Our Mission Continues

As we close out Week Six of our distance learning program, boys and teachers are connecting, teaching, and learning in a quintessentially "Saint David's" way, maintaining the integrity of our program across its four pillars (academics, arts, athletics, spirituality).

I'd like to share a few examples:

Third, fourth and fifth graders were visited by author Jessie Janowitz (The Donut Fix and The Donut King) for an animated, engaging session with Q&A on how to turn a spark into a story.

Eighth graders are continuing to benefit from the school's partnership with the DNA Learning Center. DNALC biologist Jennifer Hackett leads Zoom sessions as the boys extract DNA from leaves for later analysis. Rigorous academic pursuit continues.

Boys in all grades are engaging in push-up challenges for pennies (and lots of dollars) in the "Pennies for Push-Ups" school-wide fundraiser to support Feeding America. Led by the Eighth Grade Student Council and our Athletic Department, the boys' success has been phenomenal. They have shot past their initial $2,500 goal and raised $16,000 for the nonprofit that supports food banks across the country--and they still have a week to go. Working for the greater good continues.

Our eighth graders are also in the final stages of the culminating ARCO project. Each has employed his artistry, imagination, and critical analysis of ideas and issues to create an original piece of artwork that pays homage to a modern artist. The boys will present their work, their rationale, and the project's challenges via video to a panel of judges next week. Appreciation for beauty continues.

Each morning, school opens with an Agent for the Good Chapel Talk delivered by a seventh grader. Our days begin with these well crafted, spiritually uplifting messages around a notable good person, scripture, and our school's mission. Chapel tradition continues--and the entire community can attend virtually.

This is just a snapshot of the myriad ways Saint David's has been committed to our program and mission during these extraordinary times. We're tending to our boys' emotional/social well-being and, through online office hours and our advisory program, making sure the imperative relationship between individual teacher and boy remains strong and continues to flourish.

No one knows what the next months will bring in the Covid-19 crisis. However, I can say with certainty that our school will rise to any challenges and we will meet them head on. Guided always by our mission and values, we will provide our boys the best Saint David's experience possible. Ut viri boni sint.

The Wisdom Within - A Matter of Trust

The Teaching Boys Initiative (TBI) is a cornerstone of Saint David’s School’s strategic vision, aimed at developing a robust framework of evidence-based best practices in boys’ education. The initiative’s primary goal is to empower educators with the knowledge, skills, habits, and dispositions of reflective practitioners, enhancing their professional growth and the overall quality of teaching and learning for boys. In TBI's new quarterly blog series, "The Wisdom Within," our faculty share stories that inform, inspire, and encourage reflective practice using evidence-based approaches in teaching and learning for boys. The following inaugural entry, "A Matter of Trust," was written by reflective practitioner and Master Teacher Tom Ryan, who has been inspiring generations of Saint David's boys for more than 53 years. A MATTER OF TRUST …but, I digress. I cannot possibly begin any writing piece, and/or class, without some digression that, as I have said to my s...

Jack Mullin '12 : Reflections on a Mom's Love

The Chapel talk tradition at Saint David's provides faculty and alumni with the opportunity to share with our boys meaningful and inspiring personal stories: their experiences, lessons learned, challenges overcome. The annual Fifth Grade Mother-Son Chapel gathers our fifth-grade boys and their mothers or mother figures for a special shared pre-Mother's Day experience; a Chapel Talk by a young alumnus who reflects upon the role his mother has played in his life. This year, we welcomed former Student Council President Jack Mullin '12. Jack's family has deep roots with school. His older brother Patrick graduated in '08 and his dad, Terry, in 1973. Jack's talk centered on the impact both his alma mater and his mother, Immy, have had on his development into the man he is today. Below are excerpts that I would like to share: "My family's multi-generational lineage is a testament to the incredible sense of community Saint David’s fosters, and I too hope I have...

Strong Values

You can feel it in the air: the indescribable yet readily recognizable excitement of the start of a new school year - in our boys, teachers, families, administrators, and staff. Below, I share excerpts from my opening letter that speak to our 2024-25 school-wide theme, "Strong Values:" "To-morrow I cease to be a puppet, and I become a boy like you and all the other boys."* We teach boys. That’s what we do. And we want our boys to think for themselves. And we want that thinking to be rooted in and guided by “strong values”—our school-wide theme this year, found in the last line of the mission’s second paragraph. In keeping with the school’s classical tradition, these strong values are shaped at Saint David’s by the cardinal and theological virtues of prudence, justice, temperance, and courage, along with faith, hope, and charity. To many Western philosophers, possession of these virtues makes a person good, happy, and thriving. Something we want for all of our sons. ...

David O'Halloran, Headmaster - Saint David's School, New York City

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