75 Years of Saint David’s

Saint David’s School, conceived by Louise Hoguet and brought to fruition through the efforts of our nine founding families, acquires its first townhouse.

On the school's first day in 1951, a single teacher, Miss Jacqueline Murphy, welcomed four students. Present day, Saint David's has 130+ faculty and 400+ students at 12 East 89th Street.

Through an exciting and adventurous first year, Mr. Herlihy was a steadfast guiding presence as the first Headmaster in Saint David’s history.

Appointed Headmaster at age 25, David Hume served the school for 37 years, setting its direction and tone and helping to create many of our most honored traditions. His tenure is also marked by steady growth in enrollment and physical space, including the purchase of the adjacent Suydam Cutting House, at 14 East 89th Street, as well as Buildings 16, 18, and 22. At the time of Mr. Hume's retirement in 1990, after 37 years as headmaster, Saint David's had increased its enrollment to several hundred students.  

The active body of parents, composed of officers and committees that impact nearly every aspect of school life, from community service, to communications, to fundraising, mounted its first benefit in 1956. An annual winter tradition, the benefit supports school programs, and is made possible by the hard work of our enthusiastic and loyal parent volunteers.

Headmaster Mr. David Hume handed diplomas to the eight graduates of Saint David's Class of 1958. The ceremony was held in the school's backyard and included an address by first Board President Gregory Smith. Today's commencements are held at nearby St. Thomas More.

As Saint David’s continued to expand and the need for yet more space became evident, the growing school purchased the third Cutting House at 16 East 89th Street, providing contiguous space for an expanded science lab, small gym, enlarged art room, and music room. Saint David’s architecture was forever changed and the emergence of a campus takes shape, which will continue with expansions in the decades to follow.

The school purchased this contiguous residence hotel, known as Graham House, with the intent to one day, when resources and programmatic needs arose, expand into the space. This visionary acquisition lay the foundation for Saint David’s future.

Rooted in our arts pillar the Philharmonic Ensemble was established. Today, the Ensemble includes boys in Grades Three through Eight who have recorded their performances and regularly play in venues such as Carnegie Hall. Boys have the opportunity to participate in five performing ensembles including First Orchestra, First Choir, Chamber Singers, Lower School Percussion Ensemble, Percussion Ensemble, and The Philharmonic Ensemble.

Dr. Burns focused the school on the importance of aggressive budgeting, promotion, and fundraising. He also worked to bring the parents group closer to the school.

Dr. Maiocco's successful 12-year tenure was marked by a vigorous expansion of the school's facilities, and a purposeful reshaping of the school's faculty, curriculum, and traditions. A proponent of the classical ideal of balance, he introduced the Eighth Grade Humanities Program - a multidisciplinary course that is a cornerstone of Saint David's curriculum, with a focus on art history research skills and rhetoric. Our annual Italian Study Tour and the Nightingale-Bamford Lectures on Art originated with Dr. Maiocco’s vision.

The eighth grade's 10-day spring study tour to Rome, Assisi, and Florence provides the boys the opportunity to experience in situ the art, architecture, and history they study throughout the year in humanities/art history.

As part of the First Horizon Campaign, Saint David's added a Lower School Library, computer room, and pottery studios which resulted in a new Lower School Library.

In the Second Horizon Campaign, the school acquired the former Dalton gymnasium at 213 East 94th Street.

The school celebrated its 50th anniversary with a special benefit for the entire Saint David's community, a mural of David commemorating the anniversary year, and the publication of a history book, That They Be Good Men: Fifty Years at Saint David's School.

Concomitant with the celebration of this milestone in the school's history, Saint David's embarked on a $6 million campaign to ensure that the school's facilities continued to provide students with an optimal learning environment. Dr. Maiocco spoke of the school creating new pathways that honored an illustrious past and bright future. The Golden Jubilee Campaign was completed in 2002. 2002 also saw the Restoration of the Hearst stained glass windows.

Commencing in 2004, Dr. O'Halloran's tenure has continued to honor the mission and traditions that are integral to Saint David’s identity while moving the school forward with deliberate, purposeful change through concurrent Faculty and Curriculum Initiatives, the Continuing Our Best Traditions campaign for faculty compensation and financial aid, the All That We Can Be expansion into Graham House, and the current INSPIRE. DEEPEN. PREPARE. strategic initiative.

