News Archive

The Hackley Girls Basketball Team reeled off three wins in the last week beating Dalton, Poly Prep and Rye Country Day School to raise their early season record to 5-1.

In a recent Chapel Talk, US Science teacher Bill McLay exhorted seniors to be sure they don't miss out on all "today" has to offer because they are too focused on "tomorrow." Read it here on Hackley Perspectives.

Two Hackley football players have been honored as LoHud Golden Dozen recipients--outstanding football players in Westchester County who have also done well in the classroom--for the 2018 season.

Our Upper School Jazz musicians put on a wonderful winter concert on 12/13 -- enjoy these highlights from their performance!

Hackley Lower School Community Service traveled to the food pantry in Tarrytown on 12/127 and donated mainly healthy breakfast foods, with students shelving all the items and enjoying the feeling of helping others!

On Monday afternoon 12/17, more than 20 MS students volunteered to wrap over 100 toys donated from both the LS and MS toy drives.

Hackley alum and Korean confict veteran Dick Hodgson '51 visited with Hackley first graders as a follow up to their Veterans' Day letter writing project.

Seventh and Eighth grade students in Ms. Maddox’s All Things Theatrical class recently learned all about auditioning for a play.

In recognition of the 70th anniversary of the United Nation's adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, members of the Hackley community came together to share this video, a multilingual celebration of its message.

As part of a unit that Ms. Clingen entitled, “...or be eaten,” Hackley Biology students have been working in Hackley's makerspace, the Hackery, to advance their studies of physiology found in both the animal and human worlds.

The Hackley Computer Department once again celebrated Computer Science Education week on the Hilltop.

In a truly exciting collaboration, Hackley’s seniors in Advanced Biology, with Mrs. Clingen, are working with a section of Kindergarteners, with Mrs. Kaegi, in the Hackery, on a project related to evolution and locomotion.

AP Physics students got one chance to test their calculations on this challenge: One roll of toilet paper is dropped from 1.5 meters high. From what height will a second one, unrolling, hit the ground at the same time if both are released at the same time? Check out the videos.

The Hackley Boys Squash Team has reeled off four consecutive wins to start the season 4-1.

Middle School Songbirds, the Upper School female a cappella group, and Upper School String Players performed at the Marymount Convent Nursing Home in Tarrytown on Monday, December 10th.

On Sunday, December 9th, five fifth grade students volunteered at the “Cookies and Cocoa" holiday party at Gigi’s Playhouse in Ardsley.

On Monday, December 10th at 10:50 eighth grade science students participated in a program called Skype a Scientist.

In the last month, the US Public Forum team has attended three competitions debating whether the United States should implement price controls on pharmaceutical drugs.

MS Science teacher Dan Lipin offered this Chapel Talk to Hackley seniors earlier this fall, exploring the value of taking responsibilities for one's actions.

Hackley third graders learned about the importance of a healthy breakfast, and then explored the challenge of ensuring access to this important nutrition beyond the Hilltop. Read about it on Hackley Perspectives.

The Girls Basketball team had a very exciting start to the 2018-19 season bringing home a second consecutive first place finish in the Dan D. Memorial basketball tourney on the Hilltop on Saturday, 12/1.

The third graders have been learning about Newton’s Laws of Motion, and conducted  various experiments on inertia.

The Hackley Wrestling team has started the season strong with a 1st Place finish at the Lexington tournament this past weekend.

Twenty-five Hackley student-athletes were well recognized for their exceptional hard work and talents this fall in the Ivy league with All League recognition. Read on for full list.

The Hudson Scholars and Hackley's Upper School student mentors planned to join forces to help with the RiverWalk clean up in Tarrytown on November 17, but the previous day’s surprise snowstorm forced a change in plans.

As an extension to learning about Story Elements, 1M was back in the teaching kitchen making Gingerbread cookies.

Hackley second graders have been immersed in Aesop’s fables, reading and acting out many of the engaging stories.

Hackley School hosted 37 students from three schools (Hackley School, The Long Ridge School and Greenwich Country Day School) in a Lego ‘SumoBot’ robotics tournament on 11/17.

Seniors Anastasia Popova and David Jiang are going the distance with impressive independent science research.

Lower School students exercised the virtue Cooperation in partnership with Upper School science students as they partnered on the annual Trail Clean Up project -- great job, everyone!

