Explore St. Bernard’s School history from 1904 onward

We spring from a distinctive heritage. In 1904 John C. Jenkins, a young Englishman and graduate of Cambridge University, founded St. Bernard’s and was headmaster until 1949. His successor, R.I.W. Westgate (M.A. Oxford, Ph.D. Harvard), was headmaster until 1971. These men established the pattern of a strong, stable, well-qualified faculty, deeply committed both to learning and to the boys in their charge. That pattern continued with Stuart H. Johnson, III who was headmaster from 1985 to 2020. Evan Moraitis, who has been with St. Bernard's for more than thirty-five years, served as interim head of school from 2020 to 2022. Joy S. Hurd IV, a former St. B's faculty member, became our head of school in July of 2022.

The school was incorporated not-for-profit in 1940. It is an accredited member of the New York State Association of Independent Schools and is a member of the National Association of Independent Schools and the New York Guild of Independent Schools.

HIGHLIGHTS FROM ST. B’S HISTORY

1904

St. Bernard's School Founded
John C. Jenkins, a young Englishman and graduate of Cambridge University, founded St. Bernard’s School.
1904-1910

570 Fifth Avenue
St. Bernard’s School was housed at 570 Fifth Avenue.
1910

111 East 60th Street
St. Bernard’s School moved to 111 East 60th Street.
1915

4 East 98th Street
The school moved from 111 East 60th Street to its own new building, designed by Delano and Aldrich.
1940

St. Bernard’s School incorporated not-for-profit
Our school is an accredited member of the New York State Association of Independent Schools and is a member of the National Association of Independent Schools and the New York Guild of Independent Schools.
1971

Gyms and roof deck built
Two gyms and a roof deck for recesses were added.
1997

The school expanded
Two and one-half floors, including a gym on the new seventh floor, were added.
2017

St. Bernard’s School today
4 East 98th Street remains the home for St. Bernard’s School today.

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FIRSTS AT ST. B’S

First Boy (Winslow Pierce) - 1904

First Budget - 1906

First Sports Day - 1907

First General Knowledge Test - 1907

First Shakespeare Play - 1910

First soccer match boys against masters - 1911

First faculty marriage (Mr. Jenkins) - 1913

First Hamlet - 1916

First Croix de Guerre (Jack Wendell) - 1916

First Old Boys Dinner - 1916

First Payne-Whitney Honor Prize - 1917

First St. B’s Summer Camp - 1919

First year 100 boys enrolled - 1920

First Giants soccer team - 1921

First Fathers’ Dinner - 1922

First Glenn Essay (Hero of Lost Cause) - 1923

First second-generation boy (G. Schall)- 1923

First Fencing class - 1924

First Boxing class - 1926

First Old Boy on faculty (Roger Platt) - 1926

First Pierrot Show - 1927

First Tabor Watch awarded - 1927

First undefeated 1st Team (soccer) - 1930

First Junior School Concert - 1936

First Book-of-the-Month Club author (C. LaFarge) - 1939

First carpentry class - 1939

First course in Physical Training - 1939

First Art course - 1939

First Board of Trustees - 1940

First St. B’s Dance - 1940

First woman receptionist - 1940

First full-time woman teacher - 1942

First faculty pension fund - 1946

First different Headmaster (RIWW) - 1949

First ringing of the Bells - 1953

First Junior Old Boys Lunch - 1953

First Book Fair - 1954

First Handwriting Awards - 1956

First slither of the Alligator - 1959

First Commencement - 1960

First Carnegie Hall appearance of St. B’s Consort - 1961

First ‘dog’ necktie for sale - 1962

First David King-Wood Shakespeare Play - 1963

First female teacher in Middle School - 1966

First Intramural sports - 1967

First lecture on dangers of drugs - 1970

First women teachers at Fathers’ Dinner - 1972

First Ninth Grade - 1973

First Fathers Dinner without apostrophe - 1974

First Grandparents Day - 1974

First yearbook, The Keg - 1980

First rock group at school concert - 1990

First basketball and baseball League champions - 1991

First Upper School speech contest - 1991

First Discipline Book - 1992

First flight of Vidal the Condor in Central Park - 1996

First kindergarten class - 1997

First Centenary - 2004
First Friday Assembly by means of Zoom - 2020
First Keg printed in color - 2023

— Francis Tabor, The Budget, 1923

Very little of the actual pabulum supplied in schools is of any real use in after life. Yet there are two things at least of practical value which a good school can supply. One is a habit of concentration, determination to overcome difficulties by honest work and devotion to duty; and the other is a lasting delight in literary and mental pursuits...These two things can never be given by a school textbook...They can only come of the ‘contact of mind upon mind.’

In 2016, a curious canister of 16mm film re-surfaced in the archives. With a keen interest in viewing its contents, the footage was hand-delivered to a film preservation house in mid-town Manhattan and digitized for safe keeping. Now these fluttering, silent, black-and-white motion picture images from the 1920s documentation of Sports Day and other school sporting events (baseball, soccer) are preserved in electronic form.

History

HIGHLIGHTS FROM ST. B’S HISTORY

1904

1904-1910

1910

1915

1940

1971

1997

2017

FIRSTS AT ST. B’S

— Francis Tabor, The Budget, 1923

ST.B’S IN FILM

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