Distinguished Educator Speaks at The Stanwich School

With Love and Prayers: A Headmaster Speaks to the Next Generation

by Rev. Dr. F. Washington Jarvis, Headmaster (Retired), Roxbury Latin School

On Wednesday, February 27, 2008, The Stanwich School welcomed Rev. Dr. F. Washington (Tony) Jarvis, long-time headmaster of Roxbury Latin School, a day school for boys in grades 7-12 located in Boston.

Dr. Jarvis asked the crowd of parents, "Does life for us and for our children have purpose? If we listen to our children carefully, we'll hear the deeper question." Throughout his talk, Dr. Jarvis centered on how now-a-days schools need to be more focused on, "spiritual intelligence." He went on to applaud Stanwich, because, as he said, "You say, 'Mind, Body, Spirit,' and you really mean, 'Spirit.' "

Founded in 1645, during the reign of King Charles the First, Roxbury Latin is the oldest school in continuous existence in North America, and widely regarded as one of America’s best high schools.

Dr. Jarvis is widely regarded as one of the nation’s most eminent educators. His 2003 book, With Love and Prayers: a Headmaster Speaks to the Next Generation, is a collection of his talks to students at Roxbury Latin. With Love and Prayers was also the required reading choice for Stanwich parents and faculty this past summer.

An Episcopal priest and graduate of Harvard and Cambridge Universities, Dr. Jarvis served as headmaster of Roxbury Latin for 31 years, retiring in 2004. A priest associate at the Parish of All Saints in inner-city Boston, he has also run a city-wide youth ministry for teenagers of all faiths (and none) at St. Paul’s Church in Cleveland. He is a past president of the Headmasters’ Association of the U.S. and a member of the Massachusetts State Ethics Commission. Jarvis has recently returned to the United States after serving as a chaplain at Eton in Windsor, England and more recently, speaking to the Canadian Association of Independent Schools.