Saint Sebastian's School
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Saint Sebastian's School is an independent, all-boys
Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
secondary day school located in
Needham, Massachusetts Needham ( ) is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. A suburb of Boston, its population was 32,091 in the 2020 United States Census, 2020 U.S. Census. It is the home of Olin College. History ...
. The school enrolls around 380 boys in grades 7–12. St. Sebastian's is the only Catholic school in the
Independent School League Independent School League or ISL may refer to: * Independent School League (Illinois), a group of nine Chicago-area preparatory schools * Independent School League (New England), a group of 16 New England preparatory schools * Independent School ...
. Its athletic teams have produced a number of professional athletes. The
ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...
team has produced 6
NHL The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...
first-round draft picks and 31 draft picks in total.


History

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 The Metropolitan Archdiocese of Boston () is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory, or archdiocese, of the Catholic Church in eastern Massachusetts in the United States. Its mother church is the Cathedral of the Holy Cross in Boston. The archd ...
from 1907 to 1944. O'Connell's policy was to encourage the establishment of Catholic private schools outside the parochial system. He purchased the old
Newton, Massachusetts Newton is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is located roughly west of Downtown Boston, and comprises a patchwork of thirteen villages. The city borders Boston to the northeast and southeast (via the neighborhoods of ...
campus of the Country Day School of Boston, which had merged with The Rivers School the previous year. The school opened with 21 ninth-graders and six teachers, all of whom were Catholic priests, and charged $350 a year in tuition ($7,239 in March 2024 dollars). The first students graduated in 1945. Although St. Sebastian's is not a parochial school, it is a Catholic school, and the
Archbishop of Boston The Metropolitan Archdiocese of Boston () is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory, or archdiocese, of the Catholic Church in eastern Massachusetts in the United States. Its mother church is the Cathedral of the Holy Cross in Boston. The archd ...
(
Richard Henning Richard G. Henning is an American Catholic prelate who has served as Archbishop of Boston since 2024. He previously served as Bishop of Providence from 2023 to 2024 and before that was an auxiliary bishop for the Diocese of Rockville Centre fr ...
) chairs its board of trustees. 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." Today, the school states that it accepts both Catholic and non-Catholic students, but that "the majority of students come from the Catholic faith." 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. In 1982, the school moved to its current 26-acre campus in Needham. It currently educates boys from 68 towns in Massachusetts. St. Sebastian's claims a student-teacher ratio of 7:1, with an average class size of 10. File:Saint Sebastian's School.jpg, Birmingham Academic Building. St. Sebastian's Chapel is on the right. File:St Sebastian's School campus.jpg, Campus and playing fields


Tuition


Tuition and financial aid

In the 2023–24 school year, St. Sebastian's charged students $58,200. 30% of the student body is on
financial aid Student financial aid in the United States is funding that is available exclusively to students attending a post-secondary educational institution in the United States. This funding is used to assist in covering the many costs incurred in purs ...
. 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.


Endowment and expenses

St. Sebastian's does not file publicly accessible
Internal Revenue Service The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is the revenue service for the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government, which is responsible for collecting Taxation in the United States, U.S. federal taxes and administerin ...
disclosures. Its financial endowment is separately incorporated. In its IRS filings for the 2022–23 school year, the St. Sebastian's endowment reported total assets of $88.1 million and net assets of $74.9 million. In 2023, a consulting firm retained by the school disclosed that St. Sebastian's annual operating budget was $21.5 million.


