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.
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.
During 3H's annual Founder’s Day excursion, Mrs. Harmon and Mrs. Koo took the students to visit the chestnut oak, then to the Lindsay Room to see the portrait of Mrs. Hackley.
In September’s blog post, Michael C. Wirtz, Head of School, shares his remarks from the September 9, 2021 Convocation presentation to K-12 students. “As I have done for the last five years, I centered my Convocation talk on a picture book, and this year I was drawn to The Magical Yet, written by Angela DiTerlizzi and illustrated by Lorena Alvarez.”