RED & GOLD THE COMMUNITY MAGAZINE of CATHEDRAL SCHOOL FOR BOYS
INSIDE: THE HISTORY OF CATHEDRAL SCHOOL FOR BOYS page 14 A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A KINDERGARTENER page 22
@MandarinTrip18: TWEETS FROM TAIWAIN page 86
CATHEDRAL SCHOOL AT 60 Past, Present, and Future
THE GREAT HAWK MOBILE USES THE SCHOOL MASCOT AS THE STARTING POINT. Religion classes from kindergarten through eighth grade rotated through a special workshop, each creating panels for this hanging artwork. Working with shrinking plastic medium (a.k.a. Shrinky Dink), the boys drew and painted what they find most interesting about the life and world of a hawk: including habitat, prey, anatomical features, nesting, eggs, and chicks. The hawk design resembles a Red- Tailed Hawk, the most common hawk in our region and the basis for “Forbes,” the School’s mascot. These hundreds of panels—translucent and a bit like stained- glass—have been strung together in the shape of a hawk and CATHEDRAL SCHOOL FOR BOYS AT-A-GLANCE 47,965 MORNING HANDSHAKES | 25 STUDENT-BODY ASSEMBLIES 263 STUDENTS 24 Zip Codes Represented 17 Preschools 12 Different Religions 37% 100% SELF-IDENTIFIED AS STUDENTS OF COLOR SELF OR PARENT IDENTIFIED MALE 51 PRESCHOOLS 33 MIDDLE SCHOOLS Applicants from 19 HIGH SCHOOLS Attending 1% STUDENT-BODY ATTRITION
suspended in the School. As a metaphor for the interdepen- dency of all aspects of nature, the Great Hawk Mobile shows the web of a hawk’s world literally linked together. This piece demonstrates how, when we each do a small part, those small parts can add up to something big. The installation also demon- strates the many ways we are linked together: by our lives within our communities and by our shared connection with nature through the land we inhabit. As Grace Cathedral’s artist-in-residence, I was privileged to work with all the students on such an ambitious and complex piece. MESSAGE from the Headmaster DEAR CATHEDRAL SCHOOL COMMUNITY,
My older son has developed an interest in mythology, and one day while we were reading a book on Roman gods, we hap- pened across a depiction of Janus. As many of you probably know, Janus is the god of beginnings or transitions, and he is often depicted in dual-profile, look- ing both backward (into the past) and forward (into the future). I often think of Janus when I consider the evolution and approach of our school as one that blends tradition and innovation in ways that are both consistent and profound. There is a sense of history and tradi- tion at Cathedral that is essential to the education that we provide the boys. It grounds us. While some schools are buf- feted about by the latest educational whim, Cathedral maintains a system of educational continuity that remains essential to who we are. We wear uni- forms, for instance, not for the sake of nostalgia, but out of the belief that our dress code demonstrates a sense of pur- pose while at the same time diminishing the displays of socio-economic status that run counter to our philosophy. We shake hands with the boys as they enter the building each morning because relationships remain at the core of our approach. At the same time, we have always been a school of innovation. Cathedral was one of the first schools in the country to offer Mandarin, and we recognized the value in diversity and committed ourselves to it long before it became conventional. This sense of the future continues to inform our programmatic outlook. Our science department is in the process of imagining how the development of state-of-the-art
25% OF STUDENTS
COVERS 70% OF TUITION
receive $1.35M in Adjustable Tuition
$22,900 average Adjustable Tuition grant
RANKS IN THE 98TH PERCENTILE IN PEER SCHOOL PARENT GIVING
28 SPORTS TEAMS
98.5 % OF STUDENTS
participate in sports with 78% multiple sport athletes
6 DIFFERENT SPORTS
4 FULL-SCALE MUSICAL PRODUCTIONS (K-2, 4, 6, and 8)
64 STUDENTS PLAY IN SCHOOL BAND
31 CHOIR BOYS
100 % OF STUDENTS
perform in a school production
Headmaster Jones embraces graduating Upper School boys.
ABOUT SUKEY BRYAN: Sukey Bryan is a painter and printmaker whose work explores natural eco-systems, in particular water, fire, and earth cycles. A recipient of a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts and a grant from the Maryland State Arts Council, Mrs. Bryan was artist-in-residence at Denali National Park, Alaska in 2008. Mrs. Bryan created a seven-year project, a series of more than 100 paintings and prints, celebrating the beautiful and threatened Alaskan glacier ice cycle. Presently, Mrs. Bryan is artist-in-residence at Grace Cathedral, making artwork and group projects to celebrate the earth and engage audiences on issues around climate change. laboratory space might allow us to teach science in ways that were previously impossible. Our technology department has started to consider technology, not as a platform of computers and SMART Boards, but rather as the tools necessary for design, engineering, and robotics. Our teaching staff is considering how we might use the resources of San Francisco to internationalize the experience of all of our students. All of this stems from the overarching question of how we provide an education that will truly prepare our students to be productive citizens in a complicated, global world. Thus, we stay a school of
Mrs. Bryan has created large outdoor pop-up installations including “Sky Fountain” at Stanford University as well as “Sky Steps” and “Water Without” at Grace Cathe- dral—each piece draws attention to the simultaneously delicate and powerful elements of our environment. Mrs. Bryan graduated from Yale University with a B.A. in fine art and English and with an M.F.A. from the Maryland Institute. Her work has been exhibited nationally and in U.S. Embassies in Fiji, Russia, Finland, and Norway. She lives and works in Stanford, California. For more about Mrs. Bryan’s work, please visit sukeybryan.com tradition and innovation. Many of the hallmarks of a Cathedral School educa- tion remain as vital today as they were decades ago. At the same time, the sense of innovation and opportunity that catalyzed the founding of the School continues to inform our direction and future. Very truly yours,
6 LANGUAGES SPOKEN THROUGHOUT THE COMMUNITY
100 % STUDENTS GRADES 2-8
100 % OF STUDENTS
participate in the 1:1 iPad program
participate in Service Learning
396 ORGANIC CHEESE PIZZAS DEVOURED DURING LUNCH
TEACHERS THAT ATTEND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT:
