A Back-to-School Letter from the Headmaster

- Cathedral School for Boys Mission

 

Dear Cathedral School Parents,

 

The relative solitude of campus will soon grow boisterous as certain essential members of the school community, namely the teachers and the boys, begin to return. Their arrival, and the inevitable din they create, will return Cathedral School to its rightful and noisy status. Schools, and especially boys’ schools, are not meant to be quiet places.

 

For a variety of reasons, the essential role that Cathedral plays in the lives of the boys has been very much on my mind this summer as events of national concern continue to make their way into the news. I would be the first to admit that just about the time that I was beginning to grow despondent, my thoughts turned to the upcoming year and the great promise that each new school year holds.

 

This past December, Jon Meacham ascended the lectern in the National Cathedral in Washington to eulogize President George Herbert Walker Bush. Meacham, a Pulitzer Prize-winning historian, began by recounting how Bush, as a young Navy pilot, was shot down in the Pacific while flying a mission during World War II. He was the only member of the crew to survive, and long into his life, the President would continue to ask himself, “Why me? Why was I spared?” As Meacham recounted:

Ultimately, the portrait that Meacham assembled was that of a servant committed, for reasons both altruistic and noble, to the betterment of others. Certainly, the bipartisan congregation on hand for the funeral needed to hear that message. Certainly, we do, too.

 

Thus, as we find ourselves on the cusp of a new school year, we would all do well to recognize the promise that each new year brings and strive, through our own efforts and through the lessons we teach our sons, to touch more lives.

 

Families are drawn to this place, not solely for the incredible education that it provides, but, more importantly, because of the belief in our School’s ability to develop young men of character and consequence. We need, especially right now, young men who are committed to the service of others, and we need institutions, like ours, that are devoted to that effort.

 

Very soon, our School community will gather in Grace Cathedral, another one of our nation’s great cathedrals, for our Opening Chapel service. This is an important way to begin each year, and as we contemplate this year, we should remain mindful of the fact that the great hope for the future of our country resides in the boys, as wiggly as they may be, who will be seated in the pews of Grace Cathedral. They won’t slow down, and neither should we.

 

I look forward to another great school year, and I am excited about the work that we will do together at Cathedral School.

 

All the best,

 

Headmaster