Yes, folks! You read that right: “Glebe School Headmaster!”

 

It is my great great honor to announce that The Glebe School will open its doors for Year One in Fall 2026! Our dream headmaster has accepted the call and is moving to the Glebe on July 1st. With plans to become a full K-12 school, The Glebe School will begin this year with students from the parish Grades 1st-5th and grow along with them. 

Fr. Raymond Davison comes to us from St. Paul's Church and Classical School in Melbourne, FL where he was their founding headmaster for five years. Classically educated himself, he is a graduate of The Kings College in New York City. While teaching at a Great Hearts Academy in Arizona after graduating, he discerned a calling to the priesthood. He received his M. Div from St. Valdimir's Seminary and headed down to Florida where he steered St. Paul's Classical School from just a few primary students to over 95 students with their first graduating senior this year.

 

As pastor of this church, I cannot think of any greater gift that I could give my people than the care and love of Fr. Davison. We often describe him as a “young Father Christmas” since with his booming voice and large beard he instantly fills a room. Brought up in Evangelical Christian Camps, his knowledge of Scripture surpasses anyone else I know. He speaks of the Scriptures like he was there or that they happened to his own dear friends. A force to be reckoned in her own right, his wife Joy is an accomplished classical graduate, writer, and teacher. A pastor's daughter, her passions include music, literature, hospitality and children's spiritual formations. 

Her greatest delight is being mother to Basil (2) and Barnabas (1).

 

For many years here on the Glebe, the Davisons stood as a guiding star for our community of what type of people we dreamed of calling as Headmaster one day. As we wrote our job description in 2025, we all thought “how can we make this appeal to people of the same quality and passion as the Davisons?” In God's incredible mercy, as Fr. Davison helped us edit the job description I was writing… both of us felt the Holy Spirit telling us that it was God's plan for him to come and give his life to the Glebe as our Headmaster.  So as I became Rector and pledged my life to the Glebe in October, my brother priest and good friend began to prepare to join us here for his life, with his family, to create the school for his own children and to stand as an ambassador of Truth, Beauty, and Goodness in our area. 

 

In the few weeks before my Institution as Rector, we began seriously to work towards being able to call Fr. Davison to the Glebe. And by the generosity of dear friends who sponsored a “double match,” we were able to raise the $100,000 necessary in about three weeks! I want to publicly thank you all of you who gave to the double match again. Your support as we struck out to bring The Glebe School to life was humbling. It is only with your help that any of this has happened.

 

Read onward for two more big announcements!

We are truly honored to welcome both Father Raymond and Mrs. Joy Davison to the Glebe. Mary Willis was the one who set up the Davisons! Joy was the friend of a friend and MW gave Fr. Davison her phone number… 

And the rest is history! It was love at first four-hour phone call! 

I preached at the wedding and Mary Willis gave a toast at the reception. 

Fr. Davison at the altar with Bp. Chad and me at my Institution back in October. 

Fr. Raymond and I attended the first year of seminary together and have been very close friends since. He and Joy are godparents to our youngest daughter Rosalind, the highest compliment of his character I can give. 

Basil Davison (2) makes himself at home at the Glebehouse while visiting over Christmas. I'm a bit biased because Basil is our godson, but both Davison boys are more than ready to join the club of Glebe children. 

God's mercy and grace to us only grows as this story does.

 

In October, with the money raised, we were able to offer Fr. Davison the position of Headmaster on the day of my Institution. THE NEXT DAY, we received a surprise directed gift of the money to build him a house on the Glebe.

 

The Big Vision for the Glebe has always been that the Headmaster of the school would live next to it in a “Headmaster's House," like a parsonage for the school. 

And indeed, now he will!

 

After working with an architect and getting all the permits through the county (and the historical board since the whole Glebe is a protected historical site), we began construction on the Monday before Easter. God willing, the Davisons will move into their house at the end of September. In the meantime they will stay in a historic rental in Yorktown. 

 

As of Thursday, the house is “dried-in” with the roof and siding complete. The plumber, HVAC, and electrician are there as I write this. The interior of the house will be finished in a traditional colonial style with materials that fit our vision for what type of things we want to build: hardwood floors, historical colors, and quality work. 

The site of the Headmaster's House marked with blocks in March.

The children gathered flowers from the foundation one Wednesday at Glebe School.

Vestrymen prepare for the foundation!

We blessed the bare dirt of the foundation on Holy Monday.

We kept a box of the soil to put in the finished house as a symbol of God's

 provision and faithfulness. 

The children watch as the concrete footer is poured.

The Indefatigable Vestrymen / Glebe Grandpas back at it with the compacters as they prepare for the concrete slab to be poured.

On the last Wednesday Glebe School of the year (May 27th), all the students stand in the foundation and pray for the Davisons! Four crosses are placed under the foundation in the four corners of the house. 

Concrete slab is poured over the crosses.

The first exterior walls up.

Interior walls up!

Zip board around the outside. 

A beautiful Glebe view from one of the Greatroom windows.

Little Fifes celebrating!

The crane lifts the ceiling trusses. 

Porch roof added.

We all joked that maybe we should keep it green. It looks nice, doesn't it?

The exterior of the house is colonial white horizontal siding to match the other historic outbuildings on the Glebe.

This is Thursday night, June 18th! All dried in. Once the interior is finished, we will add some reclaimed fencing, brick walkways, and lots of native plants. 

Here is the plan. We have an original cupola and weathervane from the Glebe c 1800-1900s? that we found in the back lumber barn. It will be restored and sit on top of the Headmaster's House! 

This leads to the third big news item, which is that I have taught school all this past year.

It's a long story, but one of our Glebe families was stuck in a situation where they could not continue homeschooling their oldest son while their youngest child underwent multiple surgeries. They had to look at local school options. I have been saying since we began preparing for The Glebe School that there are no suitable local options - there are only public or secular private schools on our peninsula. I strongly felt that to watch one of my lambs go to one of those unsuitable options while I was actively asking the church to support the formation of The Glebe School would make me a liar. So we opened The Glebe School Year Zero in the fall in which I taught a cohort of primary school lads in mathematics, reading, writing, recitation, Latin, common art, fine art, history, and natural philosophy. 

 

While also becoming Rector and stewarding an ever growing church, I can confidently say that this was the busiest year of my life! But I would make this same choice for the life of these children and the life of the Glebe over and over again. Our faithfulness as a community to begin The Glebe School based on serving those in our community was the seed that has grown into the healthy sapling the school is now. We pray it becomes a mighty oak. To be able to raise the money to call our dream headmaster and then build him and his family a beautiful home on the Glebe is humbling. It was only after I agreed to teach school (with the trust of the Glebe School parents and the support of the parish) that all of this bounty was provided for us. Glory be to God! 

 

Enjoy the pictures of what I have been up to during the schoolday for the last nine months!

In 2024, we began applying for The Glebe School to become a 501(c)(3) registered nonprofit. In August of 2025, we were granted 501(c)(3) status! This means that all gifts to 

The Glebe School are completely tax-deductible. 

Checks, stocks, securities, and even gold coins are all great ways to support 

God's mission here on the Glebe. Whatever  you're interested in giving, our treasurer can write you a donation letter for it!

 

The first three years of a school are critical to set high standards both academically and culturally. We hope to be able to raise $300,000 by the end of this year to cover operational expenses for The Glebe School's first three years. If you or anyone you know would be interested in being part of this important work, please send me an email or give me a call!