Headmaster's Blog

Yesterday evening was one of my favorite school events, our annual Young Alumni Chapel and Dinner. For this pre-Thanksgiving event, our high school age alumni join our current eighth graders for a Chapel talk, given by a young alum, and then gather for dinner in Hyman Hall. This year the Chapel was packed with boys and faculty, more than 200 present. Ben Singleton '05, a graduate of Regis and Yale, gave the Chapel talk. He addressed the boys about how he decided upon a career in law enforcement, which began shortly after college in the District Attorney's Office and has led him to the NYPD, where he soon will enter the Police Academy. Ben described how he came about finding his passion not through a sudden bolt of inspiration, but rather through much reflection, and by exploring what he was curious about in school.  "The police department was not where I would have expected to be," he said, "but I realize it was inevitable." His message to our boy...

Thanksgiving must be close... Today was Saint David's annual Turkey Run , which takes our second graders to Riverside Park for a 450-meter run. They have been training for this run every day throughout the fall in their athletics classes, and they sure were ready. Parents and siblings came out to cheer on our young runners. This was the 17th running of the Turkey Run at Riverside Park and the 42nd Turkey Run since its inauguration.  Originally, it was run by the 8th grade who circumnavigated the Central Park Reservoir at great speed.  The winner received a frozen turkey that he then ceremoniously donated to the Annual Thanksgiving food drive.  It was in the 1970s that the responsibility of the tradition shifted to the 2nd Grade, where it continues to reside to this day. A great time was time had by all! (And every boy enjoyed the chocolate turkey treat that followed at day's end.)

Boys in fifth grade are building wind turbines in a series of STEAM classes. In a session earlier this week, they drew diagrams of wind turbines, identifying the key components needed in order to generate electricity. This was followed by a discussion on kinetic energy, gears, and what is needed to move electrons at sufficient speed in a circuit. For the remainder of the class period, they experimented in small groups, with various size gear combinations as a first step to building their own turbines. Today, using a fan and a multimeter which measures voltage, they observed the amount of current generated by rotors (blades and hubs) that varied in five areas:  length, material, number of blades, tilt or pitch, and shape of the blades. (See photo, below, and video at bottom.)  This involved some problem solving: For one of the rotors, the blades were too large and created friction, slowing down the spinning. To address this, one boy suggested moving the rod forw...

Fifteen faculty and staff members gathered in our 6th floor art studios last Friday afternoon for a “Make Your Own Mug Pottery Party.” Pottery teachers Mark Sunderwirth and Melanie Fidler taught the mostly neophyte potters to hand build a mug or other vessel with coil and pinch pot techniques, encouraging participants to add creative and personal elements to their work. One teacher made a pot in the shape of a blueberry muffin as a holiday gift for her husband, and another made a free-form coil pot which was inspired by undersea life. “It was truly a fun, creative, and relaxing way to end the week and spend time with colleagues,” said one modern language teacher, “and clay is such a soothing medium to work with!” A follow up glazing session will be held the first week in December so that the artists can add color and complete their creations. True community is an ideal of our school, and the pottery party is a great example of the many ways that our faculty and staff come to...

This morning, Saint David’s was fortunate to welcome Thomas Nazario, founder and president of The Forgotten International, a nonprofit organization that works to alleviate poverty, to speak to our seventh and eighth graders about his new book Living on a Dollar a Day: The Lives and Faces of the World’s Poor (Quantuck Lane Press, 2014) After being introduced by two of our seventh grade student council members, Mr. Nazario began by telling the boys about a seminal moment during his youth in Spanish Harlem;  how at 4 1/2 years of age he saw a mother and child going through the garbage for dinner on Thanksgiving Day, and how that experience left an imprint on him. He told the boys “If you love writing and have something to offer the world, you should do it.”  His new book addresses his work’s passion: in more than 200 photos and text, it tells stories of the world’s poor, the one-sixth of the world’s population that lives on a dollar a day or less. In preparation f...