30 AFTER-SCHOOL CLASSES (coding, robotics, cooking, chess, etc.)
use morning care, after-care, and/or after-school study hall on campus
70 % OF FAMILIES
Burns Jones Headmaster
100%
80%
TEACHERS WITH ADVANCED DEGREES
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RED & GOLD THE COMMUNITY MAGAZINE of CATHEDRAL SCHOOL FOR BOYS
Editor’s Note
2017 marked Cathedral School for Boys’ 60th anniversary—affording the School a chance to celebrate our founding, reflect on our success, revel in the sense of community built over six decades, and imagine our next 60 years. And so too does this edition of the Red&Gold . While the Red&Gold magazine’s aim has always been to tell the School’s story—its past, its present, and its future in this issue, we had the unique chance to feature a wide variety of community voices from various decades. And we took full advantage of the opportunity! We believe it is important to celebrate Cathedral’s rich history; however, it is equally important that we look forward to the future. The pieces inside this issue strike this balance; from Tara Boland’s feature—The History of Cathedral School for Boys: “Minds, Hearts, Hands, Voices”— that celebrates our past, to Timmy Stabler’s and Trevor Traina’s profiles that allow us to revel in our current success, to Headmaster Jones’ article—“A Space to Learn”—that helps us imagine a future Cathedral. After reading this issue of the Red&Gold, we hope you will come away with a deeper understanding of who we are along with the knowledge that the minds, hearts, hands, and voices of the Cathedral community remain resolute. What we share across the generations binds us together as a community in common vision and purpose. Cheers,
RED&GOLD TEAM EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Katie Rice Jones COPY EDITORS Harrison Wilkes Matt Thier ’00 Megan Brown DEVELOPMENT TEAM James Schmidt Mary Bishop DESIGN Jenna Del Vigna PHOTOGRAPHY Katie Rice Jones John Stuart Riddle Nano Visser Chris Corrigan COVER PHOTO Nano Visser ON THE COVER: LEFT to RIGHT: Big Brothers Matthew Asiano ’18 (left) and Darnell Adler ’18 (right) with K Little Brother Nico await the graduation procession on June 14, 2018.
Big and Little Brothers sharing a laugh at Grace Cathedral’s outdoor labyrinth.
Eighth-grade Big Brothers escort their K Little Brothers during the 2018 graduation ceremony.
OUR MISSION
IN THIS ISSUE 1 Message from the Headmaster 3 Editor’s Note 14 The History of Cathedral School for Boys 22 A Day in the Life of a Kindergartener 24 A Space to Learn 28 Cathedral and Puerto Rico 32 Graduation: Class of 2018 39 Alumni Section
48 In Memoriam 49 Annual Report 76 School Events 78 60th Anniversary Celebration 85 Boyan Slat: Boy Inventor 86 @mandarintrip18: Tweets from Taiwan 95 Moving In, Up, and On 106 Faculty News 110 The Great Hawk Project
Katie Rice Jones Red&Gold Editor-in-Chief
To provide an excellent education for boys at the elementary level. To attract a diverse student body of strong academic potential.
To provide a school committed to intellectual inquiry and rigor, centered in the Episcopal tradition, respectful of and welcoming to people of all religious traditions and beliefs. To develop social responsibility through exemplary programs of outreach and service. To create a community bonded by open-heartedness, hope, compassion, and concern.
Cathedral School for Boys, a department of Grace Cathedral, is accredited by the California Association of Independent Schools, and is a member of the National Association of Independent Schools and the National Association of Episcopal Schools. As an institution with 501(c)(3) non-profit status, it relies on the generosity of individual and community support and an active Parents Association to fund its annual operating and capital needs. If you’d like to make a gift to the School or would like more information on how you can make a difference in the lives of the School and our boys, please contact James Schmidt, Director of Development at schmidt@cathedralschool.net. All gifts to the School are fully tax-deductible as allowed by law. CATHEDRAL SCHOOL FOR BOYS 1275 Sacramento Street, San Francisco, CA 94108 415.771.6600 www.cathedralschool.net
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THE CLASS OF 2018 June 14, 2018—Graduates stand with diplomas in hand as Headmaster Burns provides them with some final advice.
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#ENOUGH April 20 , 2018—Upper School boys walk out during the #Enough March to protest gun violence in schools.
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LITTLE BROTHERS TAKE CHARGE October 10, 2017—Little Brothers take charge of Big Brothers during recess.
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ALFRED HITCHCOCK VISITS GRACE CATHEDRAL May 12, 1975—The Grace Cathedral Choir of Men and Boys surround Alfred Hitchcock during a break from filming his movie Family Plot .