The Curriculum Initiative brought forth a strategic examination of all aspects of the curriculum predicated on a question posed by Headmaster O'Halloran: "What do we want our boys to know, to do, and to value?" As a result, the curriculum achieved vertical integration and horizontal coordination.

The Faculty Initiative’s focus on expanding both professional development and evaluation processes has significantly enhanced teacher recruitment and retention.

In 2011 1,000+ members of Saint David's community gathered for a Celebratory Mass at St. Ignatius Loyola. The Mass was the culmination of several anniversary initiatives which included the publication of The Timeless Boy: Saint David's School at 60 and the official launch of our commitment to build a school in Ethiopia as a way to give back to the greater good.

The school's Continuing Our Best Traditions Campaign raised $20.5 million with the primary objectives to support the attraction and retention of exceptional teachers and increase the socioeconomic diversity of the student body.

Rising eighth graders are introduced to a new opportunity to spend part of their summer with their teachers at a university in Salamanca, Spain, where they are immersed in their study of Spanish language and culture. The Spanish Immersion Program offers boys in grades Pre-K through Eight the opportunity to gain proficiency in the Spanish language.

Consistent with our mission's imperative to contribute to our larger community, the school launched a six-week summer academic program for boys from four schools in Harlem. The program aims to prevent the academic slide that can occur during the summer.

This year also saw the launch of our partnership with the New York Historical, Sixth Grade Washington, D.C. study tour and the launch of First Orchestra, for Lower School boys in Grades One through Three.

New partnerships with the DNA Learning Center of Cold Spring Harbor and the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History led to a brand new, hands-on collaborative emphasis, learning about DNA in science, the study of primary source documents in history.

The primary goal of adding programmatic space within our contiguous campus fulfilled a four-decade dream of the school, contributing to a more efficient, dynamic, and enjoyable educational environment.

The K through Grade Four school in Tigray, Ethiopia was the product of our multi-year community action initiative to build a school in Ethiopia, spearheaded by the Classes of 2011 through 2014.

The second school, in A’lasa, opened in 2020.

In a first-of-its-kind partnership, Saint David's blends English, astronomy and technology curricula into an interdisciplinary unit: "The Digital Universe. (DUFS)" Boys access research-grade tools and the deep discipline expertise of astrophysicists and astronomers to identify, research, and present a high-tech Planetarium Presentation.

Additional immersive signature learning experiences through customized partnerships with historical, scientific, and cultural institutions follow: the Guggenheim Museum in 2017, Billion Oyster Project in 2024.

Groundbreaking ceremonies for the renovation, consolidation, and expansion into Graham House were followed by demolition of the rear of Graham House during the summer.

After 12 years of strategic planning, two school years and three summers of construction and “Great Compressions,” Saint David’s completed construction and its $40 million fundraising campaign for our expansion into Graham House. A performing arts theater, STEAM suite, library suite, new lunchroom, and three new gymnasiums became tangible demonstrations of our commitment to our four pillars and our boys’ educational experience.

Fifty years following the acquisition of Graham House, Saint David’s acquired the fourth and final Cutting Townhouse,15 East 88th Street. In this latest stroke of luck, the opportunity to acquire contiguous, adjacent property was met with design in the form of swift, decisive action by our board, enabled by the prudent fiscal stewardship that has long been a hallmark of our institution.

The school launched its new strategic vision:

Inspire our faculty – along with the quality of our educational offerings – through continued innovation in best practices in the teaching of boys through the Teaching Boys Initiative at Saint David’s School™ along with competitive compensation and enhanced opportunities for professional growth and development.

Deepen our commitment to socioeconomic diversity by broadening access to a Saint David's education.

Prepare our boys by optimizing our newly extended contiguous campus into a purpose-built, world-class learning environment designed to equip boys for the challenges and opportunities of a rapidly changing world.

In ringing in a year-long celebration to honor the 75th anniversary of the school, the entire student body and faculty and staff came together for an All-School photo in October 2025.