Skip to main content

Raising Sails


On Friday, parents, faculty, and staff came together some 620 strong for a magical, festive, sold-out PA Benefit --"Raising Sails"-- in celebration of our mission and one another.

As benefit chairs Caroline Bouckaert and Maria Welch reminded us, ours is a community that appreciates that raising "good men" goes beyond academics, to "harnessing each boy's will to do good." The Saint David's bond is formed through our shared values; paramount among those is kindness.

Inspired by their loving parents and caring teachers, our boys set sail each day at 12 East 89th Street to learn and to live lives of purpose, led always by our gentle guidance in kindness and the call to be good. The good lies at the heart of all that we do in our four pillars, whether the academic, arts, athletics or spirituality. It has been said that a sailor cannot see north, but knows the needle can. The metaphorical sails we raise within our boys capture the winds of time and allow their moral compass to guide them.

From the moment that the doors of Cipriani 42nd Street opened, to the final call of the after party, Friday evening was a joyful embrace of kindness. We are deeply grateful for the leadership and creativity of Caroline and Maria, all their committee chairs, our PA President Cricket Diaz and her team, and the cast of thousands who made the event possible. There's no community like Saint David's!

Ut viri boni sint. 

Enjoy viewing the video:



Popular posts from this blog

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