Frederick Hastings Rindge was an American businessman, philanthropist, and writer, of Los Angeles, California. He was a major benefactor to his home town of Cambridge, Massachusetts.-Early life:...
, was opened to the boys of the English High School. In 1892, the English High School moved into a commodious new building on Broadway; Rindge had presented the land to Cambridge at a cost of $230,000. The EHS’s old building at Broadway and Fayette was remodeled, and the Latin School moved in. By 1896, the Latin School had grown so quickly that plans were underway for another new building (cost approx. $250,000) that would stand on land adjacent to the English High School building and the Public Library.
In 1977, Cambridge High & Latin and the Rindge School of Technical Arts and were merged into Cambridge Rindge and Latin, or CRLS. The old Cambridge High & Latin building was demolished in 1980, but the old granite lintel and doorway frame have been put in place at the corner of Ellery Street and Broadway as a commemorative archway, leading into the grassy fields of Joan Lorentz Park.
As of 2009, Cambridge Rindge and Latin remains one of the most diverse schools in the United States, with over 83 different countries represented within its halls.
Controversy
During the late 1980s and early 1990s, the school was subject to multiple accusations of inherent racismRacism
Racism is the belief that inherent different traits in human racial groups justify discrimination. In the modern English language, the term "racism" is used predominantly as a pejorative epithet. It is applied especially to the practice or advocacy of racial discrimination of a pernicious nature...
in its infrastructure, which led to the disbanding of the original houses, as well as the changing of the original school mascot from a bust of a Native American
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
to a yellowjacket
Yellowjacket
Yellowjacket is the common name in North America for predatory wasps of the genera Vespula and Dolichovespula. Members of these genera are known simply as "wasps" in other English-speaking countries...
, and eventually to the currently used falcon
Falcon
A falcon is any species of raptor in the genus Falco. The genus contains 37 species, widely distributed throughout Europe, Asia, and North America....
.
Albeit not intentionally, the original houses came to represent a racial and/or class divide within the school itself. Pilot House was known for students whose dress and lifestyle were perceived as counter-culture or alternative and who addressed teachers by their first names in an era when such behavior was generally not acceptable. House A comprised mostly mid- and lower-income whites; B House was primarily African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
; C House was mostly Latino
Latino
The demonyms Latino and Latina , are defined in English language dictionaries as:* "a person of Latin-American descent."* "A Latin American."* "A person of Hispanic, especially Latin-American, descent, often one living in the United States."...
, southern European, and Mediterranean; and D House comprised mostly students of various African descent. Finally, the vocational house known as Occupation Education or Oc-Ed (later to be known as Rindge Tech and finally RSTA) was a mix of lower-income students from across the municipality.
Notable alumni
- Ben AffleckBen AffleckBenjamin Géza Affleck-Boldt , better known as Ben Affleck, is an American actor, film director, writer, and producer. He became known with his performances in Kevin Smith's films such as Mallrats and Chasing Amy...
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and Doogie Howser M.D. - Peggy CassPeggy CassMary Margaret “Peggy” Cass was an American actress, comedian, game show panelist, and announcer.A native of Boston, Massachusetts, Cass became interested in acting as a member of the drama club at Cambridge Latin School; however, she attended all of high school without a speaking part...
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, only to have it revoked when it came out that she had killed her mother - Vernon GrantVernon GrantVernon Ethelbert Grant was a cartoonist who did graphic novels, and is also known for his digest-sized comic book series, The Love Rangers...
, cartoonistCartoonistA cartoonist is a person who specializes in drawing cartoons. This work is usually humorous, mainly created for entertainment, political commentary or advertising... - Karl HobbsKarl HobbsKarl Hobbs is a former men's college basketball coach. He is currently the Director, Basketball Operations at the University of Connecticut. He is the former head coach of the George Washington University Colonials men's basketball team...
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The Register Forum
The school's newspaperStudent newspaper
A student newspaper is a newspaper run by students of a university, high school, middle school, or other school. These papers traditionally cover local and, primarily, school or university news....
, Register Forum, has the distinction of being the oldest continually published public high school newspaper in the country. The newspaper was first founded in 1893 as the C.M.T.S Register, the name was further changed to the Rindge Register, and in 1977 when the two public high schools in the city merged their papers merged as well. The Cambridge Latin Forum merged with the Rindge Register to become "The Register Forum". Since then, the paper has won numerous awards in high school journalism.
Athletics
Athletics have always played a major part in the school's extracurricular activity structure, and most of the school's 30 teams have received some form of statewide recognition of excellence. Some of the best sports players and coaches in the world have come from the athletics department at CRLS. The 11 fall and winter sports take place between September and ThanksgivingThanksgiving
Thanksgiving Day is a holiday celebrated primarily in the United States and Canada. Thanksgiving is celebrated each year on the second Monday of October in Canada and on the fourth Thursday of November in the United States. In Canada, Thanksgiving falls on the same day as Columbus Day in the...
(the day of the Football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
team's final game), and between the first Monday following Thanksgiving and February/March. The ten spring sports start on the third Monday in March, and finish in late May.
The teams are supported by the fundraising efforts of Friends of Cambridge Athletics (FOCA) who sell "Cambridge Athletics"-branded clothing to subsidize the teams.
Arts
CRLS is also known for its extensive and rigorous arts programs, with a particular emphasis on visual and performing arts. The school has programs in photography, graphic design, fine arts, pottery, a modern dance company, a jazz band and an orchestra. The school's drama department has won numerous awards and frequently competes in the yearly statewide drama festival, having reached the finals level four times in the past five years. The technical theater department is frequently singled out for excellence.External links
- CRLS homepage
- Cambridge Public School Department homepage
- Pearl K. Wise Library
- The CRLS Sub-Community of CambridgePublic, an unofficial information and discussion site
- Notable Cambridge Alumni
- Cambridge Rindge and Latin School Performance Information
- In Memoriam: Cambridge High and Latin School + Class of 1969 Yearbook Project