St. Bernard's School is a private, all-male elementary school in the Carnegie Hill neighborhood of Manhattan's Upper East Side. It was founded in 1904 by John Card Jenkins, along with Francis Tabor.[1] The school shield depicts an eagle (representing the United States of America), a lion (representing Great Britain), a book (symbol of education), and a cross (representing a tradition of Christianity).[citation needed]
The school's name is not pronounced the same way as that of the breed of dog with the same spelling, which is also its mascot. It was named for the rue St-Bernard in Brussels, Belgium, where a relative of one of St. Bernard's founders had also founded a school.[citation needed]
History
The school was founded in 1904 by John Card Jenkins and Francis Tabor. Both graduates of Cambridge University, they had met after knocking heads on a soccer pitch. Originally on the upper floors of a small Midtown building, the school relocated to its current location on 98th street in 1915. The original 1915 building by Delano and Aldrich still stands, although it has undergone significant expansion and renovation, most recently in 1997.
In April 2021, it was announced that Joy S. Hurd IV had been appointed to serve as the school's next headmaster, starting his role on July 1, 2022. Mr. Hurd taught at St. Bernard's for several years and was most recently the head of Lake Forest Country Day School. He is a graduate of Harvard College and has master's degrees from Columbia University's Teachers College and the Bread Loaf School of Middlebury College.[2]
Students
The school has three divisions: the Junior (or Lower) School consists of grades K through 3, the Middle School grades 4 through 6, and the Upper School grades 7 through 9. Mondays through Thursdays, boys in the Junior School must wear St. Bernard's polo shirts (polo shirts with the school shield emblazoned upon the chest) in either red, white, or blue, khakis, and a blazer. Boys in the Middle and Upper Schools must wear a polo or oxford shirt, accompanied by khakis and blazers as well. On Fridays, all boys wear jackets and ties (with the exception of the kindergartners).
The film Prince of the City referenced the school as the alma mater of one of the prosecutors charged with investigating police corruption. The film's cop protagonist remarks, "St. Bernard's. That's in the 2-3, that's, uh, little blond boys in blazers, right?"
In Season 2, Episode 13 ("The Whole Truth") of Lie To Me, Victor Musso, best friend and business partner of the deceased victim, takes to the stand to say, "We've been best friends since we were ten at St. Bernard's."
In 1936, James Merrill played the First Herald ("a small part...but an important one") in St. Bernard's production of Richard II. Merrill recalled the experience in his 1985 poem "The School Play".[3]
↑ Merrill, James. Collected Poems. New York: Knopf, 2001, p. 422. Originally published in Late Settings, New York: Atheneum, 1985. Merrill's 1986 reading of "The School Play" is available for MP3 download.
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