Signature Learning Experiences
What begins in the classroom comes to life in the world.
From the streets of Rome to the halls of the Met, boys step beyond the classroom to learn through experience. In partnership with world-class scientific, historical, and cultural institutions—and co-taught by their teachers and subject-field experts—they take on interdisciplinary projects that stretch over weeks or months. These signature experiences are immersive by design, drawing boys into deeper inquiry, collaborative problem solving, and hands-on discovery. What begins in the classroom comes to life in the world—and often, what begins in the world comes to life in the classroom.
Immersive Experiences
Through recurring visits and partnerships with experts, boys engage in extended study that blends observation, reflection, and hands-on creation—culminating in projects and presentations that demonstrate mastery.
The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
For a full semester, second graders take part in weekly double art periods at the Guggenheim through a signature partnership with the museum. Inquiry-based and co-taught by Guggenheim educators and Saint David’s art teachers, boys deconstruct masterpieces in the Tannhäuser Collection and explore the architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright’s iconic design. Their work culminates in a docent-style presentation for families and guests, as boys expertly guide visitors through the collection.
New York Historical
Our collaboration with The New York Historical spans the entire school year and is fully embedded in the curriculum for Grades One through Three. Each week, a museum educator joins our teachers to co-lead engaging, hands-on lessons that bring history to life. With unique access to the museum’s collection of artifacts, primary source documents, and art, boys deepen their understanding of the past while learning to see it as something present—relevant, layered, and alive.
American Museum of Natural History
In the Digital Universe Field Study (DUFS), throughout the winter term, sixth graders team up with astrophysicists and educators from the American Museum of Natural History to explore the cosmos. Using NASA’s OpenSpace software, boys conduct astronomical research that culminates in an original space show—written, produced, and presented live in the Hayden Planetarium.
Cold Spring Harbor DNA Learning Center
The study of DNA at Saint David’s is more than textbook science—it’s an inquiry into life itself. Through a partnership with the Cold Spring Harbor DNA Learning Center, fifth graders apply the scientific method to DNA extraction. In Grade Eight, they continue their work with DNALC’s PhD geneticists, conducting independent research and barcoding DNA. Their work blends precision, curiosity, and discovery. Just as important, it introduces boys to the ethical dimensions of science and the power of close observation—lessons that extend well beyond the microscope
The Met
Just a short walk from the school’s front doors, The Met extends the boys’ education in the arts and humanities into one of the world’s great cultural institutions. By the time a boy graduates, its galleries have become a familiar Saint David’s classroom. Whether studying ancient civilizations, Renaissance portraiture, or the symbols in everyday objects, boys encounter art not as abstraction but as something vivid, material, and deeply human. These visits nurture observation, interpretation, and wonder—habits of mind as essential to formation as any lesson on the page. Boys also visit MoMA, The Frick Collection, and The Whitney Museum in conjunction with their study of art and art history.
Interdisciplinary Experiences
These cross-curricular projects challenge boys to connect ideas across subjects, encouraging them to explore complex questions from multiple perspectives.
Global Artist Exchange
Each year, Saint David’s Omega boys participate in a seven-week Global Artist Exchange, building meaningful digital connections with peers in Argentina. Through Level Up Village’s secure online platform, boys share videos, explore one another’s cultures, and reflect on the power of artistic collaboration across borders. The experience fosters empathy, cross-cultural fluency, and a broader sense of creative expression—helping boys see the world, and themselves, in new ways.
Racing Engineering Challenge
In this interdisciplinary project, third graders design, build, and race their own miniature cars—testing variables like mass and friction, collecting data, and refining their creations. On Race Day, they compete in challenges of speed, precision, and design, transforming a lesson in motion into a celebration of imagination.
Agents For The Good
Seventh graders explore what it means to be an agent for the good by researching and writing about a humanitarian of their choice, then crafting a Chapel talk that draws on personal experience. The result is often a memorable moment of reflection and clarity.
Culminating Experiences
At the close of a signature unit, boys are asked to demonstrate their mastery through formal presentations that bring together research, writing, and original insight.
Dinosaur Study Presentation
This spring unit invites Omega boys to explore prehistoric life through group research, mapping, and hands-on discovery. A visit to the American Museum of Natural History deepens their study, which culminates in a lively performance of facts, songs, and poems for families.
Silk Road Simulation
Fourth graders live what they’ve learned about ancient civilizations when they travel the “Silk Road” as monks, merchants, and artisans, moving through Saint David's hallways—transformed to represent ancient trade centers. At each stop, they exchange goods and stories, gaining a deeper understanding of cultural exchange through active, imaginative learning.
Scientific Debates
After a yearlong study of the human body, eighth graders tackle some of today’s most pressing bioethical questions through structured debate. As they research, argue, and reflect on complex public health issues, they learn to think critically, speak persuasively, and grapple with opposing views in thoughtful dialogue.
Αρχω (ARCO)
For this capstone project, eighth graders study a renowned artist, then create an original work in that artist’s spirit. They present their homages to a panel of judges—including heads of school, experts within the art world, and Saint David’s administrators. The judges then determine which project most emulates the great artist’s work.
Field Study
Boys leave the classroom to engage directly with the natural world—collecting data, conducting experiments, and applying classroom learning to real environments and systems.
Billion Oyster Project
Seventh graders partner with the Billion Oyster Project to help restore oyster reefs in New York Harbor. Throughout the year, they monitor a live restoration site, collecting and analyzing real-world data on oyster growth, biodiversity, and water quality.
Central Park Ecosystem
As part of their study of ecosystems, fifth graders conduct fieldwork in Central Park—observing plants, animals, soil, and water across the seasons. Through hands-on testing and journal-based reflection, they track ecological changes and learn how living systems interact.
Study Tours
Immersive travel programs bring years of classroom learning into sharper focus, allowing boys to explore the people, places, and ideas they’ve studied—up close and in context.
Frost Valley
Over two autumn days, sixth graders climb, leap, and problem-solve their way through Frost Valley’s “Challenge with Choice”—tackling high-rope courses and group challenges that ask for courage and trust. With each obstacle overcome, they build confidence in themselves and a deeper bond with one another.
Salamanca
Each June, rising eighth graders travel to Salamanca, Spain, for two weeks of immersive language study and cultural exploration, including fun time for soccer with local children. In navigating daily life in Spanish, the boys return with stronger skills, deeper bonds, and a wider view of the world.
Italy
Each spring, eighth graders travel from Rome to Assisi to Florence, seeing firsthand the art and architecture they’ve studied all year. They sketch, reflect, and write each evening, returning home with a deeper understanding of Ancient Rome, the Middle Ages, and the Italian Renaissance.
Grade-Wide Performances
Through music, movement, and storytelling, boys collaborate with classmates to create performances that showcase their growth, creativity, and shared experience.
Neighborhood Show
Kindergarten boys become neighborhood experts as they explore local museums, shops, and parks with fresh eyes. They bring their discoveries to the stage in a cheerful performance for families, full of fun facts and hometown pride.
Switch Concerts
In fourth grade, boys are divided into groups that rotate through strings, bell choir, percussion, and theatre arts. At the end of each ten-week cycle, they perform what they’ve learned in a lively “switch concert” before ‘switching’ to the next discipline.
Twentieth-Century Kaleidoscope
In this interdisciplinary unit, boys explore the history, literature, and music of the twentieth century—examining key moments from World War I to the Civil Rights Movement and the fall of the Berlin Wall. Their study culminates in an original performance, “For Though They May Be Parted,” bringing these turning points vividly to life on stage.