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GALA BOYS Parents and alumni Damian Crosby ’88, Carlton Linnenbach ’87, Chris Ralph ’83, Richard Welch ’88, Augie Martin ’84, and Roth Martin ’87 perform an opening number at the 2018 PA Gala “Once Upon a Time.”
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THE HISTORY OF CATHEDRAL SCHOOL FOR BOYS
The story of Cathedral’s history can be wrapped up in four words familiar to any member of the Cathedral community: minds, hearts, hands, voices.
Cathedral’s founders were distinguished by their whole- person approach. They aspired to establish a boys’ school in San Francisco that had both a strong academic program as well as a spiritual element in the Episcopal tradition. The conversation began in 1957 with Bishop James Pike, Dean Julian Bartlett, and The Rev. Canon David Forbes, who had a vision for an Episcopal school for boys. Canon Forbes is quoted in a newspaper article from around the time of Cathedral’s founding: “Most cathedrals have their own schools, from which the choir boys are recruited. As the third largest Episcopal cathedral in the United States, Grace Cathedral should certainly have its own school.” Having recently been installed as Dean of the church, Bartlett helped form a committee comprising about 20 “ladies” involved at the Cathedral to strategize how to make this a reality. The addition of students on the Cathedral Close * would also provide a steady source of angelic voices to the Grace Cathedral Choir of Men and Boys. But according to newspaper articles from the time, the Nob Hill neighborhood was not ready for the noise (and presumably * Cathedral Close refers to the area immediately surrounding a cathedral and, in the middle ages, would have been under the control of the bishop of the cathedral’s legal jurisdiction, rather than that of the city.
traffic congestion) that a school for rambunctious young boys would add. It appears that there may be have been considerable resistance. One newspaper article is ominously entitled “New Boys’ School Will End Cathedral Calm.” Canon Forbes did nothing to quell that concern when he was quoted in that same article saying, “the new Cathedral School for Boys will probably need fire walls to contain the noise.” True to this day, as one approaches Cathedral School for Boys, one may hear the sweet sounds of choir boys rehearsing, the School community harmonizing during Hymn Sing, or boys laughing and yelling as they play soccer or basketball on the roof. Regardless of the source, the joyous sound of boys’ voices playing fill the air in the Cathedral Close. Backing up a bit, it’s essential that we don’t overlook the women who were instrumental in helping to find funding for the School. Without these women and their families, the dream of Cathedral would have been nothing more than just that. The deep devotion of parents and friends has long made Cathedral School what it is and what it remains today. Mrs. Charles F. Lowrey (Mimi) was one of those women, and she remained a lifelong Trustee until her death in 2016. The Lowrey family and others (including the Gillettes, Hopkins, McKeevers, Morsheads, Orricks among them) were driven
Early supporters survey site of new school
Minds, Hearts, Hands, Voices BY TARA BOLAND, Director of Admission
C. Julian Bartlett, Dean of Grace Cathedral, and Rev. Canon David Forbes, Headmaster, along with boys lay the School's cornerstone
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Construction on the main school building begins.
The School’s Founding Headmaster, the Rev. Canon David Forbes with Norman Smith (Chaplain and Latin Teacher from 1960-1969)
One of the School’s first Field Days
Ladies’ Auxillary of Cathedral School
to provide another educational option for boys. Following the post-World War II baby boom, there was not enough space in the current private schools to accommodate everyone. The founders were interested in creating a school that did not yet exist in San Francisco: one that offered an Episcopal education, was grounded in high academic standards, and would provide an education to a diverse socio-economic group of boys. It should be acknowledged that, at the time, this was a radical proposal. Furthermore, the founders sought to create a school that fostered an appreciation of music and the choir. This was the mission that drove the School’s founding. Shortly before her death, Mimi Lowrey entrusted a small six-ring leather bound notebook that she used to keep notes to Jim Schmidt, Cathedral School for Boys’ Director of Development. On the first page Mimi neatly wrote: “First meeting held at the home of Mrs. Edmond Gillette, Jr. 10:15 May 10, 1957… discussed the possibility and need for another boy’s private school in this city. However, it was determined at this meeting that the group had to raise $15,000 in order to make this possibility a reality.” Three meetings later, on June 25, 1957, she exclaimed: “We made it!!! $16,125.00 in underwriting. We will have a school.” (Jim Schmidt points out that when one considers that $16,125 in 1957 represents about $144,000 in today’s dollars, it’s easy to understand their enthusiasm.) Without these early pioneers, Cathedral School for Boys would not be. Cathedral School for Boys opened in the fall of 1957 with 11 students in grades four and five, two teachers, and a dog named “Shadow.” Canon Forbes served as acting Headmaster, and the School benefitted from a very active Ladies’ Auxiliary and Board (which also had ⅓ female representation). Tuition was set at $475. According to one newspaper article from the time, Richard Purvis, organist at Grace Cathedral, “[would] lean heavily on musical training but [would] not require musical ability for admission.” It went on to state, “the School was to include religious education.” Teachers were to be secured through Stanford University and there were never to
