BACK TO SCHOOL with Sean

We recently determined that Sean attended school at the Brentwood Town & Country School – probably when he lived with Lili in or near Beverly Hills in the mid-1940’s. His schoolmates included Peter & Jane Fonda, among other celebrity kids.

As A.R. astutely observed, however, for the most of his childhood Sean attended what is recorded in biographies to be the “Palm Beach Private School”. I’ve always found this a rather oddly nondescript name and have had some difficulty researching and physically locating it. (Locals, even loca librarians were unfamiliar with the name.) Today, though, I had a major breakthrough perusing rare Palm Beach historical collections, including old Palm Beach address registeries and insurance maps.

Here’s the history of the “Palm Beach Private School”, Sean’s primary elementary school:

Founded as the Palm Beach Day School in 1921, including, I believe, Kindergarten – 8th grades, it was (and still is) a very exclusive private school. Though, I believe, it didn’t officially change its name until only a few years ago, it was often referred to as the “Palm Beach Private School”, evidently to differentiate it from Palm Beach Public School” only a sea shell’s throw away.

From the the images below the evolution of the school’s name can be seen. Above the original school entrance is the original name, Palm Beach Day School. On the subsequent Sanborn Fire Insurance map is the eventually also accepted name, “Palm Beach Private School”. Finally, as verified on the school’s current main entrance door mat, the school is now officially known as the Palm Beach Day Academy.

Sean and “Lillian C. Flynn” lived on Seabreeze, only two very short blocks north, and one west, from the school – a five to ten minute walk max. Wouldn’t it have been wonderful to have seen Lili Damita walking young Sean to school in the late Forties/early Fifties. That must have been one of the most magnificently beautiful mother-and -son couples in history.

— Tim