Welcome to Hackley’s Kathleen Allen Lower School. Our motto, “United, we help one another” plays out every day in support of our children’s continuing development.
As you explore the Lower School, you will discover a cheerful, engaged community of approximately 200 children in grades Kindergarten through Four, learning together in an atmosphere that establishes collaboration and kindness as essential partners to academic challenge. Appreciating each other and a spirit of cooperation are embedded in everything we teach.
I look forward to hearing your thoughts and questions about our Lower School.
Kristen Adams and Elizabeth Richmond in kindergarten, Nicole DeNino and Rachel Mwakitawa in first grade, and Literacy Curriculum Coordinator and Specialist Shannon MacDonald recently received the Microcredential in Science of Reading Fundamentals (SoRF MC) from SUNY New Paltz.
In this month’s blog post on Hackley Perspectives, Assistant Director of the Middle School Damon Hall reflects on the role of imaginative thinking in education. “I believe that creative, imaginary, big-picture thinking should supplement traditional skills and that they should work together as an ‘and’ rather than an ‘instead,’” he shares. Read the post here.
In this month’s blog post on Hackley Perspectives, Associate Head of School Cyndy Jean, Ed.D. reflects on Hackley’s core value, Character is higher than intellect. “It is our job to help Hackley students in our care maintain a balance of character and intellect in order to reason through the questions before them,” Dr. Jean writes. “Character and intellect must go hand-in-hand if we desire to bring forward a generation of deep critical thinkers and inspiring leaders.” Read the post here.
On Thursday, Sept. 7, the Hackley community came together at Convocation 2023 and formally launched the academic year with welcome notes from Associate Head of School Dr. Cyndy Jean, Community Council President EJ Regalado ’24, Board of Trustees President Dr. Harvinder Sandhu and Head of School Charles Franklin.
On July 1, 2023, Hackley officially welcomed the School’s 13th Head of School Charles Franklin to the Hilltop. Additionally, former Assistant Head of School for Community and Inclusivity Cyndy Jean assumed the role of Associate Head of School, and former Middle School history teacher and dean Damon Hall stepped into the position of Assistant Director of the Middle School.
Charles Franklin has been named Hackley's new Head of School, beginning July 1. The Board of Trustees unanimously approved the appointment of Mr. Franklin based on the recommendation of the search committee and the hundreds of survey responses and feedback received from members of the Hackley community, including faculty, staff, families, students, and alumni.
In this month’s blog post on Hackley Perspectives, Lower School teacher Krysta Dudley '01, P '32, 34, writes, "When I sit down to consider the why — why do so many people return to the Hilltop, some after decades? — there is one undeniable answer: the community and the way that it makes us feel." Read the post here.
On Oct. 20, we welcomed to the Hilltop Jason Reynolds (New York Times No. 1 Best Selling Author) and Jason Griffin (renowned illustrator) of Ain’t Burned All the Bright for a book signing, a morning visit to the Lower School, and two book discussions—first with students in the Johnson Center, then with families in Allen Memorial Hall.
In this month’s blog post on Hackley Perspectives, M. Cyndy Jean, Assistant Head of School for Community and Inclusivity, writes “We all deserve to have the kinds of relationships that help us to face adversity and celebrate the wins. We need these connections because they push us to be better versions of ourselves.” Read the post here.