Athletics

St. Sebastian's offers 13 sports. Its teams, nicknamed the ''Arrows'', compete in the
Independent School League Independent School League or ISL may refer to: * Independent School League (Illinois), a group of nine Chicago-area preparatory schools * Independent School League (New England), a group of 16 New England preparatory schools * Independent School ...
, a group of day and boarding schools in
Greater Boston Greater Boston is the metropolitan region of New England encompassing the municipality of Boston, the capital of the U.S. state of Massachusetts and the most populous city in New England, and its surrounding areas, home to 4,941,632. The most s ...
. 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 Boston College High School (also known as BC High) is an all-male, Society of Jesus, Jesuit, Catholic Church, Catholic College-preparatory school, college-preparatory day school in the Columbia Point, Boston, Columbia Point neighborhood of Dorche ...
for the previous 21 years. 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. The
ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...
team has produced 30 NHL draft picks, including first-rounders Joe Hulbig (1992, 13th overall),
Rick DiPietro Richard W. DiPietro Jr. (born September 19, 1981) is an American former professional ice hockey goaltender and current co-host of ESPN 98.7 FM New York's "DiPietro and Rothenberg" with Dave Rothenberg. He is also an analyst on National Hockey ...
(2000, 1st overall), Mike Morris (2002, 27th overall),
Brian Boyle Brian Paul Boyle (born December 18, 1984) is an American former professional ice hockey center who works as an analyst for NHL Network. Boyle has previously played for the Los Angeles Kings, New York Rangers, Tampa Bay Lightning, Toronto Maple ...
(2003, 26th overall),
Noah Hanifin Noah Hanifin (born January 25, 1997) is an American professional ice hockey defenseman for the Vegas Golden Knights of the National Hockey League (NHL). He has previously played for the Carolina Hurricanes, who drafted him fifth overall in the 2 ...
(2015, 5th overall), and
Will Smith Willard Carroll Smith II (born September 25, 1968) is an American actor, rapper, and film producer. Known for his work in both Will Smith filmography, the screen and Will Smith discography, music industries, List of awards and nominations re ...
(2023, 4th overall).


Sports and achievements


Notable alumni


Government

* William B. Evans, Commissioner of the
Boston Police Department The Boston Police Department (BPD) is the primary law enforcement agency of Boston, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1854, the BPD is the oldest municipal police department in the United States. It is also the 20th largest law enforce ...
* Paul G. Kirk,
U.S. Senator The United States Senate is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and House have the authority under Article One of the ...
and Chairman of the
Democratic National Committee The Democratic National Committee (DNC) is the principal executive leadership board of the United States's Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party. According to the party charter, it has "general responsibility for the affairs of the ...
* Kevin E. Moley, U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations in Geneva * James H. Maloney,
U.S. Congressman The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...


Journalism and entertainment

* Bob Arnot, physician and television personality *
Lawrence O'Donnell Lawrence Francis O'Donnell Jr. (born November 7, 1951) is an American television anchor, actor, author, screenwriter, liberal political commentator, and host of '' The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell'', an MSNBC opinion and news program that ...
, writer/producer, notably ''
The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell ''The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell'' is an American weeknight news and political commentary program on MSNBC. The program airs live at 10:00 p.m. Eastern Time Mondays through Fridays, and is hosted by Lawrence O'Donnell from Mondays to ...
'' and ''
The West Wing ''The West Wing'' is an American political drama television series created by Aaron Sorkin that was originally broadcast on NBC from September 22, 1999, to May 14, 2006. The series is set primarily in the West Wing of the White House, where t ...
'' *
John Slattery John M. Slattery Jr. (born August 13, 1962) is an American actor and director. He is known for his role as Roger Sterling in the AMC drama series ''Mad Men'' (2007–15), for which he was nominated 4 times for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outsta ...
, actor


