Latin School of Chicago is a selective private

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, middle, and

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

located in the Gold Coast neighborhood on the Near North Side of

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, United States. The school was founded in 1888 by Mabel Slade Vickery. Latin School is a member of the

Independent School League Independent School League or ISL may refer to: * Independent School League (Illinois), a group of nine Chicago-area preparatory schools * Independent School League (New England) The Independent School League (ISL) is composed of sixteen New Englan ...

(ISL).

Background

History

Latin School was formed in 1888 by a group of parents seeking a better education for their children. Mabel Slade Vickery, a teacher from the East Coast, was invited to Chicago to open the school with a small class of ten 10-year-old boys. During the early years, classes were held in private homes on Chicago's near North Side. The parent-owned institution flourished and in 1899, with enrollment of more than 100 boys, the school moved into its own building and officially became Chicago Latin School. In 1913, a girls section was incorporated by Miss Vickery and became The Chicago Latin School for Girls. The schools merged in 1953 to form the co-educational Latin School of Chicago. The school was designed to provide students with a rigorous college-preparatory education in the classical tradition, with a curriculum that was heavily influenced by Classical studies and the study of the Greek and Latin languages, hence the name “Latin School." The Latin language is still taught in the middle and upper schools today. While it was started as a neighborhood school, Latin School currently is home to more than 1,100 students from approximately 70 ZIP codes throughout the Chicago area. The school awards more than $3 million in need-based financial aid each year. In April 2020, the school received an unspecified amount in federally backed small business loans as part of the

Paycheck Protection Program The Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) is a $953-billion business loan program established by the United States federal government during the Donald Trump administration in 2020 through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARE ...

. The school returned it after receiving scrutiny over this loan, which meant to protect small and private businesses. Treasury Secretary

Steven Mnuchin Steven Terner Mnuchin ( ; born December 21, 1962) is an American investment banker and film producer who served as the 77th United States secretary of the treasury as part of the Cabinet of Donald Trump from 2017 to 2021. Serving for a full pre ...

tweeted that the schools should return the money.

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

noted the school's endowment is $58.5 million.

Campus and Academics

The current campus has three buildings. The lower school (junior kindergarten to grade 4) building is the oldest structure dating to 1926 and is located at 1531 N. Dearborn. The upper school (grades 9–12) building at 59 W. North was completed in 1969. The middle school (grades 5–8) building, located at 45 W. North, was completed in the fall of 2007. It includes a green roof garden and was designed with environmentally friendly materials. The building was awarded LEED Gold certification by the

U.S. Green Building Council The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), co-founded by Mike Italiano, David Gottfried and Rick Fedrizzi in 1993, is a private 501(c)3, membership-based non-profit organization that promotes sustainability in building design, construction, and op ...

in 2012. The upper school building was designed by internationally acclaimed architect

Harry Weese Harry Mohr Weese (June 30, 1915 – October 29, 1998) was an American architect who had an important role in 20th century modernism and historic preservation. His brother, Ben Weese, is also a renowned architect. Early life and education Harry ...

. The upper and middle school buildings are connected by two bridges, and both divisions use both buildings, with many middle school arts and PE classes held in the US and all HS science classes in the designated science center in the MS. The average class size is 14 students and the student-to-faculty ratio is 8:1. The school offers over 150 courses, several at honors level and about a dozen at AP level. Several electives are also offered.

Visual Arts

Latin has a visual arts department, notable for its many extracurricular/elective opportunities and its Global Studies: Visual Arts class. The school is also noted for its Mickey & The Masters project where, as a culmination of their study of the History of Western Painting, ninth grade students recreate master paintings with the added challenge of substituting Mickey Mouse as the main character. The school has two galleries with 14 events hosted annually in Gallery 2.

Musical and Performing Arts

Several electives and extracurriculars focus on performing arts, music, and public presentation. The school holds around 20 yearly performing arts productions and concerts, including faculty and student directed plays, semesterly band and chorus concerts, a student-faculty chorale, and semesterly dance performances, and the productions are well funded by the school.

Athletics

The Latin School of Chicago's mascot is the Roman. They also compete in the Independent School League (ISL).

