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.

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...

"The Wisdom Within" - Bringing Sound to Space

In the second entry of our Teaching Boys Initiative's quarterly blog series, "The Wisdom Within," Saint David's reflective practitioner and Master Teacher Cathy O'Neill explores the pedagogical power of play in the education of young boys. BRINGING SOUND TO SPACE It began with a mound of mangled metal and the vapor of a vision gleaned from recent comments and random fact-dropping by the Pre-K boys. Unsure of what exactly I was looking for, but fueled by the idea of a makeshift rocket to dovetail with our upcoming space unit, I gingerly picked through the scrap pile until my hands grazed an old VW control panel devoid of its dashboard. Eureka! An array of knobs, dials, and buttons - while in reality, dead as doornails - in the right small hands, would become the epicenter of our NASA-inspired dramatic play corner. With a couple of lawn chairs and some old CB radio microphones to round out the set, engines would be ignited by the power of imagination. All systems go...

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...

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

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