An Intentional Education

Learning Leadership

Mentoring younger children, eighth grade students step up to lead

A Place to Belong

A purposeful advisory program sets the stage for social success

Virtue Knowledge Faith Faith Virtue

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St. David’s

An Intentional Education

Middle school at St. David’s: an intentional journey of preparation for a successful life of faith, virtue, and knowledge

St. David’s Snapshot is a periodical publication that highlights the unique ways in which St. David’s School strives to fulfill its mission of preparing young men and women for college and life in the vital areas of faith, virtue, and knowledge.

l u f e s o p r u P d n a l Intentionaetting through,” St. David’s students areol

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proach is a p a te a er ib el d is th of “Part ” pur poseful partnership

On the cover: Aquatic Ecology students take their weekly visit to the creek to measure turbidity, oxygenation, pH levels, and more with state-of-the art instruments as they learn science through hands-on experimentation.

Much More Than “Managing” Faculty Perspective

Nurturing the Whole Child

“W

e want to see our students succeed,” said fifth grade chair Janet Purvis. “And in the middle school we look at the whole person.

It’s more than simply academics here; it’s character building.”

“There is intention to everything we do, from academics to discipline.

We want the students to know that they are loved, and that having their hearts in the right place helps their brains to develop. If their hearts are in the right place, grades and academic success will follow.”

In middle school, it is often difficult for students to feel like they

truly belong. St. David’s intentional approach to learning, guidance, and social interaction is unique. It’s truly is a place where a “right heart and right intention” lead to success.

The teachers make this middle school a special, unique environment. Mrs. Purvis noted, “I’ve been here so long because it’s my home. This is a nurturing environment. It is not simply a school for me, it’s a community.

I stay because I’m happy. People support you, look after you, and pray for you. This is who we are.”

That encouraging environment translates into student success.

Janet Purvis 5th Grade English

A Culture of Caring

Parent Perspective

“I

’d never heard anyone say they really loved middle school – that is, until now,” said Sharon Alcock, mom of four St. David’s students. Sharon knows that middle school can be one of the hardest times in a child’s life, because everything is changing.

“Teachers are teaching in different ways, there are [difficult] social situations, and kids still aren’t quite sure who they are. It’s just a difficult transition.” But she celebrates the fact that St. David’s “doesn’t treat middle school as a means to an end.” Instead, faculty celebrate the process of growing up “guiding your child through these years, really understanding how hard it can be.”

“One of my son’s teachers took

his lunch period and ate with my son, just so he could get to know him better. Another emailed me when she sensed my daughter was having a tough time, wondering whether taking home the class pet for the weekend would help cheer her. The teachers gather the girls together before their first school dance and lead a devotional, and then talk through the different emotions that might happen at your first dance. It was reassuring and kind.

Can you imagine that happening in middle school?” Sharon noted that while you may also be able to get a fine education at other schools, at St. David’s you get the “entire environment” – one that prepares the whole student for the life ahead.

Sharon Alcock, Parent

Student Perspective

From Kazakhstan to Raleigh

M

organ Settle is a fifth grader at St. David’s School, but don’t let that fool you: she is a veritable expert on schooling!

Morgan attended four schools before coming to St. David’s, and coming from an international school background, Morgan was impressed with the purposeful way the middle school community embraced her.

“Coming from Kazakhstan, I didn’t know anyone, and I was really terrified of changing classes, and where I should go,” she said. “But the transition was so much easier than I thought.” Morgan noticed right away that St. David’s was not

an institutional place like other schools she had attended, and she has also noticed that she has grown in her faith while here as well. “At St. David’s, everyday life is a part of what we are learning in Morning Prayer and Chapel.”

But perhaps what is most important to Morgan is the relationships with other students which have made all the difference for her.

“I feel like I’m home here,” said Morgan with a smile. “People are kind and have so much wisdom.”

She has embraced the school because so many others have embraced her.

Morgan Settle ‘22

Academics meets community

Cultivating Leadership M

entorship, leadership, responsibility, and service. Is that what you think of when you think of middle school? Well, at St. David’s this is part of the mission to “prepare young men and women for college and life by providing challenging opportunities to excel in the vital areas of faith, virtue and knowledge.”