Fall

* Boys Cross Country (JV/Varsity) * Girls Cross Country (JV/Varsity) * Girls Field Hockey (JV/Varsity) * Boys & Girls Golf (JV/Varsity) * Boys Soccer (JV/Varsity) * Girls Swimming (JV/Varsity) * Girls Tennis (JV/Varsity) * Girls Volleyball (Freshman/JV/Varsity) * Coed Sailing (JV/Varsity)

Winter

* Boys Basketball (Freshman/JV/Varsity) * Girls Basketball (JV/Varsity) * Boys Ice Hockey (JV/Varsity) * Girls Ice Hockey (Varsity) * Boys Swimming (JV/Varsity)

Spring

* Boys Baseball (JV/Varsity) * Girls Soccer (JV/Varsity) * Girls Softball (JV/Varsity) * Boys Tennis (JV/Varsity) * Boys Track (JV/Varsity) * Girls Track (JV/Varsity) * Boys Volleyball (JV/Varsity) * Boys Water Polo (JV/Varsity) * Girls Water Polo (JV/Varsity) * Boys Lacrosse (Varsity) * Girls Lacrosse (Varsity) * Club Coed Ultimate Frisbee * Coed Sailing (JV/Varsity)

Notable alumni

* Conor Allen - professional hockey player * Bob Balaban – actor and author * Ike Barinholtz – comedian *

Bradley Bell Bradley Phillip Bell (born June 29, 1964) is an American television writer and producer. Bell is an eight-time Daytime Emmy Award winner and is executive producer and head writer for '' The Bold and the Beautiful'', an American soap opera. ...

– television writer and producer *

Lauralee Bell Lauralee Kristen Bell (born December 22, 1968) is an American soap opera actress. She was born in Chicago, Illinois, and attended The Latin School of Chicago. The only daughter of soap opera creators William J. Bell and Lee Phillip Bell, and s ...

– actress * Matt Brandstein – writer/actor *

Roe Conn Roe B. Conn (born June 6, 1964) is an American talk radio host based in Chicago. Career Roe's first radio gig was Saturday overnights on WDUB in Granville, Ohio. Early in his career Conn chose to use the on air pseudonym Robert Thomas, believ ...

– radio talk show host * Billy Dec – Rockit Ranch Productions CEO and founder, actor *

Douglas Diamond Douglas Warren Diamond (born October 25, 1953) is an American economist. He is currently the Merton H. Miller Distinguished Service Professor of Finance at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, where he has taught since 1979. Diamon ...

- Economist, 2022 Nobel Prize winner * Grant DePorter – restaurateur * Filligar – band (Casey Gibson, Johnny, Teddy, Peter Mathias) * Cassidy Freeman – actor * Crispin Freeman – voice actor *

John Fritchey John Alden Fritchey IV (born March 2, 1964) is a former Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Cook County Commissioner of the Cook County Board of Commissioners who represented the Cook County Board of Commissioners 12th district, 12th dis ...

– Cook County Commissioner – 12th District * Kenny George – college basketball player, tallest basketball player in NCAA history *

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– Illinois State Treasurer * Douglas H. Ginsburg – Chief Judge of the

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, US Supreme Court nominee *

Mitch Glasser Mitchell Emri Glasser (born October 15, 1989) is an American-Israeli baseball player who is a free agent. He also plays for the Israel National Baseball Team. In high school, Glasser was Illinois Independent School League MVP as a senior. A ...

– American-Israeli baseball player * Sarah Goldberg - actress (mostly TV), aka

Sarah Danielle Madison Sarah Danielle Madison (September 6, 1974 – September 27, 2014), sometimes credited as Sarah Danielle Goldberg, was an American actress. Early life Madison was born Sarah Goldberg in Springfield, Illinois. She was a 1992 graduate of Latin Sch ...

Nina Gordon Nina Rachel Gordon Shapiro (born November 14, 1967), known as Nina Gordon, is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. She co-founded the alternative rock band Veruca Salt and played on their first two studio albums, '' American Thighs'' ...

