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

We are beginning week five of all in-person learning and it has been an absolute joy to have the boys and their teachers back at school where they belong, thriving, and happy. The sights, sounds, and spark of young boys' learning buzz around us, albeit at a distance of at least six feet. Last week our Pre-K boys were farmers for the day, driving "tractors" to their class pumpkin patch in our backyard, riding a "cow," and sharing stories about farm life -- fortunate to be able to engage in active learning activities with each other.   Eighth graders, embarking on their micro/macro exploration of human anatomy, dissected cow eyes and learned how to become adept with the tools that surgeons use, via a virtual session with one of their classmate's parents, who is a surgeon. Dr. Decorato introduced the boys to their instruments —probe, forceps, scalpel, surgical scissors—and directed them in the purposes and proper grip for each, using...

I would like to share an excerpt from the article "Contrapposto" that appears in the current issue of Saint David's Magazine. Written by alumnus Blaise Haddad '12, it speaks to our school-year theme of resilience. On our first Eighth Grade trip to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Ms. Iannicelli brought us directly to Gallery 154 to visit the Greek kouros. This marble youth, with its classical simplicity, its perfect proportionality, and its contrapposto stance—that inescapable Italian word—would prove essential for our class, launching us forward into history. But it meant something more as well. The kouros, Ms. Iannicelli told us, is tied to every Saint David’s boy, embodying his journey as he graduates and steps into the wider world. Its arms rigid at its sides, torso erect and strong, it moves perpetually forward while holding fast to its foundational precepts. The Saint David’s boy, she said, must come here first whenever he visits the Met. No exceptions.  I’ve bee...

The following is my first Chapel Talk of this 2020-2021 school year: In the childrens’ book "A Perfectly Messed-Up Story" by Patrick McDonnell, little Louie, the main character, just wants to merrily skip through his story singing happily, but he keeps getting interrupted by messes—jelly stains on the pages, peanut butter, fingerprints. He just can't believe it! Little Louie’s story is not going the way he’d hoped. Little Louie's struggles remind me of the ancient Greek playwright Aeschylus who wrote that “he who learns must suffer.” Learning is change, and change isn’t easy. Even in normal times, it requires some degree of discomfort. During this pandemic, it’s compounded ten-fold—for all of us.  Resilience is that ability to bounce back, to swim not sink, to bend not break in the face of significant, sudden or unexpected challenge or change, hardship or struggle—like a tree in strong wind or shock absorbers on a bumpy ride. It demands a strong c...