Two 7th Grade boys, George and Aidan, helped present a special project at last week's ParentsAssociation meeting.  Both boys are presently members of 7 Theta, but the project, which was developed and taught by Brendan Hannon, was part of their 6th grade math class last spring. It was the culminating project of a geometry unit on calculating the volume and surface area of solids and a great example of innovative, integrated curriculum at Saint David's. Mr. Hannon, 6th Grade math teacher, challenged his students to design a city block that had a minimum volume of 150 square cm. The block must have a 10x10 cm “footprint” and have at least four buildings.  Buildings could be designed using any of the solids the boys had learned about in class. Boys then had to explain which solids they used, and show the calculations for each of their buildings.
 The procedure employed by Mr. Hannon had each of the boys create an account on tinkercad.com.  Once created, they ...

At Ellis Island Throughout the fall, our third graders have been studying late 19th and early 20th century immigration to this country and its impact on their city, state, and nation. This is an active unit involving extensive learning beyond the classroom, close examination of primary sources, and cultivation of creativity. It began in October when, after studying immigration history, trends and reasons in class, the boys visited Ellis Island where they explored primary sources and artifacts. Then just last week, the boys engaged in a Mock Ellis Island activity in which they assumed the identities of immigrants going through all the steps of immigration processing, from being interviewed by health, education, and character inspectors, to experiencing the thrill of being "admitted," to the disappointment of being "quarantined" or "deported." Immigrant undergoing processing during Mock Ellis Island. Next week, the boys will visit t...

I started my day early today in Hyman Hall listening to beautiful music.  In keeping with tradition, our Philharmonic Ensemble held an open rehearsal this morning in the form of a 'Coffee Concert'. Parents were invited to a "behind the scenes" experience to capture a glimpse of their son's work and learning as a member of this most special of "teams." I am always struck by the incredible difficulty of the pieces our boys perform--especially when I think about their ages, 9 to 14--and the relative ease and confidence with which they play them. This morning's program included: Haydn's "St. Anthony Chorale,"  Mozart's Overture to "Lucio Silla," and the "Dance of the Tumblers" from Rimsky-Korsakoff's "Snow Maiden". Following is a short clip from Handl's piece:

Last week I had the great pleasure of spending time at Loyola with alums: Henry, '11, Nicholas '11, Tomaso '11, Luke '11, Henry '11, John '12, Peter '12, Jack '12, Jaime '12, Filipo '13, William '14, Michael '14, and Colin '14.  Joined by Mr. Imbelli, we sat for lunch in the conference room surrounded by impressive framed art pieces created by seniors. Five Saint David's alums are graduating from Loyola this year. All the boys clearly enjoy their school and felt well prepared by Saint David's for high school.  The boys also offered several suggestions for strengthening our program as well as several aspects of their experience at Saint David's they would never want to see change. It was an enjoyable, productive visit. Seeing Saint David's boys thrive just never gets old.

At Taft visiting Alexander '11, Freddy '12, Henry '12, Graham '13, Conrad '13, John '13, Zach '14, Ben '14, and Frank '14 in the Faculty Room.  Great opportunity to catch up. Boys are spirited and happy.

At Salisbury with Billy '11 and Bennett '14. Beautiful Day. Boys thriving.

On Monday the Pythagoreans won the school's  Math Bowl, achieving a final score of 200, with the other teams making strong showings. The Math Bowl is an annual math department contest in which four teams of our boys in Grades Five through Eight solve a series of math problems, created by their teachers. The problems present real-life scenarios and require the multi-step application of abstract mathematical concepts to tangible situations. It is impressive to witness how comfortable, quick, and accurate the boys are with the problems posed. All the Upper School boys attended the contest, and the cheering in the room was indicative of the fun that can be had at school, even when solving math problems! 

