Saint Sebastian's School

For other uses, see St. Sebastian's School (disambiguation).
Not to be confused with St. Sebastian Roman Catholic Church.
Saint Sebastian's School
Address
Map
1191 Greendale Avenue

Needham
,
(Norfolk County)
,
Massachusetts
02492-4699

United States
Coordinates42°16′10″N 71°12′25″W / 42.26944°N 71.20694°W / 42.26944; -71.20694
Information
TypePrivate
MottoSemen est sanguis Christianorum
(The blood of Christians [i.e., martyrs] is the seed [of faith])
Religious affiliation(s)Roman Catholic
Established1941
FounderWilliam Cardinal O'Connell
HeadmasterBrendan Sullivan
ChaplainJohn Arens
Faculty65
Grades7–12
GenderBoys
Enrollment380
Average class size10
Student to teacher ratio7:1
CampusSuburban
Campus size26 acres (110,000 m2)
Color(s)Red and Black   
Athletics conferenceIndependent School League
Team nameArrows
RivalBelmont Hill
AccreditationNEASC[1]
PublicationThe Quiver (literary magazine)
NewspaperThe Walrus
The Dart
YearbookThe Arrow
Websitestsebs.org

Saint Sebastian's School is an independent, all-boys Catholic secondary day school located in Needham, Massachusetts. The school enrolls around 380 boys in grades 7–12.

St. Sebastian's is the only Catholic school in the Independent School League. Its athletic teams have produced a number of professional athletes. The ice hockey team has produced 6 NHL first-round draft picks and 31 draft picks in total.

History

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St. Sebastian's was founded in 1941 as St. Sebastian's Country Day School by William Henry Cardinal O'Connell, who served as Archbishop of Boston from 1907 to 1944. O'Connell's policy was to encourage the establishment of Catholic private schools outside the parochial system.[2] He purchased the old Newton, Massachusetts campus of the Country Day School of Boston, which had merged with The Rivers School the previous year.[3] The school opened with 21 ninth-graders and six teachers, all of whom were Catholic priests,[4] and charged $350 a year in tuition ($7,239 in March 2024 dollars).[5] The first students graduated in 1945.[6]

Although St. Sebastian's is not a parochial school, it is a Catholic school, and the Archbishop of Boston (Sean Cardinal O'Malley) chairs its board of trustees.[7] The foundation of the school reflected the increasing affluence of Boston's Irish Catholic community. One alumnus from the 1950s said that the school provided "a regimen of tough academics, fierce sports teams, and a cadre of Catholic Irish city kids mixed with new after-the-war Irish suburbanite kids."[8] Today, the school states that it accepts both Catholic and non-Catholic students, but that "the majority of students come from the Catholic faith."[9] The Archdiocese of Boston lists the school as a "related organization," meaning that the Archdiocese either sponsors the school or has the right to elect or appoint school officers and/or members of the board of trustees.[10]

In 1982, the school moved to its current 26-acre campus in Needham.[11][12] It currently educates boys from 68 towns in Massachusetts.[13] St. Sebastian's claims a student-teacher ratio of 7:1, with an average class size of 10.[12]

  • Birmingham Academic Building. St. Sebastian's Chapel is on the right.
    Birmingham Academic Building. St. Sebastian's Chapel is on the right.
  • Campus and playing fields
    Campus and playing fields

Tuition

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Tuition and financial aid

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In the 2023–24 school year, St. Sebastian's charged students $58,200.[14] 30% of the student body is on financial aid.[14]

The school's policy is to meet 100% of an admitted student's demonstrated financial need. Based on the school's $4.5 million financial aid budget, the average aid grant is roughly $39,500, or 68% of tuition.[14]

Endowment and expenses

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St. Sebastian's does not file publicly accessible Internal Revenue Service disclosures.[15] Its financial endowment is separately incorporated.[16] In its IRS filings for the 2021–22 school year, the St. Sebastian's endowment reported total assets of $78.7 million and net assets of $69.4 million, and disclosed that the school drew $6.4 million from its endowment that year.[17]

In 2023, a consulting firm retained by the school disclosed that St. Sebastian's annual operating budget was $21.5 million.[13]

Athletics

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St. Sebastian's offers 13 sports.[18] Its teams, nicknamed the Arrows, compete in the Independent School League, a group of day and boarding schools in Greater Boston.[19] St. Sebastian's is the only Catholic school in the ISL, and is not a member of the Massachusetts Catholic Conference; its student body is roughly half the size of most Catholic Conference boys' schools. In 2022, St. Sebastian's hired away Jon Bartlett, who had served as the athletic director at Boston College High School for the previous 21 years.[20]

The school's athletic facilities include a hockey rink, two basketball courts, six squash courts, six tennis courts, a two-mat wrestling room, artificial turf fields for football, lacrosse, soccer, and baseball, and one grass multi-sport field.[21]

