Ethiopia--Construction Continues: Fund Raising Goals Achieved

In a recent update from those on-site at Kalina in Tigray, Ethiopia, we've learned that although school construction is not progressing as quickly as anticipated, construction is 50% complete.

The school remains on schedule for the start of the 2013-14 school year this September.

Part of the construction delay has to do with the difficulty of working in such a remote area of Ethiopia. Below are recent photographs of construction at the Kalina School-- 

As Saint David's boys achieved and exceeded our three-year goal of raising the funds necessary to build the school, we now have the resources to help the Kalina community achieve secondary goals, including staffing, supplies and potentially another building and program ... more on this to come.

Saint David's boys, led by three successive graduating classes has managed to raise over $125,000.

They have embodied our school-wide goal this year: True Community in every sense of the phrase.

Math Mobiles

Our seventh graders recently completed their "Calder Mobiles" project, an activity in which boys are challenged to create a mobile from everyday objects, be they toy cars, keys, boxes of tic tacs, even sneakers! 

To create the mobiles, the boys first need to determine a design that will allow the elements used to find balance by applying appropriate rules of mathematics, including the consideration of the mass of the objects and distance from the center. 

Once the design is complete, the boys proceed with building their creations, which they then test. This type of activity, which involves real world application of math, is so important in increasing boys' comprehension and mastery of fundamental mathematical concepts. It's also a lot of fun!

Detectives in Togas

This morning, our fourth grade boys welcomed the fourth grade girls from Sacred Heart to Saint David's for a spirited staged reading of four chapters from the novel Detectives in Togas, by Henry Winterfeld.

The book, set in Imperial Rome, tells the story of six classmates who must come to the rescue of their friend Rufus, who is accused of  writing "Caius is a dumbbell" on the Temple of Minvera, among other crimes. Throughout this year in history class our fourth grade has examined the question "What is civilization?" and has studied ancient Egypt, China and Greece for insights.

The selection of this historically-rich book for their spring reading dovetails with their study of civilizations, and is an example of the connections made across disciplines throughout the curriculum.

The staged reading provided the boys the opportunity to practice presenting in front of new audiences, while inviting the girls from Sacred Heart continues our practice of building an extended sense of community with our neighboring schools.

Latin is Not Dead

Saint David's boys consistently do well on the National Latin Exams, and the school is always extremely proud of their accomplishments. It is a tough exam. But this year they outdid themselves, with a record breaking 6 boys earning perfect scores and 10 additional students scoring 98%. 

This is truly a remarkable achievement when you consider that the exam, despite its name, is international in nature. Of the 19,000 participants worldwide, including students from Australia, Canada, England, Singapore, and South Africa, only 600 received perfect scores, and 6 of those were Saint David's boys. 

Congratulations to seventh graders Timothy C., Andrew C., Michael H., Alexander K., Valdimir M., and Tomas R.,  and to their teachers Dr. King and Mr. Romanosky.

Saint David's at Deerfield and Suffield

On what was perhaps the first beautiful day of this spring, I had the opportunity to visit alums in Massachusetts and northern Connecticut.  We currently have quite a contingent at Deerfield (7) and two at Suffield Academy.

Graduating from Deerfield this month, Daniel is off to Washington University in St. Louis, Eric Georgetown, Travers the University of Virginia, and TJ will be attending Southern Methodist.

At left, the boys and I gather together after lunch in the main dining hall at Deerfield (Daniel, Erik, Travers, Franny, Cordy, and Felix), and at bottom, I'm under the bell at Suffield with Daniel '11.

We covered a lot of ground over lunch and walks around the boys' respective campuses.  Ideas from alums about ways to further strengthen an already strong Saint David's program are the highlight of my excursions.

Penn State to Exercise Science

A member of my second graduating class Adam '06, visited today. Having just graduated from Penn State, Adam is now employed. He has a job working with a large personal fitness, exercise outfit downtown which includes the development of a virtual fitness dimension.

It was fun catching up with Adam. He spent time visiting old friends at Saint David's. 

A City that Scrapes the Sky

In another example of a new field trip incorporated into our academic program to enrich learning, our second graders visited the Skyscraper Museum yesterday. 

In class throughout the year, the boys have been studying New York City's history, from the early days of its Lenape tribe inhabitants up through the city's role during the American Revolution. Much of their study has been done in partnership with the New-York Historical Society. Curators and education specialists visit the boys at Saint David's, and the boys visit the NYHS several times over the course of the year. 

The boys have looked at the ways in which the city and its inhabitants have evolved. Yesterday's visit to the Skyscraper Museum was a culminating experience that explored a unique city's ever-changing skyline. 