Junior Jack Bosco has been selected to the LoHud “Mean 15” which recognizes the top 15 wrestlers in the Lower Hudson area

Victor Ku (P '20), a Managing Director at FLIR visited Hackley's Independent Research Program and gave a presentation on FLIR's technologies, product lines and applications.

We're thankful to Anne Burns for this thoughtful reflection on what we most have to be grateful for.

Congratulations to seniors Philip Bonanno and Tucker Wilke who won the Scarsdale Invitational, a Public Forum tournament attracting 80 other participants, including some of the best debaters in the northeast.

During their Colonial unit, Mrs. Lopez’s fourth grade students learned about colonial life through engaging in activities that colonists experienced, such as having a tea party where they cross-stitched, made rag dolls, hornbooks, and quills.

Hackley Boys Varsity Soccer came into the 2018 with high expectations and plenty of experience, and the team achieved historic milestones despite falling short of their highest goals.

The Hackley Cross-Country Team had another great season, with 54 dedicated runners contributing to the team's succcess and exceptional leadership from captains Olivia Curran, Anastasia Popova, William Crainer, and Thomas Dewey.

The Varsity Field Hockey Team had another successful season, winning the Ivy League Championship for the fifth straight season and for the sixth time in the past seven seasons.

FEARLESS’ was the motto for the 2018 HGVS season and fearless they were.

HGVT  emphasized playing with passion and determination, reflecting on their play after each match, using smart strategy to give themselves the best chance of competing on each point, and finished with an 8-5 record and lost a super close semi-final match (2-3) to the eventual Ivy League champions, Horace Mann.

The season began with a Fall Sting win over Poly Prep, a first since 1995, and ended with a MIFL Bowl Championship win at home over Hopkins School.

Members of the Hackley Modern Languages department devoted November 7 to Professional Development in Service-Learning to support efforts to expand the ways they integrate Service-Learning into their students' educational experience.

On November 5, approximately 75 girls in grades four through nine joined former Olympian Rebecca Lobo and the Hackley Girls basketball coaching staff and varsity team for  high powered clinic enjoyed by all.

Dr. Richard Robinson, English Department Chair, offers this reflection on the thoughtful selection of literary texts for English class.

Both Hackley Cross Country teams had strong finishes at the NYSAIS meet at Van Cortland Park on November 4.

The Hackley School football team has had a season to remember.

On November 4, the Hackley Anglers Club took its final trip of the season out on Long Island Sound... and what a trip it was!

At the annual Yale/Princeton High School debate showcase at the Germantown International School in White Plains on 10/27, the sibling team of Zara Y. and Zach Y. (8th and 9th grade) debated Horace Greeley on the motion – Resolved: The US should vigorously enforce immigration law.

Congratulations to Hackley Varsity Field Hockey for the hard-fought semifinal round 3-2 victory in double overtime over Holy Cross to advance to the NYSAIS Championship game, Sunday, November 4, 12:00 PM, at Manhattanville College.

A beautiful fall day and hundreds of children in costumes -- it must be Halloween at Hackley!  Enjoy this highlight video from the Halloween parade. And a photo gallery here.

Four Hackley students have been selected to perform with the Westchester County School Music Association (WCSMA) Area All State Groups.

Hackley second grader have been using a variety of learning methods to explore continents and oceans to gain a better understanding of the planet we call home, our Earth.

At the opening Upper School assembly in September, ten faculty members expored what each of the aspirations of the Portrait of a Graduate meant to them. Watch the videos capturing their thoughts here.

Members of the first grade took an “on campus” field trip to visit Mrs. Fogarty’s middle school music class to learn about a project she and her students did last year that connected nicely to the first grade's current social studies Sustainability unit.

The 2nd graders visited the Maritime Aquarium at Norwalk on 10/24, enjoying an iMax movie on "The Living Sea," as well as a special lesson about sharks and their teeth (they even  even got to touch a Chain Shark and sting rays!)

October 27, 1911, the 91st birthday of our Founder, Mrs. Hackley, was declared a school holiday: Founder's Day, which we celebrate this year on Friday, October 26.  Check out this video celebrating her accomplishments!  She made a few appearances around campus this week, just to make sure that her school is being well tended.

This is one of our favorite Hackley videos, and we're bringing it back just in time for Halloween: Mrs. Siviglia's dramatic reading of Poe's "The Tell-Tale Heart"!

On Saturday, October 20th, nine Hackley Middle School debaters traveled to the Stone Bridge MS in Allentown NJ to compete in the 1st MSPDP Garden State Debate league tournament of the season.

