St. David’s, a private all-boys Catholic school on East 89th, has closed down after 12 percent of its students got sick (Cityfile thinks this might be a clever ruse by boys who want a day off when the weather’s getting warm, but experts note that the flu is “spreading more rapidly as the summer looms, not less”). This is the first Manhattan school to close because of the illness; worried Upper East Siders looking for protection can score a face mask — and perhaps matching hand towels! — at the Gracious Home on Third Avenue at 70th Street. Update: Apparently, it’s not just for public schools and non-snooty private schools, either. Gawker reports that Horace Mann, the tony prep school in Riverdale, has been shut down for a week after an H1N1 scare involving several students getting sick with flu-like symptoms. [NYDN, NYP]
