Headmaster's Blog

... and the sinks go in, and the fireplace mantles get placed... but we’re not done yet. Closer, but still much to do! The reimagined, redesigned and expanded Saint David’s is almost ready... Notice the new ornamental friezes and the repaired cornice

As the temperatures heated up so has work on our expansion and consolidation project. Crews are working nonstop, with rooms and hallways becoming more finished by the day. Walls are being sheet-rocked and painted, wood flooring laid, lighting and doors installed, cabinets and bookshelves added.  Townhouse renovations are also underway, including the breakdown of walls between Buildings 12, 14, and 16, and Graham House. Cut through from townhouses to Graham House, Third Floor Here's a look at some of the spaces. Exciting days for Saint David's! Security Station in Lobby Seats in the Performing Arts Center Bookshelves in Upper School Library STEAM Suite Locker Room Upper Gym with Bleachers

Horizons at Saint David's six-week summer program for elementary school boys in neighboring lower income, diverse communities is underway. The multi-dimensional program provides academics, arts, sports, and several field trips. It focuses on preventing summer academic slide, building confidence, and fostering the boys' social/emotional development. This year, 110 boys are enrolled, and the program has expanded to include Grade 7. Saint David's Seventh Grade teacher Jim Barbieri is leading the new class, adapting his history course on Ancient Rome. I hear that the seventh graders are very excited about their upcoming field trip to New York Police Headquarters' Facial Recognition Unit Joint Operations Center, where they will meet with the Chief of Detectives. The trip was arranged by Saint David's alum Ben Singleton '05, Director of Analytics, Detective Bureau, who is Co-Chair of the Horizons Junior Advisory Board. Appreciation to Buckley for enabl...

At the end of the school year I always look forward to one of the most enjoyable Saint David's traditions, the Fifth Grade Musical. This year, the boys performed Gilbert and Sullivan's delightful operetta H.M.S. Pinafore . Produced by teachers Jamie MacNeille and Emma McFarland, directed by Phyllis Clark and conducted by Jeff Moore, the show entertained in spades! The boys sang and delivered their lines with humor, confidence, and talent. Congratulations to all in the cast and crew; this show was a huge team effort--and it was a smash hit!   Music and drama are integral to our embrace of balance and the aesthetic at Saint David's.  We anticipate even greater programmatic opportunities for our boys to explore the performing arts, both onstage and in the tech/lighting/production areas when our new performing arts center opens in the fall.

It's officially summer vacation, but learning continues at Saint David's, with our summer programs in full swing. Last week, 12 boys from the classes of 2018, 2019, and 2020 participated in Saint David's Summer Art Camp, taught by Ms. Jenna Boccella with assistance from Ms. Nancy Iannicelli. The boys learned and practiced fundamental watercolor skills as well as concepts of plein air landscape sketching and painting at St. Thomas More each day before heading outdoors to the Cooper Hewitt Garden or Central Park Sailboat Pond to enjoy a leisurely lunch, socializing and watercolor sketching on site. On the final day of the week-long camp, they added finishing touches to their works and chose two favorite pieces to share with their families. They identified a challenge they faced, a key skill or concept they learned, and a work or detail that they were proud of from the week's endeavors. This week, through o...

Rising eighth graders participating in our Spain Summer Study trip arrived in Salamanca early Sunday. This is the eighth year of Saint David's Spain Summer Study program, which is sponsored by the Spanish provincial government and University of Salamanca. The trip provides a highly educational and rich cultural experience for our boys. Each morning they participate in Spanish language immersion classes tailored to each boy's individual level of fluency, and spend their afternoons and evenings enjoying a variety of cultural experiences in which they converse with native speakers. These two weeks of cultural study and Spanish language instruction give our boys the opportunity to attain new levels of proficiency in the language and are certain to be an enriching milestone in their lives.

It's official: The wall separating our compression-era reduced lobby and the new one is down, as we begin this summer's work connecting the school's three townhouses to our new space in Graham House.  All systems are go and the entire school is now a construction zone.