There are many ways faculty and staff strive to fulfill this mission. An exciting vision of what this looks like in middle school can be seen in Ben Wickel’s Biblical Leadership class.

Seventh and eighth grade students have the option to choose up to two electives during the year.

Biblical Leadership is an elective designed to prepare young men and women (there is a girl’s section of

the class as well) for college and life while training them to be leaders in their faith. Mr. Wickel explains, “This is a course that is designed to have the boys engage in topics and materials that help foster them into becoming Godly leaders.”

The boys spend the semester under Mr. Wickel’s tutelage. He explains: “The hallmark of the course involves projects and hands-on activities that foster leadership. One day per week is a service project day. Half the boys work with Mr. Geesey in facilities to assist in special projects, take out the trash and recycling, and do any other odd jobs that would best serve the school.

The other half work with the lower school PE department, teaching and

So much more than “just” middle school boys, these eighth grade young men take the role of leadership responsibility seriously, committing themselves to mentoring the younger kindergartners, teaching and serving as role models throughout the year.

participating in gym class and other activities and supporting the athletic department in any way they can.”

The boys also work on learning how to lead devotionals and must teach a devotional either to a lower school classroom, in lower school chapel, or address the middle school during their weekly assemblies.

But what excites Mr. Wickel more than any of these activities is the inter-divisional mentoring that exists between the eighth grade boys and upper school students. “Each boy is assigned a mentor for the semester.

This upper school boy meets with the eighth grader regularly, and they talk about everything from spiritual to academic to emotional issues. It’s a wonderful opportunity for our eighth graders to make a connection with an older student and for our upper school students to practice their leadership skills.”

Kali Oldacre leads the Biblical Leadership course for the eighth grade girls. The format is very similar, but she also places an emphasis on establishing a regular quiet time and spiritual disciplines. The girls at the end of the semester deal with a substantial passage of scripture. “The girls read it in depth and present it to their peers and to the lower school” at the end of the semester. Mrs. Oldacre says that often her Biblical Leadership course emphasizes spiritual disciplines.

“We pray, we learn about fasting, we discuss why developing these disciplines is important to our faith.”

The goal of the Biblical Leadership course is to help prepare young men and women, not just for college and life, but to be spiritual leaders while they’re there.

Advisory:

A Place to Belong

Sixth grade English teacher and grade chair Emily Heare enjoys the ability to give her students individual attention, as she is here with Yusif, helping them to focus on their academic and personal growth.

Seeking the Individual to Build a Group

“I

n great literature, we often discover redemption stories,” said Emily Heare, sixth grade English teacher and grade chair. Through such literature, the bigger picture of God’s redemption is easily seen.

The role of the grade chair in the middle school is one designed to really help faculty and staff, from the top down, to know the students well enough to impart character lessons, such as redemption. From Mrs. Sinclair, who meets weekly with the grade chairs to get the pulse of middle school strengths and grade-specific areas of growth, to each grade’s team of teachers, led by the grade chair, every child is known personally and their strengths are celebrated.

Ms. Heare notes: “As a grade chair, one of my roles is to be aware of the dynamic in the sixth grade, working in and among the students to help them feel part of the group, and giving each student ways to love the people around them. The hope is that by the time the students move to the upper school, they have become a cohesive group that is indelibly connected.”

“By the time students are in the upper school, they trend towards groupings based on common interests and activities they’re involved with: sports, theater, music. But in the middle school, the primary connections are within their grade.

Student life activities such as field trips happen by grade level and are intentionally designed to help our students get connected and form community.”

But how does a grade chair make this cohesion happen? Ms. Heare cited the mentoring and discipleship that happens between the upper school and middle school students. “Last year, five upper school students came to lead Bible studies for the sixth grade students. All of the girls and boys were invited to attend, and most of them came at least a few times to this group. It was an open group that really helped with grade bonding. The ad hoc opportunities for student mentoring are exciting to watch.”

