been reversioned into a year-long American History course that covers Westward Expansion through the
Industrial Revolution and emphasizes the ways in which Americans have demonstrated perseverance and
ingenuity to improve their lives.
Following a critical review of the Lower School math curriculum in light of updates to the National
Council of Teachers of Mathematics recommendations and Common Core Learning Standards, the scope
and sequence of our primary mathematics program has been realigned to include fewer topics with greater
depth while providing coherence of topics and thinking across grade levels. Boys will develop more
conceptual understanding as they build procedural skills and fluency. Primary Mathematics supplemented by
Exemplars tasks (www.exemplars.com) and Contexts for Learning Mathematics have been adopted to support this
revised program. We have also added three open-ended investigations, a signature Upper School experience,
to Grades One to Three. These investigations will provide boys the opportunity to engage in rigorous high
level math concepts as they apply knowledge and understanding to novel situations.
With the success of Boost (a program introduced last year that provides additional in-school
specialized support for emerging readers in Kindergarten through Grade Two) behind us, we will introduce a
new position, Director of Learning Services, to the Lower School this year to develop and coordinate similar
programs in writing, math, and approaches to learning. Our aim is to be ahead of the curve on providing
targeted early intervention across fundamental skill areas.
In the Upper School, Sixth and Eighth Grade DASH (Drugs, Alcohol, Sex and Health) will be
replaced by a new three-year Health, Wellness and Sense of Self sequence for boys in Grades Six through Eight.
The new course, entitled Sophrosyne, after the Greek virtue of excellence of character and healthy state of
mind, will provide a more comprehensive approach to the issues adolescent boys face, including the
interconnectedness of physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health, along with personal safety, selfadvocacy, peer pressure, sexuality, puberty, drug education and awareness, and good digital citizenship. The
program includes several visits with Prepare, Inc., a self-advocacy group and Hallways, an organization that
provides comprehensive instruction tailored to independent schools.
The Upper School Advisory program has been overhauled too. It is now linked directly with the
new Sophrosyne curriculum and is more formalized. Boys in Seventh and Eighth Grades can now request
advisors, and more attention is being given to training advisors on the nuances of adolescence. Advisory
times are now formally scheduled.
As we enter the eighth year of our school-wide Spanish Initiative, the lead cohort of boys will enter
Seventh Grade. Based on longitudinal and ongoing assessment we will again modify the program. Seventh
graders will use a new high school Spanish 2 textbook. Because of the program’s success, the new aim is for
the boys to complete the second-year Spanish text, providing them the opportunity to place into Spanish 3 in
high school. Formal texts have also been adopted in grades younger than originally planned, introducing
boys to the grammar of the language earlier.
Over the summer months the transformation of Saint David’s School for a new era began with the
shrinking of our 89th Street campus—a tangible outcome of our third strategic g