Headmaster's Blog

Wednesday evening, the Saint David's community had the rare opportunity to participate in a special event at the Roosevelt House about the recent PBS Documentary and book The Roosevelts: An Intimate History . The evening took the form of a lively, erudite conversation between two Roosevelt experts: Ambassador William vanden Heuvel who is Founder and Chair Emeritus of the Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt Institute and of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Four Freedoms Park on Roosevelt Island, and Mr. Geoffrey Ward, award-winning historical author and writer of the highly acclaimed Ken Burns' documentary about Teddy, Franklin, and Eleanor Roosevelt. Their discussion painted fascinating portraits of all three Roosevelts, and ranged from their personal struggles: FDR's with polio, Eleanor's with an unloving childhood and depression, and Teddy's with asthma and depression; to their courage in fighting for the ideals in which they believed, embodied by their efforts in cons...

Making thinking more visible to promote increased engagement, understanding, and independence in our boys' learning has been a focus of the curriculum this year. Last week, small groups of Saint David's faculty members met with leading neural development and learning specialist Mark Church for follow-up workshops on strategies they are implementing in their classes to make their students'  thinking more visible. Mark, author of "Making Thinking Visible," and part of the team at Harvard University's Project Zero, began working with Saint David's a year ago and has made periodic visits to the school throughout the year. During last week's session, he led the faculty members in discussion and analysis of their use of various routines that help boys to develop thinking habits, to be "reasoners with evidence" and "connection makers," rather than information absorbers. These range from simply changing the question "Why,...

Saint David's annual Spring Art Show is bringing additional color and beauty to our school. The show is rich with work the boys have accomplished in art, which involves acquiring artistic skills as well as studying the ouevre of famous artists and art from various cultures.   Matisse-Inspired Collage,  Kindergarten A few examples: Kindergartners were inspired by Matisse's cut-out collages; second graders created tribal masks after viewing masks of non-Western cultures and learning about symmetry, exaggeration, pattern, contrast, and color mixing. First graders looked at patterns in the world and reproductions of the tribal art of Ghana and Australian aboriginals to create patterned animals with patterned backgrounds; fifth graders studied anthropomorphic and zoomorphic pots from Latin and South America before creating vessels that combined form and function, and eighth graders created "animools," inspired by surrealism, for which the boys used observational ...

Today, on the quick bus ride back to school after a morning session at the Frick Collection, the sixth graders expressed how much they had enjoyed their visit.  "I loved it! I wish that we could have stayed longer," said more than a few. As many a parent who has visited a fine art museum with their children can attest, this is a response one can only dream of. However, taking the boys out of the classroom and into a place where they are free to express and exchange their views and insights with peers, and then having them go back, take what they learn and create something, is a game changer. This morning I accompanied art teachers Jenna Boccella and Hannah Frassinelli and their sixth grade students on a session at the Frick Collection. In this new collaboration between Saint David's and the Frick, the boys participate in a guided tour provided by museum docent and current Saint David's parent Olivia Birkelund Gerard, of portraits that relate to th...

This morning's spring concert filled a packed Hyman Hall with music performed by our Philharmonic Ensemble, Percussion Ensemble and Chamber Singers. The boys in the Ensemble, conducted by Philip Hough, were up first with renditions of "The Entrance of the Queen of Sheba" (Handel) and the second movement from "Symphony No. 1 in D Major "(Mahler). Their performance was skillful, assured, and energetic. The Percussion Ensemble, with John Francis as Director, took the stage next. Their first piece, the  contemplative  "Um Tom" (Caetano Veloso) was performed in conjunction with the Chamber Singers. This was followed by "Stew for Three" (Barnett), featuring three Eighth Grade soloists, and "Technology" (Casella), a rousing mix of sound and rhythms. The concert closed with the beautiful singing of our Chamber Singers, directed by Phyllis Clarke. They performed their first number, "I am Singing" by Stevie Wonder, with lyri...