One of the ways that St. David’s has made the middle school years not just something to “get through” but to actually enjoy is the advisory program.

All students are assigned an advisor for the year, beginning in fifth grade. In seventh grade and up, the advisories are single gender.

“It’s really a place for them to have some stability,” says Jeanett Newsome, the eighth grade chair. “It’s a place for spiritual conversations to take place.”

Each advisory period, the teachers are free to connect with their charges however they’d like, and most do some Bible study or devotion. “The girls often want to lead the devotions, so we try to do that throughout the year as well,” said Ms. Newsome.

Advisors are tasked with being a guide for students on this journey of middle school. Ms. Newsome noted that many of the advisories plan events together after school and host parties throughout the year: “Honestly, Mrs. Widin puts me to shame. You should see the parties they have in that advisory — she makes themed cookies for Valentines Day!” Secret Santas abound during the Christmas season, and during Service Day, middle schoolers serve their school and community in these groups too.

But the advisory program serves more than simply a fun time for students to get together. It is one facet of what makes the St. David’s middle school such a special place.

“In advisory, students have a smaller community to fall back on. It’s one way we stress inclusivity.”

Eating with friends while celebrating Homecoming Week makes for some great camaraderie.

Unique Opportunities

Greek and Latin

came to St. David’s from a school where Latin is an af ter thought” remarked David Frauenfelder,, or “Dr. F” as he is referred to by his students.

“I wanted to work in a place where classical languages were valued. When Seventh grade Latin students Grace and Sidiq are “in I saw an ad for basilica”, or “in court”, taking on the role of judge and petitioner, and with parents and administrators looking teaching both on, they have to make their argument in Latin count!

Latin and Greek, I thought ‘Wow, teaching Latin and Greek at a Pre-K through 12 school is unusual.’ It intrigued me.”

What Dr. Frauenfelder found when he came to St. David’s mirrored what many of the middle school faculty emphatically stated. “I was pleasantly surprised to find that St. David’s is a Christian school that values academic excellence. As a Christian and a scholar, the school mission describes me well: I wanted to be at a place that integrates faith, virtue and knowledge.”

Dr. F. refered to seventh grade as the “classical year.” Students in this grade are required to take either Latin I or Introduction to the Classical Languages. This provides a foundation for the world of the Bible, because Latin & Greek are the languages of Jesus’s time. The intent is for students to have a social and historical understanding of the Bible in addition to the matters of faith and character that they are discovering.

“Undertaking the challenge of integrating faith, virtue and knowledge is what I’m about.

Coming to the middle school was personally a big challenge because this age is not an easy one to win over to classical languages. But what I also found was that middle school is a time of great growth, of character and of mind. We come into a situation of great influence on children’s minds, and it’s a privilege to have that influence.

It’s both a worthy challenge and a great opportunity.”

A

few years ago, middle school leaders recognized a need for a course to encompass areas that aren’t generally covered in a middle school curriculum but have significant effects on students’ academic, physical and Sixth graders Joonie and Paige work on a Media Studies spiritual develproject with their team to create a creative, multimedia advertisement to “sell” their ball of yarn. opment.

“LifeLong Learning” rotates quarterly through four disciplines: media studies, health, “Grammar in Action,” and “Writing and Roots.”

Elizabeth Feeney, middle school English teacher, explained, “the course is designed with the intent that students will take lessons from this year and apply them throughout the rest of their academic career. For example, students with a knack for creative and narrative writing might find themselves in AP Composition their senior year. Or one particularly interested in media studies may wind up later in an upper school journalism course.”

Health addresses topics middle schoolers are beginning to explore, like healthy eating and exercise, as well as more serious subjects, like social relationships.

Media Studies examines news, advertising, and social media, and teaches students to access, evaluate, and create a variety of media to understand their part in a changing world.

The writing rotations can introduce concepts not often covered in middle school classes. “We work on writing from prompts, because it helps them to know what it will be like to write from prompts in high school,” said Mrs. Feeney. “We also present interviewing. I have read essays about a grandparent’s birthday party during the Great Depression and another about a parent’s assignment in Afghanistan.”

