Joyful Collaborations

Providing our boys with opportunities to engage in meaningful projects with their peers from neighboring girls' schools engenders interpersonal competencies of collaboration, communication, and respect.

Last year, our eighth graders joined with their eighth-grade peers from Marymount School for an inaugural series of performance-oriented workshops on the iconic Shakespearean love story Romeo and Juliet, conducted by professional teaching artists and English and Drama faculty from both schools.

We also launched a new weekly theatre arts class for the schools' seventh and eighth graders, which has proven very popular and culminates in a co-production of one-act plays. In addition, both schools participated in a special project with Disney Theatricals to present the first reading of a new concert in development for licensing.

New this year is a collaboration with girls from The Spence School. When our Music Director Jeffrey Moore was asked to reach out to a girls' school to perform with our Philharmonic Ensemble, he immediately thought of Spence. A number of years ago, third-grade Saint David’s boys collaborated with their Spence counterparts for a program we called “The Greatest Hits.” This time, the partnership would be between the two schools' orchestras.

Last week, the 13 members of Spence's Middle School Orchestra and the 17 Saint David's Philharmonic Ensemble musicians embarked on a series of early morning rehearsals, led by Philharmonic Ensemble Director Philip Hough, that will culminate in a joint performance at Saint David’s annual Winter Concert this January in our school's Otto-Bernstein Theatre. The plan is to continue the collaboration and for the groups to play together at Spence in the spring.

At their initial meeting during these collaborations, the boys and girls may at first seem a bit nervous. In no time at all, however, uncertain quiet turns into animated discussion as they flesh out an idea, scene, or musical phrase. There is joy in the theatre, in these social and learning exchanges. In fact, the ways in which the boys and girls interact during these sessions point to the confidence they have gained, in large part, from being in single-gender schools. The students present with a strong sense of self knowledge fostered in their individual schools, so that when they come together, they quickly feel comfortable, confident, and capable.

Resilience in the Teaching of Languages

Above: The Nerf microphone ball enables boys learning remotely to hear their classmates well. The pandemic has challenged educators to reinvent and reimagine units of study to keep learning engaging, regardless of how it is delivered. The following article, written for Saint David’s Magazine by our Modern Languages Chair Dr. Victoria Gilbert and Lower School Spanish teacher Flor Berman, addresses how this was done in the Spanish immersion language program at Saint David's. Ms. Berman and Dr. Gilbert, recipient of the New York State Association of Foreign Language Teachers' Ruth E. Wasley Distinguished Teacher Award, presented on the topic at NYSAIS’s Flexible Classroom Conference last summer. How Spanish Classes Have Bounced Back Resiliency implies an ability to bounce back, but as teachers working with the youngest learners in the school, we would reframe resiliency as the opportunity to reimagine. Whether boys are learning through a face-to-face experience or through the med

The Role of Faith in Social-Emotional Learning and Psychological Well-Being

The following article by our School Psychologist, Dr. Michael Schwartzman, appears in the current issue of Saint David's Magazine : During one of my first observations in a Saint David’s classroom 15 years ago, I witnessed two first grade boys in a verbal altercation. Although it was contained just between the two boys, their observant teacher had them talk it through and then shake hands on being in a better place for having done so. I was very impressed, and still am, with this approach that the school takes many times throughout the day. It helps establish a firm idea of how to behave, especially in social situations where emotions can be stirred and run high. Through this experience repeated consistently day in and day out, better, more productive ways of engaging become increasingly integrated by the boys as they develop socially and emotionally in interaction with each other. As the School Psychologist, I spend a lot of time thinking about the touch points for student and t

Storytelling Demonstrates Understanding

Their time had arrived. As the lights dimmed in our Otto-Bernstein Theatre, the astrophysicists, a mix of jitters and excitement, awaited their opportunity to share insights and stories about the workings of the universe. Which planets might support life? Is there water on Mars? What are Dwarf Planets? "Let's take a look at our closest neighbor, Venus," invited one presenter, before revealing that the planet - while ideal in proximity - has surface temperatures of 900 degrees F: "Imagine - standing on the surface would be like being burned alive!" Later that same day, in our Graham lunchroom, early 20th century immigrants of all ages from Italy, China, Ireland, Russia, among other countries, waited, with hope and determination, their turn to be interviewed for admittance to America. It wasn't going to be easy. They would be asked pointed, potentially life-altering questions by various processors. "What's that cough? It doesn't sound good,&qu

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

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