– singer and songwriter, founding member of alternative rock band

Veruca Salt Veruca Salt is an American alternative rock band founded in Chicago, Illinois, in 1992 by vocalist-guitarists Nina Gordon and Louise Post, drummer Jim Shapiro and bassist Steve Lack. They are best known for their first single, "Seether", tha ...

, daughter of former

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chairman Robert Shapiro *

Laura Granville Laura Granville (born May 12, 1981) is a former American professional tennis player. During the two years she spent at Stanford University, she set the record for most consecutive singles victories with 58 and finished with an overall record of ...

– professional tennis player, 2-time NCAA champion, head coach of women's tennis at

Princeton University Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ...

Johnny Groth John Thomas Groth (July 23, 1926August 7, 2021) was an American professional baseball outfielder and scout who played 15 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). He played with the Detroit Tigers, St. Louis Browns, Chicago White Sox, Washingt ...

- Major League Baseball player * John Marshall Harlan II – US Supreme Court Justice *

William Horberg William Horberg is an American film producer and chair emeritus of the Producers Guild of America on the East coast. He is executive producer of '' The Queen's Gambit'', a television miniseries released on Netflix for streaming on October 23, 20 ...

- Executive Film and Television producer *

Rick Kogan Rick Kogan (born September 13, 1951) is a Chicago newspaperman, a Chicago radio personality and a noted author. Early life and education A native of Chicago's Old Town neighborhood, Kogan is the son of longtime Chicago newspaperman Herman Kogan ...

– Chicago newspaperman, radio personality and author * Lisa Madigan –

Illinois Attorney General The Illinois Attorney General is the highest legal officer of the state of Illinois in the United States. Originally an appointed office, it is now an office filled by statewide election. Based in Chicago and Springfield, Illinois, the attorn ...

* Johanes Maliza – professional soccer player * Ryan Marks - men's college basketball coach *

Brooks McCormick Brooks McCormick (February 23, 1917 – August 15, 2006) was an American philanthropist and equestrian from the McCormick family that ran International Harvester. He was the chief executive officer of International Harvester in the 1970s, and wa ...

– International Harvester Company CEO and philanthropist *

Roger McGuinn James Roger McGuinn (born James Joseph McGuinn III; July 13, 1942) is an American musician. He is best known for being the frontman and leader of the Byrds. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for his work with the Byrds. As a ...

– singer and songwriter, founding member of

the Byrds The Byrds () were an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1964. The band underwent multiple lineup changes throughout its existence, with frontman Roger McGuinn (known as Jim McGuinn until mid-1967) remaining the sole con ...

* Carol Mendelsohn – television producer and writer *

Claes Oldenburg Claes Oldenburg (January 28, 1929 – July 18, 2022) was a Swedish-born American sculptor, best known for his public art installations typically featuring large replicas of everyday objects. Another theme in his work is soft sculpture versions ...

– sculptor * Walter Paepcke - industrialist, philanthropist and founder of

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– actress and

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1981-89 * Jim Shapiro – drummer for

, brother of

, son of former

chairman Robert Shapiro *

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– U.S. Senator, candidate for governor, son of presidential candidate Adlai E. Stevenson *

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– journalist and author * Bill Wirtz – former businessman and

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owner * William Wrigley, Jr. II – business executive

2022 suicide incident

In January 2022, Nathan Bronstein, a former student at the Latin School of Chicago committed suicide. A wrongful death lawsuit was filed against the school, select school officials and certain parents in the

Circuit Court of Cook County The Circuit Court of Cook County is the largest of the 24 judicial circuits in Illinois as well as one of the largest unified court systems in the United States — second only in size to the Superior Court of Los Angeles County since that cou ...

, Illinois. The lawsuit claimed breach of contract by the school and its officials for failing to follow its own anti-bullying policies. The lawsuit also alleges that no disciplinary action was taken against those involved despite complaints to the school’s dean of students. Latin School of Chicago denied the allegations and claims.

References

*Latin School of Chicago Mission Statemen

External links

The Latin School of ChicagoThe Forum
{{DEFAULTSORT:Latin School Of Chicago Private K-12 schools in the United States Private elementary schools in Chicago Independent School League Private middle schools in Chicago Preparatory schools in Illinois Educational institutions established in 1888 1888 establishments in Illinois Private high schools in Chicago