About Us
a school of academic rigor.a community of spiritual depth.
a school marked by excellence in the arts and athletics.
a school of ultimate purpose.
ST. SEBASTIAN'S IS a School of Academic Rigor
We
believe that, in his heart, every young man wants to be part of something
great. He wants to become as wise, as just, as balanced, and as brave
as he can be. He wants to be in love with learning. Now, he may not know
all of this right away, but we do. Our job, then, is to evoke from each
student his greatness.
Our focus is firmly fixed on the individual. Our approach, for instance,
is not to teach Algebra to a student, but, rather, to teach a student
Algebra. Teachers get to know their students right away and connect with
them soul to soul. Because of the nurturing care they receive, students
gain the confidence needed to take risks.
In small, intimate settings – average class size of 11 – extraordinarily
talented, devoted educators challenge bright, promising students to throw
their hearts and souls into the learning process, to become the most engaged,
industrious, erudite scholars that they can possibly be. To enjoy success
in our structured liberal arts curriculum, students must expend hours
upon hours of energy in disciplined, focused study.
We pursue excellence in every discipline, but it is perhaps our unique commitment to verbal skills development, which most dramatically distinguishes us from other excellent schools. Our students write every day, and they speak all the time. They memorize literary passages and vocabulary lists; they churn out a multitude of five paragraph essays, longer papers, poems, and narrative pieces; they stand before their classmates and in front of the entire student body to deliver speeches. And every step of the way, they work with caring, committed, knowledgeable teachers, who draw the very best from them.
The Honor Code, at the core of our academic program, calls each young man to pledge on his sacred honor that the work he turns in is his own. Hence, students are reminded several times a day that they must be young men of unquestionable integrity who give their best, most honest effort in the classroom and in all areas.
Our students leave us prepared for and excited about the challenges they will face in college and beyond.
ST. SEBASTIAN'S IS a Community of Spiritual Depth
A School of heart as well as head, we seek to motivate the better angels of our students’ natures, encouraging them to do the right thing regardless of the consequences. By inspiring the pursuit of moral and intellectual excellence, St. Sebastian’s prepares young men for fulfilling lives of perpetual discovery.
We believe that there is an objective reality, an absolute right and
wrong, a way we ought and ought not to behave. There is indeed a truth
to be apprehended, and to grasp as much of it as possible, we must open
our souls to the Eternal as well as our minds to the knowable. As our
Chaplain urges, we acknowledge the power of the Holy Spirit at work
in our weakness.
We want our students to know that the spiritual world is no less real than the natural world. Both must be experienced, examined, explored. Our understanding of each realm must be deepened, expanded exponentially. The power of St. Sebastian’s, then, is the synergy of faith and reason in the focused, determined, inexorable pursuit of Truth.
Faith informs reason; reason informs faith. Blessed Pope John Paul II says it best: It is faith which stirs reason to move beyond all isolation and willingly to run risks so that it may attain whatever is beautiful, good, and true. Faith thus becomes the convinced and convincing advocate of reason.
We pray together in Chapel and in Church. We sing hymns and psalms. We receive the sacraments. In praise and thanksgiving, we worship and glorify our Heavenly Father, the Giver of all gifts. We honor the dictum of Henri Nouwen, who reminds us that the goal of spiritual development . . . is not to master knowledge or information, but to let God’s spirit master us.
Theologians assert that dedication to God and service to others should be our chief concerns. In thousands of ways over thousands of days, we seek to advance these goals within our walls, throughout the Greater Boston area, and in such far reaches as Chimbote, Peru, where our mission drive has long been active.
ST. SEBASTIAN'S IS a School Marked by Excellence in the Arts and Athletics.
When students engage in the arts and athletics, they learn valuable lessons about themselves and about life, lessons that they simply could not learn in any other way. It is indeed an honor and a joy to create, to compete, to strive for excellence in all things.
Our students are encouraged to draw, to paint, to shape and form, to act, and to make music. Some write and direct plays. Some build sets; others work on sound and lighting. In recent years, we have had painters and photographers gain admission to the best art schools in the country, we have had a piano player win a New England Concerto competition, we have had a singer perform for the Pope in Rome and for the President in the White House, and a number of our alumni are enjoying successful writing careers in Hollywood.
Our talented and devoted art, music, and drama teachers and our beautiful new arts facilities conspire powerfully, providing the prompting and the platform for creative expression.
Hard work and fair play, full commitment and good sportsmanship – these are the hallmarks of the St. Sebastian’s athletic program.
At every level and in every season, our interscholastic teams are coached by full-time members of our faculty. As a result, the fully integrated St. Sebastian’s experience does not suffer a lapse in the afternoon. Coaches and athletes work in harmony to advance our most important mission in all that they do.
We emphasize opportunity for all, fielding as many as five teams for each sport. Students report that, through their athletic experiences, they gain a deeper understanding of and a more sincere dedication to such virtuous qualities as humility, courage, sacrifice, patience, discipline, focus, encouragement, grace under pressure, and concern for others.
Our athletic teams are perennially among the most successful in the prestigious
Independent School League, and, in recent years some of our teams have
won New England championships. Many of our athletes go on to enjoy terrific
careers in college, where a disproportionate number are elected to captain
their teams. Some even make it to the professional ranks.
ST. SEBASTIAN'S IS a School of Ultimate Purpose
We seek to inspire the integrated, happy, healthy, holy life that God wants us to live. We want our young men to go on to the most appropriate, most excellent colleges for them, and we want them to graduate prepared to commit themselves to the mission of making this world a much better place. And we want them to go to heaven. Everything we do at St. Sebastian's will be done with this sense of ultimate purpose ever before us.