WASHINGTON, April 23, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Following is the daily "Profile America" feature from the U.S. Census Bureau:

FIRST PUBLIC SCHOOL

Profile America — Sunday, April 23rd. America's first — and oldest — school is celebrating its 381st birthday today. The Boston Latin School started in 1635 with a handful of students meeting in the headmaster's home. Stressing a classical education and the development of independent thought, the school has long been considered one of the top public secondary schools in the nation. Its list of graduates includes John Hancock, George Santayana, and Leonard Bernstein. Ben Franklin is one of its famous dropouts. Today, there are over 77 million children and adults enrolled in school throughout the country — from nursery school to college. They comprise 25.3 percent of the entire population age 3 and older. Of those students, 16.5 million are in high school. You can find more facts about America from the U.S. Census Bureau online at <www.census.gov>.

Sources:
School history/accessed 1/26/2017: www.bls.org/apps/pages/index.jsp?uREC_ID=206116&type=d
Ben Franklin and alumni/accessed 1/26/2017: www.bls.org/apps/pages/index.jsp?uREC_ID=203830&type=d&pREC_ID=404406
U.S. school enrollment/table 1 All Races: www.census.gov/hhes/school/data/cps/2015/tables.html

Profile America is produced by the Center for New Media and Promotion of the U.S. Census Bureau. Statistics and accounts drawn from cited non-Census sources are employed for illustrative or narrative purposes, and are not attested to by the U.S. Census Bureau. These daily features are available as produced segments, ready to air, on the Internet at http://www.census.gov (look for "Audio" in the "Library" pull-down menu). 

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SOURCE U.S. Census Bureau