Saint David's School

What Saint David's School does

Saint David's School is a private, nonprofit independent school for boys located on the Upper East Side of Manhattan at 12 East 89th Street. Founded in 1951, the school enrolls boys from Pre-K through Grade 8 in a single-gender environment organized around a Four Pillars framework of academics, arts, athletics, and spirituality. Its pedagogical approach is anchored by the proprietary Teaching Boys Initiative, which codifies how boys learn and applies that methodology across every grade and discipline. The school's product surface extends beyond core academics into Signature Learning Experiences (field studies, museum visits, international exchanges), a Spanish language immersion program with a two-week cultural study at Colegio Unamuno in Salamanca, performing arts programs with over 60 student performances annually, athletics, and the Horizons summer enrichment program serving boys from under-resourced communities. The school also runs joint educational and performing arts collaborations with partner girls' schools.

The underlying technology stack is primarily operational rather than differentiated: Veracross provides the student and parent portal, Mux handles video content, and Ozobots are used in first grade for screen-free coding instruction. The school leverages its location for direct Central Park access as an outdoor classroom and partners with institutions including the American Museum of Natural History and the Billion Oyster Project.

Revenue mechanics rely on tuition as the primary stream, supplemented by an Annual Fund that raised over $2.6 million last year with 95% parent participation, endowment income from a $90M corpus across 78 funds, restricted gifts, and planned giving through the 1951 Society. Specific tuition pricing is not publicly disclosed but is documented to require direct inquiry through admissions. The go-to-market is direct admissions via family engagement, open houses, and a structured enrollment process. The 2026 graduating class comprised 42 boys, and the school has produced over 2,300 alumni across its 75-year history.

Name

Saint David's School

Legal name

Saint David's School

Website

https://saintdavids.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1951

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Saint David's School is a nonprofit independent school for boys, Pre-K through Grade 8, located on Manhattan's Upper East Side. Founded in 1951, it delivers single-gender education organized around academics, arts, athletics, and spirituality, funded primarily through tuition, an Annual Fund, and a $90M endowment.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Independent K-8 Education

NAICS

Elementary and Secondary Schools (6111), Elementary and Secondary Schools (61111)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Faith-Based (Religious) K–12 Schools (EDAJABAC)

akta.pro secondary industry

Preschool Programs within Private K–12 Schools (EDACABAM)

Keywords

• Independent boys school
• Private K-8 education
• Single-gender education
• Primary education services
• College preparatory programs

Headquarters

HQ city

New York

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Tuition: Primary revenue stream from tuition payments for students in Pre-K through Grade 8. The school also offers financial aid to support enrollment diversity.
2. Annual Fund: Annual giving program that supports every boy, every teacher, and every program—bridging the gap between tuition and the true cost of education. Gifts have immediate impact on daily operations.
3. Endowment Income: Endowment gifts invested in perpetuity; only income is used to support the school's future, preserve its mission, and provide for generations of boys. 78 funds totaling $90 million.
4. Restricted Gifts: Donations supporting specific programs, initiatives, or capital projects including arts, faculty development, and scholarships.
5. Planned Giving: Long-term gifts through trusts, annuities, insurance policies, retirement accounts, or bequests, members of the 1951 Society recognized for these commitments.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Saint David's School is an independent, nonprofit day school for boys in New York City offering Pre-Kindergarten through Grade 8 education. The curriculum is structured around Four Pillars — Academics, Arts, Athletics, and Spirituality — and is supported by the proprietary Teaching Boys Initiative. Signature Learning Experiences include language immersion, collaborations with girls' schools, a Global Artist Exchange, and performing arts programming that together aim to develop well-rounded graduates prepared for top secondary schools.

Product overview

Saint David's School is a single-location independent school for boys offering Pre-K through Grade 8 education. The school operates with a Lower School (Pre-K through Grade 4) and Upper School (Grades 5-8) structure, unified by the Teaching Boys Initiative and built on a Four Pillars foundation of Academics, Arts, Athletics, and Spirituality. Signature Learning Experiences, Language Immersion, the Horizons summer program, and performing arts productions extend the core educational offering. The school also maintains Collaborations with Girls' Schools for joint programs.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Lower School (Pre-K through Grade 4) Day-school educational program for boys in Pre-K through Grade 4 grounded in the Four Pillars framework (Academics, Arts, Athletics, Spirituality) and the Teaching Boys Initiative, preparing students for progression into the Upper School.
• Upper School (Grades 5-8) Day-school educational program for boys in Grades 5 through 8, continuing the Four Pillars curriculum and Signature Learning Experiences (language immersion, collaborations with girls' schools, Global Artist Exchange, performing arts) and preparing students for top secondary schools.
• Horizons at Saint David's Summer academic-enrichment program for children from under-resourced New York City families, addressing summer learning loss and providing enrichment programming as a separately administered offering of the school.

Quantifiable outcome

• 42 boys graduated in Class of 2026 at sixty-ninth Commencement Exercises
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

Eleven partnerships are on record, tiered core, flagship and minor.