Ultimately, Life-Long Learning is a chance for students to experience what Mrs. Feeney calls “a taste of real life skills.”

Life-Long Learning

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Intentional Learning

The Arts

t may be their first time in front of a crowd, but many middle schoolers take advantage of the opportunity to perform with others their own age or with seasoned upperclassmen.

There is a palpable love for the arts -- both performing and visual arts -- at St. David’s, and Fifth grader Anna Charles takes on a leading role in the much of that is due theatrical performance of The Miracle Worker. to a purposeful inclusion and training of younger students.

“Because we are a Pre-K through 12 school, we have the advantage of growing our artists, actors and musicians from their first class to their last at St. David’s,” said fine arts chair and choral director Cindy Darden. “Our fine arts department works together to facilitate optimum opportunities for our students. One of our distinct joys comes in being able to teach a child for several years and watch them grow in their craft.”

The Voice and the Stage course, offered to fifth and sixth grade students is one example of how talent is nurtured. Billed as a course to develop singing and acting techniques, Mrs. Darden and theater director David McClutchey guide these students through the preparations for a full stage production each semester.

“It is wonderful to watch a group of students, over the course of one semester, evolve from beginners to performers,” said Mr. McClutchey.

“They work together, each finding his or her individual voice, but as an ensemble supporting each other in the common goal of the production.

As we challenge them and encourage them throughout the 18 weeks, they always rise to the occasion.”

Mrs. Darden added, “Being involved with these students year after year, watching their faith develop, and their character mature, we see their creative expression grow. By encouraging them to pursue virtuous artistic endeavors we trust that our students will positively enrich and influence the society in which they live.”

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t’s not about winning; it’s about character development.

Phil Medlin, who is also the dad of a St. David’s middle school girl, knows that middle school is a time of changes and “drama” for many, especially girls. “As a coach,” said Coach Medlin, Catherine drives down the court during a tight game.

Coach Medlin knows that basketball is not just a game; “I get to speak it’s also a way to impact character and faith. truth into the life of these girls — what it looks like to follow Christ, right here, right now… how that helps them with their lives now and in the future.” Coach Medlin knows that very few of these girls will ever play basketball at the collegiate level, but they can all benefit from what basketball can offer them by way of character development.

Basketball is not just a sport, it becomes the embodiment of the St. David’s mission; “faith, virtue and knowledge” are not just words on the seal at center court. “I want to teach the girls how basketball will strengthen their faith and help them live their life in a way that is pleasing to the Lord,” said Coach Medlin. Strengthening faith leads to virtue -- high ethical standards that lead to greater unity, respect, getting along with others, cultivating relationships with people who are different.

Knowledge about basketball is the tool that brings faith and virtue to life. Whether on the A team or B team, there’s a place for every player to learn. Not everyone comes into the experience having played organized basketball, and not everyone will continue to play beyond middle school. But what the players learn about the sport, teamwork, practice, structure and more, instills in them skills that will serve them well -skills with transferrable value as well as value on the court while the team represents the school.

This sort of athletic experience can make you “a better player, a better person, and a better spouse,” said Coach Medlin. Such knowledge is not just about how to play basketball, but how to live life.

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St. David’s School 3400 White Oak Road Raleigh, NC 27609

Innovation Warriors

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Landmark program teaches students how to collaborate to innovate

quipping students to become self-actualized problem solvers has meant re-designing our science curriculum to teach innovative thinking and reward collaboration. Beginning in lower school, and extending to our graduating seniors, our landmark Innovation Warriors initiative has recently been

instituted to train our students in skills that transcend what is typically found in the traditional classroom. Middle school students identify problems, wrestle with ideas and pose possible solutions. Collaborating with their peers, they create prototypes, test, and refine their innovations to arrive at a final design. The culminating event

of the process is a presentation to a “Shark Tank� panel of experts from the community who evaluate each solution.

From lower school preparation for this kind of thinking, to upper school internships with local businesses, the Innovation Warriors initiative is preparing our students for long term success.