be more than 15 students in a class. In those first years, the School was housed in the Crypt of Grace Cathedral and the Dean’s house, which no longer exists, and has since been replaced by the grand staircase leading up to the Cathedral. While Canon Forbes was the School’s founding and acting Headmaster during the early months of the School, Peter Keating served as the School’s official first headmaster for approximately the next two years. In the fall of 1959, enrollment jumped to 75 boys with the addition of grades six, seven, and eight. Those classes occupied what are now the vesting room, the Choir Guild room, and the bell tower. On December 16, 1960, Cathedral School for Boys celebrated the Christmas season with its inaugural Lessons & Carols. The first class to graduate was the 15 boys of the Class of 1960. In that same year, Canon Forbes once again became Headmaster (and remained in that role until 1972), and the School also held its first Field Day. The Ladies’ Auxiliary was there at every step of the way, providing much of the funding for the School to operate. In 1962 they opened a “New-to-You” second-hand shop on California Street, and in 1968 moved that shop to a larger space at 1036 Hyde Street. In 1964, a largely completed Grace Cathedral was consecrated. On June 3, 1965, ground was broken for a new Cathedral School for Boys building. One and half years later, on September 12, 1966, the building opened with an enrollment of 164 boys in grades one through eight, and a faculty of 15. An unlabeled newspaper article entitled “Unfounded Furor” states, “After all of the commotion and furor that initially surrounded the project, we think the completed Cathedral School for Boys, on Nob Hill, next to Grace Cathedral, lends an architectural as well as educational distinction to the neighborhood. A visit to the School, which was dedicated last week and has been holding open houses, should convince anyone that the fears of an obtrusive nuisance once expressed by some neighbors are quite without foundation. The Cathedral School, with its new $750,000 home, and with 162 (sic) boys of all colors and
Jane Harper (Cathedral School’s first librarian from 1966-1974) reads to boys
economic classes, is a permanent and welcome home (to) the San Francisco scene.” Apparently, Cathedral School for Boys had proven its right to exist and was finally accepted by the neighborhood. In 1968 the original structure that we know as the School today was completed. By the late 1960s, the School had found its voice. Many of the traditions familiar to us today were established. Canon Forbes began Friday Hymn Sing. The 1967-68 school year was the first full year of Bay Area Independent Elementary Schools interscholastic sports competition between Cathedral, Town, Stuart Hall, Marin Country Day School, and Menlo School. By 1969 the School had attained its desired size: 176 boys in grades 1-8, with waitlists for every grade. The seventies brought new changes. In 1971, when St. Luke’s Preschool closed its kindergarten program, Cathedral responded by establishing our own kindergarten and housed it on and off in the Crypt, under the Cathedral. (Apparently it was very noisy, due to the absence of carpeting.) In 1972, the crypt space under Grace Cathedral (Founder’s Hall) was built out to create a gymnasium and what is now known as Gresham
Capital fundraising for construction of new buidling
Student body 1968
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The hard-won milestones of Cathedral’s early days have become commonplace.
Hall. That year the first basketball game was played in the Crypt gym. In 1973, the School introduced Spanish language instruction for the first time. That same year the Ladies’ Auxiliary was the driving force behind an effort to purchase a school bus with Blue Chip Stamps * . By 1977 there were 194 students enrolled at Cathedral. On March 30, 1979, Cathedral hosted its first Grandparents’ Day. With the arrival of the early 1980s, the School began to formalize more of its practices. The School’s administra- tion grew in size, and the first formal long-range plan was adopted, addressing important issues such as increased faculty compensation and the necessity of an endowment. In 1982, the Ladies’ Auxiliary formally changed its name to Parents Association of Cathedral School for Boys. In 1983, the Board * According to Wikipedia, Blue Chip Stamps were part of a loyalty program offered by grocery and gas stations, given to customers in proportion to the amount of money spent. The books would be issued to customers by machines next to the cash register. Customers would paste the stamps into books and redeem them at special stores for big ticket items such as lawn furniture, dining room tables, and more. That the Parent Auxiliary was able to buy a bus with Blue Chip Stamps will likely seem remarkable to a modern-day reader.