• The Seeing Eye FoundationcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 28 May 2026Longstanding school-wide service initiative where fourth graders lead fundraising through a Read-A-Thon. The partnership spans 21 years, with students raising over $13,000 annually. Boys visit the Morristown, NJ facility to present donations supporting the breeding, raising, and training of Seeing Eye dogs for blind individuals. The foundation featured an article about the partnership in their 2025 publication.
• Level Up VillageflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2026Global Artist Exchange partnership facilitating meaningful global collaborative learning between Omega (eighth grade) art students and peers from a partner school in Argentina. Through seven-week video exchanges, boys presented their learning about American sculptor Alexander Calder and shared their own artwork, while receiving similar content from students in Argentina about Lucila Manchada. Art Teacher Melanie Fidler received a curriculum initiative development grant in spring 2024 to create this signature learning experience.
• Colegio UnamunocoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2026Spanish language school in Salamanca, Spain where members of the Class of 2027 study Spanish for two weeks as part of a cultural study program. Boys study Spanish in the mornings and participate in cultural adventures in the afternoons including tours, excursions to bullfighting arenas, markets, and sports with local youth.
• Billion Oyster ProjectminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerEnvironmental partnership introducing seventh graders to an initiative in New York Harbor. Students engage in hands-on project work connecting classroom learning to real-world environmental restoration efforts.
• Sacred Heart SchoolminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerJoint performing arts collaborations with Sacred Heart's Lower School choir (the 'Tweeters'). Saint David's Lower School Concert featured performances by the First Orchestra, First Choir, Chamber Singers, Lower School Percussion Ensemble and Philharmonic Ensemble, with the Sacred Heart Tweeters joining for two choral numbers.
• Morgan StanleyminorGTM or Marketing PartnerMs. Carla Harris, Senior Client Advisor at Morgan Stanley, served as featured speaker at the Seventh Grade Father/Son Book Talk. She has managed and executed billions of dollars of equity transactions and delivered an inspirational talk on leadership and winning related to the school theme 'excel.'
• National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS)minorOthersNational membership organization supporting independent schools. Saint David's displays the NAIS membership logo indicating accreditation and best practices alignment.
• International Boys School Coalition (IBSC)minorOthersInternational coalition specifically supporting boys' schools. Membership aligns with Saint David's Teaching Boys Initiative and provides resources for single-gender education best practices.
• New York State Association of Independent Schools (NYSAIS)minorOthersRegional accreditation and membership organization for independent schools in New York State.
• Independent Schools Admissions Association of Greater New York (ISAAGNY)minorOthersRegional organization supporting admissions practices among independent schools in the Greater New York area.
• American Museum of Natural HistorycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOmega (eighth grade) paleontologists visit the Dinosaur Hall as part of a rich interdisciplinary unit on prehistoric animals. The visit includes opportunities to collaborate in small groups, conduct research, and explore concepts of time periods and archaeology, culminating in a musical show sharing their new knowledge with parents.

Scale indicators10 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• The Buckley School: All-boys independent school on the Upper East Side of Manhattan serving K-9. Mirrors Saint David's single-gender model, NYC location, and grade range, making it the closest direct competitor in the same catchment.
• The Browning School: Independent boys' school in Manhattan's Upper East Side serving K-12. Directly comparable in single-gender model, NYC catchment, and tuition-funded educational model.
• The Dalton School: Premier NYC independent school (K-12) on Manhattan's Upper East Side. Comparable in tuition-funded model, family demographic, and the depth of signature programs and partnerships, though co-ed.
• The Town School: Independent boys' school on the Upper East Side of NYC serving K-9. Directly comparable in all-boys model, NYC location, and hands-on progressive educational philosophy.
• Allen-Stevenson School: All-boys independent school on Manhattan's Upper East Side for K-9. Closely comparable in single-gender positioning, family demographic, and signature programming philosophy.

Regional players

• The Hackley School: Independent K-12 school in Tarrytown, NY serving a similar affluent demographic from the NYC metro. Comparable in tuition-funded model and signature programming philosophy, though serving a different geography.
• Rye Country Day School: Independent K-12 school in Westchester County, NY drawing from the same NYC-area affluent demographic. Comparable in tuition-funded model, scale, and signature programming emphasis.

Broad incumbents

• Trinity School: One of NYC's oldest and most prestigious co-ed K-12 independent schools on the Upper West Side. Comparable in tuition-funded model, NYC catchment, and selective admissions profile.
• The Spence School: Elite all-girls independent school on Manhattan's Upper East Side serving K-12. Comparable in tuition-funded model, NYC catchment, and Saint David's often collaborates with Spence on joint programs.
• The Nightingale-Bamford School: All-girls independent school on Manhattan's Upper East Side (K-12). Comparable in NYC independent school model and family demographic; partner in Saint David's girls' school collaborations.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Instagraminstagram.com/saintdavidsnyc
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/school/saint-david's-school

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Saint David's School