“All That We Can Be”
A Dream Realized
The current expansion and upcoming related campaign is the third component of a three-part strategic
plan developed 11 years ago by Headmaster O’Halloran and the Saint David’s Board of Trustees. This
project addresses the space needs of the school so that Saint David’s and her boys can achieve their potential
throughout the school’s four pillars: academics, arts, athletics, and spirituality.
In November 2017, the Saint David’s expansion and consolidation project hit a milestone—the topping off
of construction work on Graham House. The milestone was celebrated with a ceremony for the campaign’s
leadership donors, those who have supported the project in the quiet pre-public phase of its capital campaign.
As of February 1, nearly $32 million has been raised.
The “All That We Can Be” Campaign will raise $40 million through fundraising, and $35 million through
financing to complete the $75 million consolidation and expansion project; the largest in the school’s history.
The project is on track for the new facilities to open in September 2018.
At this momentous time in the history of our school, Saint David’s Magazine interviewed Headmaster
David O’Halloran and Board President Daniel S. Connolly ’77.
The beam, signed by Saint David’s boys in April 2017, placed into the ceiling of the Upper Gym. Another beam, signed by
early supporters, is also in the Upper Gym ceiling.
Headmaster David O’Halloran
Q: What is the background to the school’s expansion project?
It all began with a planning cycle in 2006, when the school engaged an outside strategic consultant to help us organize our
strategic thinking. Out of this process we identified three goals: the first was to attract and retain exceptional faculty. This,
we believe, is the most important asset of a school—its intellectual, human capital; the second goal was to ensure we remain
representative of a broad cross-section of New York City. We wanted to be much more representative of the socio and economic
diversity of this great city, while maintaining true to our mission, educational philosophy, and classical underpinning; the third
strategic goal was to evaluate whether the physical assets of the school were mission-focused and driven.
We decided to tackle these goals in that order. Schools are defined principally by the relationships between the teachers and
the boys first and foremost, then among the boys, and then among the parents, teachers and boys. Great schools have exceptional
teachers and boys who are driven by the mission, as well as families that embrace and support that mission.
Our first campaign, which addressed the first two goals, supported a faculty initiative focused on professional
development, supervision, evaluation, and compensation. At the same time, the school embarked upon an extensive curriculum
initiative that addressed the depth and breadth of our curriculum and included vertical and horizontal integration school-
wide. This effort resulted in identifying where we could link and partner with scientific, historic, and cultural institutions in
recognition that a school is not defined by its walls, but also by interactions with experts in the field, which inspire faculty and
provide boys with valuable experiences both inside and outside of the classroom. The first campaign also raised funds in support
of our socioeconomic initiative.
At the same time that these initiatives were public, behind the scenes we were working on the third.
Q: What drove the decision to consolidate and expand into Graham House?
This project really is the fulfillment of a 45-year dream. Our wise predecessors knew that Graham House could give our boys
4 • Saint David’s Magazine