added a permanent technology line-item expense to the school budget, granting the Academic Committee the ability to provide students and faculty with access to computers. At that time, this meant Apple II computers. In 1986, the eighth grade won the ISAL Basketball Championship—a first! Tuition was now $5,800 per boy. In 1988, Cathedral celebrated its 30th birthday party, and the School officially entered adulthood. Malcolm H. Manson became Cathedral’s seventh Headmaster in 1990, and with his arrival came new changes. In 1991, Mandarin was introduced to the school curriculum. In 1992, Grace Cathedral expanded the Cathedral Close, with a grand staircase, a new Chapter House, and an underground parking garage. The School Board agreed to expand the size of the school to 235 students and embarked on a capital effort to fund a building expansion and renovation of facilities. Faculty salaries and benefits reached a par with comparable schools. The school expansion, completed in 1996, vastly improved the facilities of Cathedral by adding an East Wing to the School. The current kindergarten classroom and administrative offices were added and the library was renovated. In 1997, the “Gender-Issues Subcommittee of Education Policy/Strategic Planning Committee of the Board” was formed. That group’s name was later revised to the more concise “Boys’ Study.” The
Early physical education on the tennis court that would become the site of the main school building
decade ended as Michael Ferreboeuf became Headmaster in 1999. In 2001, Cathedral boys voted to replace its retired mascot, the Crusaders, with a new school mascot: the Cathedral Hawk, which in 2018 was officially named “Forbes” (read more about this on page 21). Following the completion of a successful endowment campaign—Endowing the Future—in 1999, Cathedral School’s endowment reached $10 million. Teachers’ salaries were raised from the bottom quartile to the top decile of San Francisco peer independent schools. Cathedral then had the highest endowment per student among its peer schools. The professional development budget for teachers increased dramatically and financial assistance increased steadily, now benefitting one in three Cathedral families. Renovations were made across the school. The art rooms were built out in 2000, the gym was renovated in 2003, and the science rooms were upgraded in 2004. Gresham Hall was given a facelift and the theater was expanded and modernized and named in honor of Todd Traina ’83 and his older brother, Trevor ’82. The kitchen facilities and adjoining Crypt Hallway were also updated. The school program was enhanced as instrumental music, band, and more athletic teams were added. In September 2006, the entire school began to enjoy a daily hot lunch, provided by Acre Gourmet in the refurbished Gresham Hall. During the summer of 2008, Cathedral broke ground and began excavation to create new classrooms and technology spaces underneath Veazie Court. Ahead of the start of the
2009-10 school year, new Upper School classrooms were completed, while construction continued on the Lower School floor and at the Jones and Sacramento Street entrances. By early 2010 the Sacramento Street entrance reopened and the Lower School now included three learning rooms, a new admin- istrative wing, and a spacious light-filled library. Then, in the spring of 2011, during the Gala’s Fund-A-Need, the Parents Association “Raised the Roof” for renovations of and enhancements to the School’s rooftop playground, including two basketball courts, two climbing structures, a soccer playing field, and a garden learning center. The Parents Association raised funds during the summer of 2012 to construct a Lower School science lab. In 2015, as part of the Foundation for the Future Campaign, a new Head of School house was purchased. That same year, Burns Jones became the School’s ninth Headmaster. Most of Cathedral’s founders’ early aspirations for the School have been realized. The hard-won milestones of Cathedral’s early days have become commonplace. The “first basketball championship” in 1986 has been replaced by multiple league championships in several sports every year. The Cathedral School for Boys community is known for its good sportsmanship, whether at a kindergarten soccer game on the roof or at a high-stakes eighth-grade team basketball championship in the Crypt. Every boy performs in a play, musical, or band performance each year in Gresham Hall. Service is integrated into the curriculum in age-appropriate
Boys perform gymnastics (some of them wearing their ties!)
Boys head to chapel
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A NEW LOOK AND NAME Cathedral’s fierce but friendly mascot has recently been given both a makeover and a new name! After receiving nearly 100 name suggestions from students, Headmaster Jones selected a name well-suited for the Cathedral hawk. We are proud to introduce everyone to “Forbes.” The sharp-eyed among you will note that “Forbes” shares a name with and honors our founding Headmaster, Rev. Canon David Forbes. We are pleased to let you know that David was delighted with his namesake.
The Rev. Canon David Forbes and The Rt. Rev. Marc Handley Andrus discuss the incredible history of Cathedral School.
Horsing around in 1996
Cathedral School does its uniform proud then and now.
As much as the school has grown and changed, its foundation has remained solid and constant.
before
ways, with seventh and eighth graders devoting part of their school year to volunteering at local elementary schools or with senior citizens, the entire school participates in annual efforts to support the Bayview Mission and San Francisco Food Bank. Lower School boys tend to the roof garden and collect the School’s compost. After the introduction of Spanish in 1973 and Mandarin in 1991, seventh and eighth graders now travel abroad to practice their language skills and learn more about our global community. Many Upper School boys gather once a week for “Perspectives” to listen and learn from one another about current events. At the end of each eighth-grade boy’s time at Cathedral, he delivers a Chapel Talk to the community, during which he passes on some experience or wisdom he has gleaned along his journey. While the Cathedral experience is defined by a plethora of amazing opportunities, at the end of the day, there is a growing boy, making his way through the world. Boyhood can be messy, certainly loud, and is always full of energy and vibrancy. Cathedral’s teachers embrace each boy for who he is, and the relationships between each boy and his teachers are at the heart of the Cathedral experience. During this past year, Cathedral School for Boys celebrated its 60th anniversary. Nob Hill has acclimated to the School’s presence and the sounds of boys’ voices. Perhaps as San
Francisco’s demographics and the socioeconomic make-up of the city have shifted, people have a greater appreciation for the sound of boys’ play; maybe it’s the pure joy in the boys’ voices. As much as the school has grown and changed, its foundation has remained solid and constant. There were times when the School could have made dramatic changes. In the 1970s, as the value of single-sex education was questioned, a proposal to merge with one of the girls’ schools was briefly considered. Again, in the 1980s, the School explored the possibility of adding girls and increasing the school’s size to 400 students. But Cathedral has maintained a constant commitment to its identity as a small, all-boys, Episcopal school. Still adjoining Grace Cathedral after 60 years, the School and the church share a symbiotic relationship in which we provide the delightful sound of boys’ voices and they provide access to a world-class Cathedral, one in which we gather to sing and learn four times a week. Cathedral School for Boys is privileged to share the Cathedral Close with Grace Cathedral and sit at the top of Nob Hill in the midst of such a vibrant and innovative city. But as much as buildings have been added, renovated, and technology replaced, it continues to be the people—teachers, students, administrators, trustees, and very importantly, boys and
Sing for Joy, Children of Heaven Hymn
their families—who define us. Perhaps it is no wonder then that when we gather, we do so to share, listen, learn, and sing together. Over the course of the kindergarten year, boys begin to learn the words to the songs of the hymns we most frequently sing by listening at Chapel and in music class. At Friday Hymn Sing, “big brothers” often hold the hymn books in their hands for their “little brothers.” As the boys learn to read and they learn the songs, the young boys’ voices join the chorus of the school community. Parents of current students and alumni join us at Friday Hymn Sings when they can. Together, as the Cathedral School for Boys song proclaims, we continue to “sing with wonder, sing with cheer” in this extraordinary place where minds, hearts, hands, and voices come together as one.