Alums Skakel McCooey ’13 and his father John McCooey ’72 gave a joint Chapel talk to our seventh and eighth grades on the school our boys recently built in Ethiopia. Both Skakel and John were members of the Saint David’s contingent that traveled with me to the Saint David’s Kalina School this past June for its official opening ceremonies. Skakel, who was one of the three Student Council Presidents who led the project, spoke about how the combined efforts of all of the boys of Saint David’s and their teachers, in particular Tom Ryan, over three years of fundraising, had resulted in the successful construction of the school. “Through seemingly unrelated fundraisers, the bake sales, softball games, walk-a-thons, we built a school and we changed peoples’ lives,” he said. For Skakel, the moment that stood out most was when he was about to leave the school: “I saw on one side the old mud structure that used to serve as a school, and then on the other side, the cinder block building,...

At this morning’s Parents Association Meeting, Saint David’s Director of Curriculum Integration, Nora Sundar, talked to our parents about the school’s exciting integrative STEAM program. Third graders then took to the podium to discuss a new tech-integrated design unit that their class has recently completed. During the unit, the boys used littleBits , colorful electronic pieces with magnets that snap together to make circuits, powered by a battery.  The boys described how they were encouraged to experiment with the different colored pieces to figure out their functions (the pink were input devices, such as sliders or buttons; the green, output devices, such as buzzers, lights or motors; the orange, connectors.) The boys noted how they learned, through trial and error with the pieces, the importance of proper sequencing to obtain a desired result. Once they had mastered how the pieces worked, the boys were then well positioned to put their new knowledge to use by build...

Fifty-four members of our Saint David's community played a round of golf on Bethpage State Park's Blue Course this past Saturday. It was a spectacular day for the Saint David's Golf Outing, an annual tradition that guarantees not only a round of golf, but a great day filled with camaraderie and good natured competition. All walked away winners, either on the links or through raffle prizes.  A terrific time was had by all!

The legendary Lionel Hampton Band visited with our sixth grade today, treating the boys to a wonderful session on jazz. The band played several pieces including "When the Saints Go Marching In" and their famous "Flying Home." They also led a discussion about the evolution of jazz in America, from the dance oriented swing bands of Glenn Miller to the Be-Bop of Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker. This year our sixth grade boys engage in an in-depth interdisciplinary study of twentieth century America, looking at it from a kaleidoscope of perspectives that includes history, poetry, and of course, music.  Today's session gave them a taste of live jazz played by masterful musicians. Below is a clip of the band playing Charlie Parker's "Laird Baird."

Wonderful visit to Trinity last week. Saint David's has a large contingent of alums attending the school. The Saint David flag is flying high on the West Side. We have four from the Class of 2011 graduating this year Daniel, Joshua, Matthew, and Patrick; one Junior, Eric '12; one Sophomore, Julian '13; and two Freshmen, Jake '14 and Stephen '14.  The boys, Mr. Imbelli and I enjoyed a wide-ranging conversation over lunch.  Pictured above are most of the boys. Gathering them all in one place at the same time to capture a photo proved difficult given their hectic schedules. It was fun catching up with them--so impressive. 

The following article by Lower School Reading Coordinator/Learning Specialist Kristen Healy appeared in the summer 2014 issue of Saint David's Magazine.    Wilbur never forgot Charlotte. Although he loved her children and grandchildren dearly, none of the new spiders ever quite took her place in his heart. She was in a class by herself. It is not often that someone comes along who is a true friend and a good writer. Charlotte was both. The Gordon Library Many years ago, Charlotte’s Web was just one of E. B. White’s novels that my mother read to me on summer evenings between first and second grade. I vividly remember curling up next to her as she read a chapter or two to me each night. I could not wait to hear more of Wilbur’s adventures with his friend, Charlotte. As a teacher herself, my mother knew the value of reading aloud to children. It was a gift she gave to me that fostered my lifelong love of literature. Ultimately, this is what we want for all of our chi...