The ice hockey team has produced 30 NHL draft picks, including first-rounders Joe Hulbig (1992, 13th overall), Rick DiPietro (2000, 1st overall), Mike Morris (2002, 27th overall), Brian Boyle (2003, 26th overall), Noah Hanifin (2015, 5th overall), and Will Smith (2023, 4th overall).[22]

Sports and achievements

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Team Term Championships Source
Football Fall 9 ISL [23]
Soccer Fall
Cross country Fall
Ice hockey Winter 2 New England; 5 ISL [22]
Basketball Winter 7 New England; 4 ISL [24]
Wrestling Winter
Squash Winter
Skiing (Alpine) Winter 3 New England (1 Class B, 2 Class C) [25]
Baseball Spring
Lacrosse Spring 3 ISL [26]
Tennis Spring
Golf Spring 4 ISL [27]
Ultimate frisbee Spring

Notable alumni

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Government

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Journalism and entertainment

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Sports

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Ice hockey

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Other sports

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Notes

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  1. ^ NEASC-CIS. "NEASC-Commission on Independent Schools". Archived from the original on 2008-06-24. Retrieved 2009-07-28.
  2. ^ Sanders, James W. (2018-02-02). Irish vs. Yankees: A Social History of the Boston Schools. Oxford University Press. p. 148. ISBN 978-0-19-068158-6.
  3. ^ Fortmiller Jr., Hubert C. (2003). Find the Promise: Middlesex School, 1901-2001. Concord, MA: Middlesex School. pp. 46–47.
  4. ^ "A Few Benchmarks in an Arrow's Life". Arrows Archive. 2017-01-09. Retrieved 2024-04-24.
  5. ^ "The First Viewbook". Arrows Archive. 2017-05-09. Retrieved 2024-04-24.
  6. ^ "The First Commencement". Arrows Archive. 2017-06-09. Retrieved 2024-04-24.
  7. ^ "Leadership - St. Sebastian's | Massachusetts Private School". www.stsebs.org. Retrieved 2024-04-25.
  8. ^ Byrne, Al (2023-08-10). For Country and Cannabis. Page Publishing Inc. ISBN 978-1-6624-8353-0.
  9. ^ "FAQs - St. Sebastian's | Boys Independent Catholic School MA". www.stsebs.org. Retrieved 2024-04-24.
  10. ^ "Annual Reports". Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston. Retrieved 2024-04-24.
  11. ^ "From Nonantum Hill to Greendale Ave". Arrows Archive. 2017-02-13. Retrieved 2024-04-24.
  12. ^ a b "At a Glance - St. Sebastian's | Boston Area Private School". www.stsebs.org. Retrieved 2024-04-24.
  13. ^ a b "HEAD OF SCHOOL SEARCH: ST. SEBASTIAN'S SCHOOL" (PDF). Carney Sandoe & Associates. 2023. Retrieved 2024-04-24.
  14. ^ a b c "Affordability - St. Sebastian's | Independent Catholic School MA". www.stsebs.org. Retrieved 2024-04-24.
  15. ^ "St Sebastians School Inc - Nonprofit Explorer". ProPublica. 2013-05-09. Retrieved 2024-04-24.
  16. ^ "St Sebastians School Fund Inc - Nonprofit Explorer". ProPublica. 2013-05-09. Retrieved 2024-04-24.
  17. ^ "St Sebastians School Fund Inc, Full Filing - Nonprofit Explorer". ProPublica. 2013-05-09. Retrieved 2024-04-24.
  18. ^ "Teams - St. Sebastian's | Massachusetts Private School". www.stsebs.org. Retrieved 2024-04-26.
  19. ^ "Independent School League - St. Sebastian's | All Boys School Needham". www.stsebs.org. Retrieved 2024-04-26.
  20. ^ McDaniel, Chris. "BC High athletic director leaving after school year". The Patriot Ledger. Retrieved 2024-04-26.
  21. ^ "Athletic Facilities - St. Sebastian's | Private School in MA". www.stsebs.org. Retrieved 2024-04-26.
  22. ^ a b "Varsity Hockey - St. Sebastian's | Private School in Needham MA". www.stsebs.org. 2023-11-18. Retrieved 2024-04-26.
  23. ^ "Varsity Football - St. Sebastian's | Boys Independent Catholic School MA". www.stsebs.org. 2023-09-09. Retrieved 2024-04-26.
  24. ^ "Varsity Basketball - St. Sebastian's | Independent School Boston MA". www.stsebs.org. 2023-12-01. Retrieved 2024-04-26.
  25. ^ "Varsity Skiing - St. Sebastian's | Massachusetts Private School". www.stsebs.org. 2024-01-05. Retrieved 2024-04-26.
  26. ^ "Varsity Lacrosse - St. Sebastian's | Private School Needham MA". www.stsebs.org. 2024-03-07. Retrieved 2024-04-26.
  27. ^ "Varsity Golf - St. Sebastian's | Independent All Boys School Boston". www.stsebs.org. 2024-04-02. Retrieved 2024-04-26.

References

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