“FORBES”
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A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A KINDERGARTENER
A Day in the Life of a Kindergartener was interpreted by Ale Merritt, Class of 2018, who was once a Lower School boy himself.
SCIENCE CLASS “Today in science we built something like a Hot Wheels track but for a ball instead of a car. It was neat because the ball would go super fast and sometimes it would fall off.”
DROP-OFF “I’m so excited to see my friends today! Wait until Ms. Johnson hears that new word my dad taught me. She’s going to be so happy when I tell her that I’m an optimist!”
RECESS “Today we got to play soccer at recess. It was awesome because I scored a goal! I was so happy, and I’m going to tell my mom about it later.”
LUNCHTIME “Yum, this taco is delicious. I should have remembered to put sour cream on it though. Oh well, I can always get more after the older kids say ‘Grace’.”
STORYTIME IN THE LIBRARY
THEATRICAL PERFORMANCE “Those older guys are so tall. They are being really funny and telling great jokes on stage.”
HYMN SING “Wow, this is so cool. My Big Brother is singing songs with me.”
“Mrs. Decker always read us the best stories. I have all the Elephant & Piggy books at home.”
11:30 AM
8:03 AM
8:05 AM
8:32 AM
8:40 AM
9:20 AM
10:45 AM
11:00 AM
11:10 AM
12:00 PM
1:00 PM
1:45 PM
2:15 PM
MORNING GREETING “I like Security Officer Matteoni. He always remembers my name and asks me how I’m doing. What a nice guy!”
HYMN SELECTION “Ooooh, pick me, pick me! I have a really good hymn in mind.”
PARTICIPATING IN CLASS “We are learning really cool stuff like how to write and read words.”
SPORTSMANSHIP “At recess I shared my ball with Stanley, and I was really nice. So, he gave me a hug. Stanley is a great friend!”
PRESENTING WORK “This is the art I made yesterday. I spent a lot of time doing it too. Do you like it Ms. Schlieser?”
CODING AS A TEAM “I love coding class. It is really cool to learn how to make robots measure distances.”
11:10
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A SPACE TO LEARN BY BURNS JONES, Headmaster
This past summer, I happened upon Pat Conroy’s memoir The Water is Wide that recounts his experience teaching in a one-room schoolhouse on a barrier island in South Carolina in the 1960s. To say that Conroy’s circumstances were challenging would be an understatement, and his success supports the adage that great teachers can teach anywhere.
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“As classroom spaces begin to support multiple purposes, they begin to deconstruct the silos that often impede collaboration in schools.”
Similarly, societal and professional changes are also precipitating peda- gogical advances. Simply put, the skills students need to be successful world citi- zens are much different now than they were 20 years ago. For the better part of two decades, independent schools have been engaged in an ongoing discussion about the necessity of what are often called 21st-century skills. Typically, those conversations implicate skills like collabo- ration, critical thinking, communication and creativity, and these skills are diffi- cult to develop online. (Cathedral School, of course, would add “character” as an indispensable skill!) The best schools now recognize that skill development is as significant as content acquisition. Thus, good teachers now recognize the need to instruct, dare I say coach, in a variety of different styles, and schools are designing classrooms to support the multitude of approaches. If we are genuinely interested in developing strong collaborators, then the configuration of our classrooms should support the movement and groupings necessary for successful collaboration to occur. If we are committed to developing effective communicators, then we need classrooms that will support student communication through a variety of modalities. Classrooms, regardless of grade or subject, are beginning to look more like labs that can be rearranged
Potential back view of the School
and customized to support multiple approaches. Schools now resemble modern office spaces, like Uber or Google. As classroom spaces begin to support multiple purposes, they begin to deconstruct the silos that often impede collaboration in schools. Teachers and students interact more frequently and exchange ideas and approaches with greater frequency. Why spend a lot of money building a monolithic auditorium with fixed seating, when the same space can accommodate multiple uses—black box theater, jazz concert hall, student assembly and lecture hall, and art gallery. In other words, classroom flexibility and adaptability maximize educational effi- ciency and catalyze collaboration. We have a prototype at Cathedral already. A few years ago, the School designed a new maker space with these ideas in mind. All of the furniture rests on casters. The ceiling holds a system of pulleys and outlets that allow for a more dynamic learning environment. All of our teachers can use the classroom. At this point, we have used the maker space for admissions meetings, science classes, robotics club, and afterschool programs. It represents the model that we would like to replicate in all of the school’s classrooms. During the last academic year, we retained the services of a San Francisco- based architectural firm, Mark Cavagnero Associates, to help evaluate our campus and re-imagine our use of classroom space. This process generated new ideas for our campus and classrooms that include: ● The redesign and modernization of all classrooms on our Lower and Upper School hallways.
popular instructional style— a somewhat mechanical way to educate children. As you might imagine, however, our appreciation for what constitutes effective pedagogy has changed, and educators are beginning to understand how a classroom should be re-imagined to better support demands of modern educational practices and the students themselves. Technology represents one of the primary catalysts for change. Information, of course, is both ubiquitous and immediately accessible. This reality alters the historical model of the teacher serving as the purveyor of knowledge. Think about it like this: At any moment, any of us can access iTunes University or Khan Academy and take free classes from the best teachers and professors in the world. What this means, then, is that students can access information from multiple sources, and teachers have to be adept at guiding students to credible content. Correspondingly, students are now assembling this information from numerous sources into real-world prod- ucts, like documentaries, exhibits, and presentations. This requires classrooms that are technologically equipped to provide students with information and to allow them to create a multitude of products.
