A NEW DAY DAWNS - Boston Latin School

feAtUre
“i’m mS. mooNey tetA AND i Am the heAD mASter,” She teLLS them. “AND JUSt AS it iS yoUr firSt DAy AND yoU miGht
hAve A few BUtterfLieS iN yoUr StomACh, it iS my firSt DAy AS heAD mASter AND i miGht hAve A few BUtterfLieS
iN my StomACh. i kNow thAt yoU’ve eArNeD yoUr SeAt here AND yoU’ve Come weLL PrePAreD. if yoU Do whAt iS
exPeCteD of yoU, GreAt thiNGS Lie AheAD.”
After some expected good-natured ribbing, Contompasis
announced that he had a special parting gift for the woman who
had shepherded Latin School in the decade after his departure.
“One of the greatest gifts I could give you,” he said, “was a
guarantee that our work would continue into the future.”
He unexpectedly called Mooney Teta to the stage, announcing
that the next head master of Boston Latin School had finally been
chosen. The roar from the crowd was deafening, as faculty and
parents hugged, alumni cheered and Mooney Teta stood along with
her two predecessors in a moment that will not soon be forgotten
by anyone present.
“I thought a rock star had walked into the room,” said Chuck
McAfee P’04, head master of Madison Park.
For the multitude who had lobbied for this appointment—via
phone calls and e-mails and outreach—this was far more rewarding
than a passing glimpse of a rock star. Alumna Lynne Mooney Teta
would become the 27th head master of Boston Latin School, a
role she had unknowingly worked toward since her senior year at
Harvard.
20 Bulletin fall 2007
Per ASPerA AD AStrA
By the fall of 1984, then Head Master Contompasis let it be
known that the class of 1986, in his estimation, was perhaps the
“smartest” class to graduate in many, many years. While this was
not music to the ears of the seniors in the ceremonious 350th
class of 1985, the numbers—particularly for those who follow the
Harvard admissions—speak for themselves. The class of 1985 had
20-something students admitted to what the Boston Globe facetiously
refers to as “the world’s greatest university,” while 1986 had a total
of 30. Among them was Lynne Mooney, the oldest of three sisters
(Michelle ’88 and Suzanne ’90) who lived in West Roxbury and
excelled in both the classroom and on the school’s swim team.
Despite the fact that Latin School competed against top-notch and
finely tuned Dual County League swimmers who weight-trained
all summer to maintain their 5’8”, 120-pound frames, Mooney
was always a team player—and a team leader—inside and outside the
pool. She could swim the butterfly like it was nobody’s business,
yet she still kept her rank near the top of the class while serving on
class committee, on the prom committee, as a tutor, as a national
Honor Society member and more.