School Overview

We are delighted by your interest in St. Bernard's. We who work and study here feel that there is something unique about the place, something that makes us proud to be a part of the school and fond of it, too.

This feeling is impossible to put into words. Eager, talented boys, with coaches and teachers who are skilled at making their subjects come to life and inspiring the best from their students, create together a school of high standards and rare good humor.

Of course, no nine-year stretch of anyone's life is likely to be all easy or successful. We believe, however, that a St. Bernard's boy--and they are all very different from one another--can leave his first alma mater with the basis for a great education. Ask the secondary schools to which our boys go proudly on. They will tell you that our young men are well prepared to be strong students, athletes, and citizens.

In 1997 St. Bernard's completed an ambitious two-year expansion and renovation of its building. Since then we have continued to add new spaces and programs, such as carpentry and fencing. These improvements help us enhance the teaching and learning that form the base of any solid education.

But however grand our building may be, the glory of this school will always be the people inside it. St. Bernard's still feels cozy. We continue to mind one another's business, to open proudly the doors of our classrooms and show visitors our boys and teachers at their boisterous, messy, hilarious work. "Never before had I seen boys going about the business of getting an education so willingly," a parent once observed. Her words hold true today; they must be true tomorrow. The building is a magnificent vessel, but it is the boys and teachers who fill it with purpose, energy, and joy.

If you take away only one impression of St. Bernard's, I hope it is the vital role of enthusiasm. Beyond the rudiments of learning, the habits of study, the self-discipline must lie the desire to work, learn, and grow. A beloved colleague once said: "Boys must want to learn before they can be taught." We want our boys--and yours--to want to learn, and we welcome them to St. Bernard's.

Stuart H. Johnson, III, Headmaster