WHILE CATHEDRAL SCHOOL HAS ALWAYS RECOGNIZED THE IMPERA- TIVE OF GREAT TEACHERS —and attracting and retaining them remains our top priority—we also recognize that other factors can influence learning. Increasingly, classroom design is one such factor. This hasn’t always been the case in schools, however. Back when Conroy was teaching, and probably back when most of us were in elementary school, classroom configuration, regardless of subject or grade, was remarkably homo- geneous. Most classrooms consisted of individual desks arranged in rows and columns, with the teacher rather perma- nently rooted in front of the students. This almost universal configuration worked because the teacher, primarily, and textbooks, secondarily, served as the sources of information. Teachers imparted knowledge to students, who were then expected to demonstrate their learning through a combination of rather common assessments, like homework, quizzes, and tests. Innovation in exhibi- tions of learning often consisted of the shoebox diorama. Learning happened individually, with very little collaboration among students. (Thus, the individual desks.) The simplicity and regimen of the classroom arrangement supported the simplicity and regimen of this
Potential Sacramento Street view of the School
Potential classroom
Typical yesteryear classroom
● The development of a science wing to house three new state-of-the-art science labs. ● The expansion of the school onto the terrace (the space between the school and Grace Cathedral) to add classrooms for small group work in the Lower School and a learning commons in the Upper School. ● The expansion of our rooftop playground.
● The development of external “living walls” on Sacramento and Jones Streets. We continue to move ahead with the planning of these campus developments with the expectation that this modern learning environment will support the fantastic work that our teachers are doing already and anticipate doing in the future.
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CATHEDRAL AND PUERTO RICO 2018: WORDS INTO ACTION BY CHRIS CORRIGAN, Seventh- and Eighth-Grade English
On September 20, 2017, Hurricane Maria made landfall in Puerto Rico. Propelled by 155 mph sustained winds, the Category 4 storm hit the south-east corner of the island and cut a diagonal swath across the island, obliterating infrastructure, causing major flooding and leaving nearly 3.5 million U.S. citizens without power. All this came just weeks after Irma, the most powerful storm ever reported in the Atlantic Ocean, grazed the U.S. territory. To this day, power is still not fully restored, and island-wide blackouts are not uncommon. When faced with the reality of a disaster of such magnitude, it’s easy to feel powerless and removed. It’s a story on the news. Turn the page. Change the channel. It’s hard to imagine the situation there, let alone feel as if you can do something about it. Even so, this past April, 25 eighth graders—led by four of their teachers—gave up their spring break and traveled to Puerto Rico. They spent what would have been their vacation doing construction projects, clearing roads in the rainforest, digging irrigation ditches, and connecting with the people directly impacted by the disaster. “As part of Outdoor Education programming, we’re told not even to leave footprints. I don’t know if that applies here. I feel like I left a big footprint. I mean we poured Victor’s floor. I was a part of that. I worked beside him. When he walks on that floor, it’s like he and I will always be connected. That’s a good footprint to leave.” On the boys’ first day in Puerto Rico, they took a walking tour of San Juan, and then got to work. The majority of the time they spent was in Villa Del Rio, an impoverished community in the Vega Alta municipality, about a 45-minute drive west of San Juan. Over the course of three full days of work, the Hawks mixed and poured the concrete foundation for one house. The owners, Ana and her husband Brian, are the parents of two toddlers. They worked side-by-side with the boys, hauling concrete and pouring it into the frames for the new structure.
“To develop social responsibility through exemplary programs of outreach and service.” –CATHEDRAL SCHOOL FOR BOYS MISSION
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Additionally, the boys helped lay a floor for a family whose entire second story was torn off during the storms. With neighbors working next to them and using buckets and shovels, the boys made significant progress on rebuilding the second floor of the house. Finally, students worked with rebar, fashioning columns that would be used to reinforce the walls for an elderly couple who lost practically everything to Maria. Through a translator, the husband told some of the boys how he and his wife huddled in their kitchen when the hurricane hit. It was the only section of their home that was built with reinforced concrete. “We couldn’t afford to complete the house with concrete. It’s too expensive. During the storm, we could hear the rest of our house being ripped apart and torn away.” Apart from work in the community, the boys also worked in a tropical rainforest. Las Casas de las Selva is the home of Tropic Ventures, an educational, research, and sustainable forestry project above the town of Patillas and very near where Maria made landfall. Over the course of 30 years, this ongoing project has restored nearly 1000 acres of rainforest. Due to their efforts, Puerto Rico is one of the only places on earth where rainforest is increasing. After the storm had passed, Tropic Ventures Directors, Thrity and Andrés, emerged from their shelter to find 80% of their trees down, their access roads washed away by landslides or covered in debris, their buildings destroyed, and their hillside threatened by standing water. It was here that the students cleared downed trees and dug irrigation trenches to divert the water, open up the roadway, and stabilize the embankment. While there, Thrity also shared the human and emotional cost of the disaster. She and her co-director rode the storm out for 14 hours in a small bunker on the property as the eye of the hurricane passed directly overhead. She told the boys how the solid concrete walls of her shelter vibrated as the air pressure dropped. She described hearing her house being destroyed 50 yards away. She fought back tears as she related coming out of the shelter and seeing all the ruin left behind. “Trauma is real,” she said. “It’s not just the physical destruction. It’s not just that we still have no power or that the trees are down or that the buildings are in ruins. There’s a heavy psychological toll on the people as well.”
