A Stellar Summer for Horizons at Saint David's

The news from Horizons at Saint David's couldn't be better. This past summer, 120 boys in rising Grades One through Nine were back on campus, in-person, to participate in the six-week summer program designed to enrich boys' learning and prevent academic summer slide. For the vast majority of these boys, it was their first time returning full time to a classroom in more than 16 months, requiring a special focus on academics, fitness, social skills and classroom routines.

Horizons staff were more than ready. Math and reading specialists designed personalized education plans for the boys, resulting in a 66 percent growth in math and a 71 percent growth in reading by the program's end. Increased opportunities for daily physical activity and sports were woven into the sessions to address the problem of childhood obesity resulting from the pandemic. Lacrosse was introduced for the first time through a partnership with CityLax.

In collaboration with Ramapo for Children, Horizons provided professional development in social-emotional learning to all staff, and all grades attended weekly social-emotional classes. All of the students reported feeling connected to the Horizons staff as people who cared about their well-being.

There's more good news, too. The Horizons at Saint David's program has been expanded to run throughout the year, offering optional six-week fall and spring sessions.

This type of success is only possible when you have a program that is run and staffed by caring, consummate professionals; in this case, everyone from Executive Director Hope Lippens, Program Director Lindsay Zaremba, and Athletics Director/Volunteer Supervisor Nick Imbelli, to the advisory board members, teachers and Saint David's alumni volunteers.

Horizons at Saint David's began in 2012 with 17 rising first graders, as part of Saint David's School's 60th anniversary initiative to give back to society in a meaningful, mission-focused way by providing educational opportunities for elementary school children; in this case, boys from partner schools in East Harlem. Ten years later, it is stronger than ever.

William Burke '10 Explores the Mother-Son Relationship in Special Chapel Talk

William Burke '10 returned to Saint David's this morning to speak to our fifth graders and their moms or special friends about the mother-son relationship. Will, a graduate of Regis and Georgetown who works as an Analyst at BlackRock, reminded our boys of the instrumental role their moms play in myriad aspects of their daily lives. Using the experience of boys who play hockey as an example, he observed, "Mom is always there, she's your gear sponsor, your Uber to the games, rooting you on during the game and waiting afterward with donuts and hot chocolate." Win or lose, a son's biggest fan is his mom. As he referenced our school's mission, Will remarked, " Ut viri boni sint (that they be good men) are beautiful words, but how do we learn to be a good man?" He noted that the boys can learn from teachers, coaches, and other students, while adding that they receive vital wisdom, support, and guidance from their mothers. "Behind e...

"The Wisdom Within" - Writing and Thinking

In our continuing efforts through the Teaching Boys Initiative at Saint David's School ™ , one of our visiting scholars, Dr. Ric Campbell, engages in ongoing reflective practice with our faculty. Below, Dr. Campbell shares an example of a freewriting initiative that was born from the collaboration between literature teacher Jamie MacNeille and history teacher Drew Burton, who sought to address forms of student engagement in their respective disciplines. WRITING and THINKING: A Learning Community Engaged in the Knowledge-Making Practices of the Disciplines “Whoa, this freewriting is really helpful !” The above quote by a sixth-grade literature student captures a revelatory moment; he has discovered the wealth of ideas at the end of his pen as he writes to describe what he is noticing in the novel the class is reading and discovers that what he notices leads to questions, and that those questions, in turn, lead to bigger ideas. “All there is to thinking is seeing something not...

"The Wisdom Within" - Learning as Deliberate Practice

In the following Wisdom Within post, Visiting TBI Scholar Dr. Ric Campbell continues his blog series on our faculty’s reflective practice program. This entry explores how three Saint David's teachers collaborated to build "self regulated" students: "expert learners who take increasing control over their learning while participating as respectful, caring members of their classroom learning community." LEARNING AS DELIBERATE PRACTICE “If schools are going to help all students become expert learners, the metacognitive capabilities of learners must be acknowledged, cultivated, and exploited. Students must be actively engaged in their own learning and knowledge building; they must be able to effectively direct their personal quest for knowledge and skills, to judge for themselves whether they understand, and to know what to do when they need more information.” [1] Perhaps the two most important outcomes of learning across the rich and varied curriculum at Saint Dav...

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

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