Sports


Ice hockey

*
Brian Boyle Brian Paul Boyle (born December 18, 1984) is an American former professional ice hockey center who works as an analyst for NHL Network. Boyle has previously played for the Los Angeles Kings, New York Rangers, Tampa Bay Lightning, Toronto Maple ...
*
Drew Commesso Drew Commesso (born July 19, 2002) is an American professional ice hockey goaltender for the Rockford IceHogs in the American Hockey League (AHL) as a prospect to the Chicago Blackhawks of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was selected by the ...
*
Carl Corazzini Carl Robert Corazzini (born April 21, 1979) is an American former professional ice hockey player who played in the National Hockey League, American Hockey League, ECHL, and in Sweden and Germany between 2001 and 2011. He played 19 games in the NH ...
*
Rick DiPietro Richard W. DiPietro Jr. (born September 19, 1981) is an American former professional ice hockey goaltender and current co-host of ESPN 98.7 FM New York's "DiPietro and Rothenberg" with Dave Rothenberg. He is also an analyst on National Hockey ...
*
Mike Grier Michael James Grier (born January 5, 1975) is an American former professional ice hockey winger and current general manager of the San Jose Sharks in the National Hockey League (NHL). He played for the Edmonton Oilers, Washington Capitals, Bu ...
*
Noah Hanifin Noah Hanifin (born January 25, 1997) is an American professional ice hockey defenseman for the Vegas Golden Knights of the National Hockey League (NHL). He has previously played for the Carolina Hurricanes, who drafted him fifth overall in the 2 ...
* Joe Hulbig * Chris Kelleher *
Ryan Lannon Ryan Lannon (born December 14, 1982) is an American former professional ice hockey defenseman who last played for Vaasan Sport in the Liiga (Finnish Elite League). Playing career As a defensive-defenseman, Ryan was first selected to play with t ...
* Mike Morris * Mike Morrison * Albie O'Connell * Danny O'Regan * Mike Pandolfo * Kevin Regan * Sean Sullivan *
Jayden Struble Jayden Struble (born September 8, 2001) is an American professional ice hockey defenseman for the Montreal Canadiens of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was selected in the second round, 46th overall, by the Canadiens in the 2019 NHL entry dr ...
* Mike Walsh * Noah Welch *
Will Smith Willard Carroll Smith II (born September 25, 1968) is an American actor, rapper, and film producer. Known for his work in both Will Smith filmography, the screen and Will Smith discography, music industries, List of awards and nominations re ...


Other sports

* Tony Barros (basketball) *
Matt Duffy Matthew Michael Duffy (born January 15, 1991), nicknamed "Duffman", is an American professional baseball third baseman who is a free agent. He has previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the San Francisco Giants, Tampa Bay Rays, Ch ...
(baseball) *
AJ Dybantsa Anicet “AJ” Dybantsa Jr. (born January 29, 2007) is an American high school basketball player for Utah Prep. He is rated as the number one player in the 2025 class after reclassifying from the 2026 class. Early life and high school career ...
(basketball) *
Richard Pitino Richard William Pitino (born September 16, 1982) is an American college basketball coach who is the head men's basketball coach at Xavier University. He was previously head coach at Minnesota from 2013 to 2021, and New Mexico from 2021 to 2025. ...
(basketball) * Mike Smith (baseball) * Connor Strachan (football)


In popular culture

* In the TV show ''
Gilmore Girls ''Gilmore Girls'' is an American comedy drama television series created by Amy Sherman-Palladino, starring Lauren Graham and Alexis Bledel. The show debuted October 5, 2000, on The WB and became a flagship series for the network. The show ran fo ...
'',
Christopher Hayden This is an extensive list of all the characters in the comedy-drama television series ''Gilmore Girls''. Cast Starring Recurring characters Notable guest appearances Main characters Lorelai Gilmore Lorelai Gilmore, portrayed ...
(
David Sutcliffe David Sutcliffe (born June 8, 1969) is a Canadian former actor. He is known for playing Christopher Hayden on the television series ''Gilmore Girls'' and Detective Aidan Black on the television series ''Cracked''. Early life Sutcliffe was born ...
) claim to have been kicked out of St. Sebastian's.
Logan Huntzberger This is an extensive list of all the characters in the comedy-drama television series ''Gilmore Girls''. Cast Starring Recurring characters Notable guest appearances Main characters Lorelai Gilmore Lorelai Gilmore, portrayed ...
(
Matt Czuchry Matthew Charles Czuchry (; born May 20, 1977) is an American actor. He is known for his roles as Logan Huntzberger on the WB television series ''Gilmore Girls'' (2005–2007), Cary Agos on the CBS television drama ''The Good Wife'' (2009–2016 ...
) responds "I know several people who got kicked out of St. Sebastian's. My good friend Colin was actually banned from coming anywhere within a 10-mile radius."


Notes


References


St. Sebastian's School profile
provided by schooltree.org


External links


Saint Sebastian's School website


{{authority control Boys' schools in Massachusetts Educational institutions established in 1941 Independent School League Catholic secondary schools in Massachusetts Private middle schools in Massachusetts 1941 establishments in Massachusetts