Year Six of Horizons Program

The 100 boys participating in Horizons at Saint David's are well into the six-week program, enjoying the hot days of summer immersing themselves in reading, music, art, writing, math, STEM projects, swimming lessons, field trips to local museums, and sports.

Our program, now in its sixth year, includes students from four elementary schools in Harlem, who will enter Grades One through Six come September, and aims to prevent the common problem of academic summer learning loss among children in lower-income families. Social-emotional learning is also infused throughout each day.

New this year is the addition of full time athletic director Keith Williams and our partnership with Ramapo for Children, an organization that provides training programs to educators working with children who may face obstacles to learning. Ramapo works with our teachers and volunteers, providing practical strategies on how to best address the students' needs.

Horizons at Saint David's began in 2012, when Saint David's became an affiliate of Horizons National through an initiative to contribute to the greater good beyond our immediate community.

On average, Horizons' students move ahead two - three months in reading and math skills after participating in the program. Horizons at Saint David's has an impressive retention rate of 91% and an attendance rate of 95%. It's a robust program, led by Director Meg Sheridan and Co-Program Directors Meghan Patterson and Courtney Sanchez, supported by Saint David's faculty members who teach the boys, and a dozen of our Saint David's alumni volunteers who are in high school.

This year, as in last, The Nightingale Bamford School has allowed us to hold the program on their campus because of the ongoing construction here at Saint David's. We very much appreciate the generosity and support from our friends at NBS.

For more information on Horizons at Saint David's, please visit http://www.saintdavids.org/horizons

Comments

NE Patriot Tom Brady at Saint David’s

Last night, Saint David’s was honored to have one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time, four time Superbowl champion and three-time MVP winner Tom Brady, as the guest speaker for our Alumni Parents Council Lecture Series. Tom, who is the father of one of our Saint David's boys, addressed a standing-room-only audience in Hyman Hall comprised of our eighth graders, alumni, alumni parents and faculty. Friendly, introspective, witty, and wise, he directed his talk to the delighted eighth graders in the front of the room, and focused on the topic of leadership. “You are the young men and leaders of Saint David’s,” he noted. Tom debunked the perception that leaders are born not made, and credited his leadership abilities to “standing up to and facing fears” and to “cultivating a mental strength,” which he cited as “more important than being physically strong.” He also stressed the importance of working hard, honoring teamwork, believing in oneself and being a good lis...

Fascinating Art Talk by Michelle Marder Kamhi at Grandparents Event

Yesterday evening, independent scholar and critic Michelle Marder Kamhi ( www.mmkamhi.com ), co-editor with husband Louis Torres of Aristos , an online review of arts; author of Who Says That's Art? A Commonsense View of the Visual Arts ; and grandmother of two Saint David's boys, gave a thought provoking talk on art for our grandparent community. An advocate of objective standards in arts scholarship and criticism, Ms. Kamhi focused her talk on the ways in which art critics such as Clement Greenberg promoted the shift from representational art to abstraction. Kamhi argues that the abstract and post-modern art prevalent today, which often requires explanation by docents in order to be understood, goes against art's purpose. Taking issue with Greenberg's contention that representation is an expendable convention of painting, she quoted the late art critic John Canaday: "Art is the tangible expression of the intangible values that men live by." ...

Digital Universe Unit With AMNH-Hayden Planetarium Kicks Off

The second year of our unique partnership with the American Museum of Natural History-Hayden Planetarium kicked off on Friday when the sixth grade had their first session of the Digital Universe unit. The session included a private viewing at the planetarium in which boys were able to explore the entire universe. They and their teachers were invited to view the show from the vantage point of the floor in the center of the round theater, staring up into the apex of the dome. What an amazing perspective! Museum educator and astro-visualization expert Nathan Belomy took the boys on a tour of the observable universe, allowing them to get a feel for the scale of distance and size in the universe. In a fun activity related to scale, the boys set down a volleyball (representing the sun) at 79th Street, and walked for blocks down Columbus avenue with the planets in our solar system represented by a variety of smaller objects – a cupcake sprinkle, a marble – predicting and then m...

Headmaster's Blog

Search This Blog