“I can’t believe how happy and generous these people are. I mean they’re making our meals, sharing their food with us. They’ve lost every- thing, and they’re still smiling and joking and working through it. I stress about my math grade, and this woman is making my lunch.” Perhaps the most significant outcome of the trip was not the amount of work we completed, but the depth of the connections we made. The stories people shared resonated with the boys. Many of them went down with the idea that they would aid these helpless people. In many ways, those people helped our boys. They learned lessons that can never be taught in a classroom. William, a local leader in Villa del Rio, showed the boys the power of community, organizing his friends and neighbors to help each other rebuild as a group rather than individually. Maria, the foul-mouthed matron of the barrio, taught the boys the importance of resilience, schlepping buckets of concrete alongside them, cooking them meals, sharing her story while laughing and smiling the entire time. Angel, a local carpenter, taught the boys the importance of generosity, putting in full days rebuilding his neighbors’ homes while he still lacked a roof, electricity, and running water. Victor taught the boys gratitude, taking the first steps on his new floor with all of the students alongside him. When all was said and done, and the students returned to their homes and the day-to-day routines of being an eighth grader at Cathedral, they brought back more than souve- nirs. Sure, they got some t-shirts and trinkets. But they also brought back memories of people and new-found friends. They brought back the realization that ordinary people are the ones who make change. They brought back the feeling of empowerment that comes with working all day, every day to complete a task that you know will benefit someone else. They brought back empathy, and that won’t fade in the laundry or get lost behind a dresser.
“This makes me think I can do anything. If I want to go around the world and make a positive impact in different communities, I can do that. That’s something people do. I want to do that.”
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COMMENCEMENT: JUNE 14, 2018 As the graduating class looks toward the future, here are some words of wisdom that were shared with the entire school community.
GRADUATION
MATTHEW ASIANO, Class of 2018
Nine years, nine years. Seems like a long time but it went by so fast. Good morning Cathedral faculty, staff, clergy, students, parents, alumni, and friends. My name is Matthew Asiano. I’ve been here for nine years and I was voted by the class of 2018 to be this year’s commencement speaker. I’m grateful to have this opportunity. Well, Class of 2018, we’ve made it. Not only through our time at Cathedral, but through the grueling high school process. Truly we’ve been through it all: The early mornings with our heads buried in a placement test, and the anxious late nights before acceptance letters. We’ve made it (and good luck, seventh grade). Just so you don’t get bored while I talk about personal anecdotes from my years at Cathedral, I will be using hashtags and pop culture references. #thanks I will begin with a quote from The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. that helped me reflect on my time here at Cathedral. Dr. King once said, “Intelligence plus character—that is the goal of true education.” Not only is the education we have from Cathedral going to [help] us change the world. [So are] the lessons that Cathedral has taught us. Cathedral has taught me not only what to think, but how to think, how to collaborate effectively with others, be creative, learn from mistakes, take risks, and to “do the practice, plug, and chug.” I distinctly remember on my sixth grade outdoor ed, my group was given
a challenge and we were having a really hard time with it. At first, we were talking over each other, not letting other people share their ideas, and we were getting frustrated. Our counselor gave us a tip that we should elect a leader to let people share their ideas one by one. We elected a leader and people shared their ideas. We used different strategies and we were able to work together and complete this challenge. I remember how happy everybody was to work together and complete this challenge. #finally This moment taught me how to collaborate with others and to be open- minded to new ideas that you may not agree with. Undoubtedly one of the biggest lessons I have learned from Cathedral is to take risks. Well, maybe don’t take risks on that history test you didn’t study for, but take risks. As Mr. Mundy will tell you, it’s better to actually study than to try and make up history. #dothepractice This year many people in my class, including me, decided to try something new and take singing solos in this year’s play.
Personally, I remember being nervous thinking I would sing the wrong note or mess up in front of everybody. My fellow classmates soon reminded me that I was probably overthinking the whole situation and, in the end, they were right. The whole class ended up doing a great job in the musical and it was great to see everybody who took a risk benefit from it. This moment taught me that if you stay in your comfort zone, you won’t learn anything new. One thing that has stood out from my time at Cathedral and something that I take for granted is the community. With a K-8 school, it’s a very unique community compared to a middle or high school. You have kids from 6 years old to 14. You get to see your growth first-hand through the years. Sometimes it’s hard to imagine myself as the energetic kindergarteners or the rowdy fifth graders in the hallways. When you have a community like this, you can see how much you’ve grown and matured and that’s something I’m grateful for.
CLASS of 2018
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