Saint David's Varsity Lacrosse team players are MPMSL Champs again! Coached by Bernie Evangelista and Anthony Russo, the team won the Manhattan Private Middle School League title again this year, finishing the season with an overall 9-1 record, and an undefeated 5-0 within the league. Theirs was the seventh MPMSL Lacrosse title in the school's history. The coaches and I are proud of the boys.  Not only did they successfully defend their title, more importantly, they did so as skilled players and good teammates who embrace the ideal of honoring the game.

This morning, former Student Council President Colin Johnson '11 and his father, Jim, gave a Chapel talk to our 7th and 8th graders. Both were members of the Saint David's contingent that visited Ethiopia last June for the official opening of the Saint David's Kalina School. Colin, Student Council President at the genesis of our Dollars for Ethiopia Scholars initiative in 2011, opened the talk by telling the boys about the project's background. He had been brainstorming with his fellow eighth graders about their class's community service initiative when I suggested building a school in Ethiopia, as a meaningful project to undertake during our school's 60th anniversary celebration. Colin and his student council officers would spearhead the effort, which would entail a multi-year commitment from the school and our boys. Colin relayed how his initial reticence about such a large undertaking soon gave way to excitement as the fundraising efforts got unde...

Our Eighth Grade boys are at an exciting culminating point in their DNA unit, now working in small groups on a DNA analysis project that will answer a research question of their choice. Questions posed by the teams include: Do the herbal and fruit teas from Teavana contain what they advertise? What is the composition of four different brands of hot dogs?  Does a sample of catfish contain parasites? What are the different varieties of moss in Central Park? Recently, the boys extracted DNA from samples of the substances they are investigating. Next, they will perform gel electrophoresis    and analyze the results. They will  present their findings to boys in younger grades in June. This inquiry-based unit, conducted in an expanded partnership with the DNALC (last year we introduced a program in the Fifth Grade),  harnesses boys' natural curiosity about the world around them.  It enables our boys to engage in hands-on work with actual DNA ...

Last week I had the honor of dubbing our third graders "Knights of Saint David's" in the annual Medieval Knighting Ceremony held in our school Chapel. These boys are nearing the end of their time in the Lower School and this ceremony stands as a rite of passage in which they accept their call to be leaders. The boys prepare for this ceremony through interdisciplinary learning about Medieval times. They read a variety of fiction and non-fiction books related to the Middle Ages, go on a quest throughout the school in which they demonstrate characteristics of good men and knights, and write original fairy tales set during the period. By the time the Knighting Ceremony rolls around, the boys have also learned about heraldry and created their own Coat of Arms.  Each 'shield' is displayed on the walls of the 'Banquet Room.' After the ceremony, we all adjourned to the small gym for a delicious Medieval feast, and entertainment via our recorder pl...

On Friday was the event that our Omega boys and their families have long been awaiting: The Omega Dinosaur Presentation! The boys performed with gusto, especially when divulging their favorite facts about Tyrannosaurus, Stegosaurus, Triceratops, and Pterodactyl. They also displayed songwriting talent, having written the verses for one of the numbers. This wonderful performance of "all things dinosaur" allows the boys to showcase what they have learned in their interdisciplinary study of the prehistoric animals. The unit included drawing dinosaurs in art, singing about dinosaurs in music, learning about fossils, and acting as paleontologists in the American Museum of Natural History's Dinosaur Hall.  And it all culminated Friday morning. The boys' parents and teachers have much to be proud of.  It was a great show!

This past Sunday, Saint David’s own house band, Cascade , rocked the Rockwood Music Hall in New York City, sharing the bill with The Blazers from St. Bernards. The band members are Julian C., guitar and vocals, Finn D., vocals, Brij G., piano, Sean O., drums, Charlie U., guitar/vocals, and Teddy W., bass. The band, which has been practicing every Friday afternoon at our school, presented eight songs for the standing room only audience. Among them were a beautiful rendition of Stand By Me, by the late Ben E. King, and Purple Haze by Jimi Hendrix. As Music Chair Jeff Moore reports, "Each member of the band soloed in at least one tune, and their professional polish was evident to all who were in attendance." The band is coached by Mr. Ben Kogan, who teaches guitar and piano at Saint David's.