Faculty News Archive

(Hackley Review Summer 2020) Several months ago, we chose to focus on character in this issue of Hackley Review. In light of the current global state and the new reality we are all facing, that decision seems almost prescient. We are living through what we can only hope is a once in a lifetime moment, one that requires resolve, integrity, cooperation, ingenuity, and the need to act in the collective best interest. Simply put, it requires character.

(Hackley Review Summer 2020) Suzy Akin, Lee Oshman, Stacy Kaegi, Jean Nadell, Madeleine Lopez ’97, and Chris McColl are leaving the Hilltop this June.

(Hackley Review Summer 2020) Sheila Hicks-Rotella will serve as Hackley's Director of Enrollment Management, effective July 1, 2020.

(Hackley Review Summer 2020: Story By Chris McColl) When I came for my interview at Hackley in November 2006, I immediately sensed that Hackley was unlike the other schools I had visited. It was hard to put my finger on, but I remember thinking of the scene in Being There where Chance (Peter Sellers) walks into the hyper-oxygenated room of the dying Ben Rand (Melvyn Douglas). Having never encountered such rarified air before, Chance inhales deeply, smiles, and says, “Ooooh. I feel good in here, Ben!”

Jed Dioguardi, Director of Information Technology, is this week's voice on Hackley Perspectives, with this thoughtful reflection on the ways in which our current situation highlights the limitations of technology.

Wil Lobko, Hackley English teacher wrote the poem after finding on one of his recent runs around the Tarrytown Reservoir a plaque indicating that a number of the trees & shrubs along the shore were a gift of a local couple.

The Hackley community came together to create a special send off for the Class of 2020. K-12 faculty serenaded the senior class with “We’ll Meet Again”, a very fitting wish for this incredible group of students.

Senior Class Dean Chris Loomis reflects on the "day in the life" experience of distance learning at Hackley, our latest post on Hackley Perspectives.

In addition to virtual meetings of classes, Hackley Upper School is running a series of great activities designed to bring students together socially and in the interests of health, wellness. and community. Among them, in addition to yoga and meditation sessions, is the invitation to come cook with their teachers!

A Conversation with Mark Boswell

We invited Hackley employees to share snapshots of their Work From Home set up here.

Katherine Hannon's piece on Food and Power not only highlights one of Hackley's creative, interdisciplinary courses growing out of Refining Excellence: Learning Beyond Boundaries, but also throws into relief the impact of coronavirus on issues of food supply and food scarcity.

Hackley's Science Department and Athletic Trainer team rallied to gather supplies that could be useful to the local medical community, delivering nearly 4,000 gloves to Westchester Medical Center.

Hackley English teacher Wil Lobko reached at random for a poem to share with colleagues to kick off the month, and the poem he happened upon has particular resonance as we enter into "Day 3" of distance learning on the Hilltop.

Hackley students and faculty across all three divisions made bowls in this week's Empty Bowls event,  part of a collaboration with the Clay Art Center in Port Chester to raise money and awareness of hunger and food insecurity in Westchester County.

March is National Athletic Trainers (ATs) Month, and we’re celebrating by highlight the important role these health care professionals provide in caring for the patients that they serve.

Hackley hosted its inaugural teaching artist -- a drama educator -- during the week of February 9-14.  The Creative Residency program is part of the new strategic plan, Redefining Excellence: Learning Beyond Boundaries, and will serve to “promote the Hilltop as a learning hub” by bringing creative teaching artists in Performing Arts, Visual Arts, and Digital Arts to campus.

Hackley's Pickert Field signage was enhanced with the language below chronicling Coach Robert Pickert's achievements as Hackley Teacher, Coach, Athletics Director, and Varsity Football Coach.

Sarah Coble, Seth Karpinski, Dan Lipin, and Tony Maisonet have been appointed to endowed chairs starting with the 2020-2021 school year. Sarah Coble will be the new holder of the Parents' Chair. Seth Karpinski has been chosen for the Head of School Chair and Dan Lipin for the McLean Chair in Mathematics and Science. Tony Maisonet has been named to the M.H. Davidson Chair in History.

Hackley Review Winter 2019-20

Two Hackley teachers, Melissa Boviero and Dan Lipin, have completed the Regeneron STEM Teaching Fellowship.

Hackley Review Winter 2019-20 By Michael Canterino '03, Upper School English Teacher

While this academic school year offers Hackley’s first course explicitly designed around roleplay gaming as the central mechanism for understanding, analyzing, and creating content, games and simulations have been a tradition in Hackley classrooms for years.

Hackley Review Winter 2019-20 By Cyndy Jean, Director of the Middle School

When I first accepted my new role as the Director of the Middle School, many colleagues and mentors offered me great insight and advice into the new career path I had chosen. Although I felt a tug at my heart knowing I was preparing to step out of the classroom and away from consistent, direct interaction with students, I was heartened by the first early interactions I had with the middle school faculty.

Hackley Review Winter 2019-20 By Lisa Oberstein, Director of the Lower School

With less than half a year’s tenure on the Hilltop and in my role as Hackley’s new Director of Lower School, I get to experience so many “firsts,” and so many discoveries, that I feel a special kinship with the Class of 2032, our kindergarteners who began their own Hackley journey in September. Meeting so many wonderful people and experiencing the invitation to “Enter here to be and find a friend” myself, I am reminded every day that the root of “wonderful” is “wonder.”