Headmaster's Communications: Opening Letters Opening Letter 18_19

P . DAVID O ’ HALLORAN , PH . D
Wednesday, September 5, 2018
Puer viri pater est
Dear Saint David’s School Community:
Education rightly conceived has two principal goals: to produce competent people of
great influence in society and to help them aspire to the good. In our 68 th year, as we complete
the consolidation and expansion of our school on 89 th Street, we now turn our institutional
attention from the physical back to the intellectual. Our school-wide theme this year is boys. Boys
are who we teach. Boys are what we do. And boyhood is what we treasure. “Between the
innocence of boyhood and the dignity of manhood, we find a delightful creature called a boy... A
boy is truth with dirt on its face, beauty with a cut on its finger, wisdom with bubble gum in its
hair and the hope of the future with a frog in its pocket.” 1
It’s been a dream for 45 years and an active goal for 12, and here we are—a newly
reimagined, redesigned, and expanded campus on 89th Street. A cast of thousands got us here. It
was an awe-inspiring collection of remarkable talent and unbridled commitment that enabled the
school to complete this major construction project on budget, and to open on time. Our new
spaces will allow the program, its teachers, and our boys to fulfill their endless potential.
For the first time in her history, Saint David’s has a dedicated theater, three gymnasiums,
four libraries, three large dining rooms, and all are on a single campus. Her larger and adjacent
homerooms and commons spaces, all with northern or southern exposures, combined with wider
hallways and new open connections between the Delano and Aldrich townhouses and Graham
House, provide our boys with room to move, socialize, collaborate, and learn in beautiful, sun-lit
spaces. The location of all specials—art studios, science labs, gyms, libraries, music rooms, and
lunchrooms—in the core of the school, allows the boys easy access to all instructional spaces and
provides the teachers rich opportunities for curricular cross-pollination. Our redesigned and
expanded space has allowed for important modifications to our daily schedule. We have
shortened what was too long an instructional day Monday through Thursday, and lengthened what
was too short an instructional day Friday. We now have consistent start and end times every day
of the week, 8:30-3:30, thereby allowing maximum program flexibility while providing more
consistent and balanced flow.
Despite all this newness, we will never lose sight of what truly defines Saint David’s: our
mission. In keeping with our Classical tradition, Saint David’s will continue to balance the
education of our boys across her four pillars: the academic, athletic, artistic, and spiritual. Our
academic, athletic, and artistic programs are strong. Of this there is no doubt. Our boys
successfully matriculate to schools that demand much of them academically, athletically, and
artistically. To be honest, one can find this at many great schools. What distinguishes Saint
David’s is that we are equally committed to the spiritual—to the development of the character of
our boys—one that is informed by faith, shaped by practice, and celebrated by community.
SAINT DAVID ’ S SCHOOL
12 EAST 89 TH STREET , NEW YORK , NEW YORK 10128-0678 TEL . [phone]
WWW . SAINTDAVIDS . ORG