Boys reflected on how different our city of tall buildings today is from the time of the Lenapes followed by the early European settlers. They have  been exploring the concept of New York as an urban community. 

At the museum, the boys examined the unique characteristics of skyscrapers, such as the Woolworth Building and the new Freedom Tower. Each boy will end the year creating his own New York City skyscraper with his art teachers with a special eye to architecture. The boys will then join together and present the "community"  they've created.  

This yearlong multidisciplined study of New York has been a prime example of the type of active learning that incorporates many hands-on and diverse activities --theory and practice--which increase understanding and spark creativity--a signature unit in the second grade.

Dollars for Scholars Surpasses Goal

Yesterday during each lunch period, our Student Council informed all the boys of exciting news: The school has reached (exceeded) our Dollars for Scholars fundraising goal and has raised more than $112,000 to date.

But our boys aren't finished! They will continue to hold fundraising activities for the remainder of the school year, including  a t-shirt sale with a design created by one of our boys (see photo), in support of the project. 

We reported last month as construction began on the school in Tigray, Ethiopia, due to open in September.  By surpassing our goal and continuing our fundraising, we will be able to not only completely build the school and provide it with much needed resources, but also construct an early childhood center.

The World is Our Classroom

Our First Grade boys spent a beautiful spring morning at the Top of the Rock observation tower in midtown Manhattan to conduct a field study of select NYC landmarks, while incorporating aspects of map skills they had learned as well.

The activity is the newest component of the First Grade social studies program, which focuses on the landmarks and geography of New York City.

Saint David's has been increasing the frequency of experiential learning opportunities to reinforce and deepen understanding of key concepts learned in the classroom by providing more field trips in all grades.  All of our out-of-classroom experiences are strategically developed, directly connected to the curriculum, and focused.

The world is our classroom, and what better place to see much of it than from the Top of the Rock!

The photo above depicts the boys looking south.

Alexandria, Virginia

On a beautiful first Day of May, Imbelli and I trekked south to visit alums at Episcopal and St. Andrew's.

At Episcopal, greeted with the gentility and hospitality that so typically epitomizes all things southern, we enjoyed meeting with the headmaster and admissions director.

Lunch in the dining hall with Doug '09 and James '08 was thoroughly enjoyable. Finishing up his last year, Doug is off to U. North Carolina. James is thriving in his Junior year, playing JV soccer and has, surprisingly, discovered a passion for wrestling. He is looking forward to welcoming another alum to EHS in the fall--the Saint David's southern connection remains unbroken.

Unfortunately, our Saint David's alum at St. Andrew's is traveling today so we'll be catching up with him at a later date.

Engineering 101

Boys working with a 3D Printer

Engineering 101 is a new afterschool club at Saint David’s.

Each Wednesday, a remarkably passionate and imaginative group of fifth and sixth grade student-engineers are joined by one or more members of our technology department for an hour of project-based investigation, building, programming, testing, revising, and miscellaneous fun.

Since the club’s inception in January, student-engineers have built launchers and rockets. They have designed and programmed video games using SCRATCH, a LOGO-based programing environment that is a product of MIT’s Lifelong Kindergarten Lab. They have “met” and interacted with a visiting expert – a NAO robot, more customarily seen in graduate schools than in elementary schools.

Currently, the boys are building solar-powered propeller boats. In this week’s class these budding engineers printed  three-dimensional plastic parts to modify their boats’ designs, using virtual 3D design software and Saint David’s new 3D printers.

First Orchestra's First Performance

The First Orchestra held their debut concert his morning in a joint performance with the Philharmonic Ensemble for the Lower School in Hyman Hall. The First Orchestra, a string orchestra of our youngest musicians, consists of first through third grade boys who practice every Monday morning before school with Ms. Anderson. Assembled to hear them this morning was a collection of two hundred or so.

I visited earlier in the year when this inaugural group was just coming together, and it was a joy to see and hear them today, playing with the confidence that comes with diligence, hard work, and commitment over time.  There is something unique and special about a boy and his instrument.

The group demonstrated their prowess with scales and shared an exercise in which they listen to each other to successively play the same sequence of notes. They concluded with a performance of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, a piece that incorporates harmony. 

Next to perform was the seasoned Philharmonic Ensemble, under the direction of Philip Hough.  The Ensemble provided outstanding renditions of Vivaldi's Concerto for Four Violins, and Wagner's March of the Meistersingers.

The playing of classical music and the enhanced community it engenders thrives at Saint David's. It's so much fun.