Facts At-a-Glance

St. David's seeks to serve as a model Christ-centered college preparatory school by equipping its graduates to successfully engage and impact their generation for Jesus Christ.

Dr. Jonathan Yonan began his first six months as Headmaster of St. David’s School on a listening and learning tour. At the conclusion of that journey, in January of 2018, he hosted three Headmaster Highlights where he outlined his vision for the school focusing on five key areas.

• RIGOR: A focused intention on the quality of student learning and not the quantity of tasks, ensuring a well-lived life for our students.
• CHARACTER: Prioritizing the development of key habits, virtues, moral imagination, and a love for learning for our students.
• TECHNOLOGY: Evaluating the relationship between technology and learning to determine a comprehensive approach that is the right model for St. David’s School.
• DIVERSITY: Providing a heterogeneous learning community where students are capable of participating in broad, multi-perspective discourse.
• CORE: Establishing what the shared curricular experience is at St. David’s School that transcends fads, trends, and generations.

To take a deeper look at each of these five key areas we invite you to listen to the full presentation as you follow along with the slides.

Want to dive deeper? Click here to visit our News and Media page where Dr. Yonan will address these priorities even further in our Warrior Reports podcast.

The white cross in the blue field represents Faith, the scales of justice represent Virtue and two books represent Knowledge.

The book facing up represents knowledge gained by general revelation and the book facing down represents knowledge gained by divine revelation. The open and faced down books were used by Harvard University in their crest for its first 200 years of existence to represent the dynamic relationship between reason and divine revelation.

The bright light encompassing the seal represents the glory of the Lord (Psalm 36:9, "In thy light, we see light.").

The school's motto: “Fides, Virtus, Scientia” translates to “Faith, Virtue, Knowledge” and comes from the Latin text of 2 Peter 1:5: "Curam omnem subinferentes ministrate in fide vestra virtutem, in virtute autem scientiam" meaning "And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge;" (KJV)

The patron saint of Wales, David was the first of the saints of Britain to be formally canonized. Born in the 6th century to a Christian family of royal lineage, he received a monastic education and was thrust into national leadership at a young age when he was selected to become the Archbishop of Wales. He was recognized for his eloquent defense of Christianity, his outwardly visible life of piety, and his passion to serve the Lord.

Saint David exemplified the ideals of faith, virtue, and knowledge from youth to adulthood, and thus, serves as the embodiment of what we seek in a name and mission as an independent Episcopal school.

Saint David’s life is commemorated each year in the Anglican Church calendar on March 1, called St. David's Day. We, too, remember him in a special chapel service each year.

Board of Trustees

St. David’s is fortunate to have a dedicated Board of Trustees who oversee the school’s administration, set operating policies, and ensure the financial viability and integrity of the institution. They have oversight of the headmaster who reports directly to the Board of Trustees and serves as the school’s CEO.

Our Trustees come from diverse backgrounds and serve independently and on a volunteer basis to shape the future of the school and its role in the Raleigh community. Members are nominated by fellow board members and others in the St. David’s community. The Board currently consists of nine trustees and is overseen by a chairperson.

Headmaster

Historically, the headmaster was, in fact, the Head Master-Teacher of the independent school. In the English public schools of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, schools were frequently administered by the faculty who elected the headmaster from among the corps of Master-Teachers. The headmaster of the modern independent school serves as the school’s CEO and is the only employee of the school who answers directly to the Board of Trustees. The headmaster has complete authority over the administration of the school’s policies, resources, faculty, and staff.

St. David's is dually accredited by and a member of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) and the Southern Association of Independent Schools (SAIS). We are also a member of the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS), the National Association of Episcopal Schools (NAES), the Council on Educational Standards and Accountability (CESA), the Educational Review Board (ERB) and the College Board.

Eighty percent of the Upper School faculty and nearly 60 percent of the faculty school-wide hold advanced degrees. Faculty members are life-long learners and model this enthusiasm for learning in and out of the classroom.