Hackley Performing Arts has a new podcast titled "Sound and Stage,” hosted by Dr. Lauren Rigby.

In this new podcast, Dr. Adrianne Pierce takes a walk through the woods with the faculty team that used a Hackley "iGrant" (a new program that funds creative initiatives from the facutly) team who worked with students to tag our trees and create audio clips with students about the plants and animals in our woods.

1M went up to the Johnson Center for Health and Wellness to make pizza as part of their Social Studies Healthy Plate unit (wait...how is pizza a healthy plate??)

Upper School students filled the Lindsay Room Harkness table for a discussion with fellow students and members of the History department on the topic "Can the Center Hold? Democratic Institutions Under Stress.”

In our most recent post to Hackley Perspectives, Hackley Archvist Liesel Vink delves into the lessons we take from the life and work of our Founder, Frances Hackley, born on October 27, 1820.

Students in 2F have been learning to add details to spice up their writing and increase their writing stamina. These “creative writing hats” helped inspire many imaginative stories.

The 5th grade recently completed their tree study in Science, learning to identify the native species here on Hackley’s campus.

Third grade practices the character education virtue of cooperation

The Lower School faculty launched the year's Character Education program with a lively performance, and then everyone had a dance party.

Architect Roark Redwood '95 recently met with Hackley's Architecture class taught by Greg Cice.

On Tuesday, October 16th, when second grade science students were  out on the Hackley yellow trail to collect and classify fallen leaf samples, one student discovered a kindness rock!

On Saturday, October 13th, 17 novice MS debaters attended the New York Debate League opening scrimmage held at the West End Secondary School in Manhattan.

Junior Jenny Canoni helped keep the Hackley Field Hockey Team within striking distance of top-ranked Horace Greeley. Read complete LoHud story here.

Ms. Kelley’s 8th grade Geometry class spent a few days in the makerspace this week creating 3D models that brought to life their work in class studying intersecting planes.

Lower School students enjoyed the chilly outing to Kingsland Point Park, where they practiced being eagles on the windswept riverfront.

On October 5th, Hackley teachers led a dozen sixth graders a campout at the Hackley campsite.

Senior Matt Braver was selected as LoHud Boys soccer Player of the Week amongst an impressive group of candidates. Matt scored 6 goals in three games last week to help cement this honor. Read about it here.

Hackley Lower and Middle School students enjoyed a performance by Joakim Lartey, a drummer and storyteller from Ghana.

Hackley School invites New York metro area youth football players to a free instructional clinic featuring Jamal Adams, Tuesday, October 23, 5:30-7:30. Read on for details and registration.

This summer, Hackley's Hudson Scholar's program exemplified the ways in which Hackley engages with our community -- on the Hilltop and beyond! Read about it in Hackley Perspectives.

Hispanic Heritage Month is celebrated from September 15th-October 15th nationwide. All divisions at Hackley are participating with special activities.

Arielle Stern (Class of ’16) came to visit the Independent Research students during her fall break from UPenn, and talked about her rich experiences at Regeneron, starting in their immunology lab, spending a summer in their genetics lab, and most recently working in bioinformatics.

The letter exchange with Seville, Spain has begun!

Congratulations to the staff of the 2018 Vision, Hackley's literary/art magazine, which has been named a Crown Finalist by the Columbia Scholastic Press Association! Final awards will be announced in the spring, but every finalist will be either a “Gold” or “Silver” Crown winner.

On Saturday, September 29th, 12 Hackley students (7 MS and 5 US), participated in the Horace Mann Invitational HS Parliamentary Debate tournament, a style of debate in which the debaters learn the issue only 15 minutes prior to each round.

On Thursday September 27th, Hackley alum and now Shanghai resident, Roark Redwood '95, along with his wife, Hui Lu, came to visit Chinese V.

The Hackley Varsity Field Hockey Team is currently undefeated in league play and have an overall record of 5-1 on the season.

English teacher Wil Lobko launched this year's senior Chapel Talk series with talk about the lessons gained by talking with random strangers encountered while traveling abroad. (Video)

The Lower School Kingsland Point Park trip was postponed due to rain, no problem, 2H explores iPads and iXL math! Special guest visitor, Mrs. Burns!

Fourth grade students launched Hispanic Heritage Month by celebrating Chile’s Independence Day on September 18th.

The Lower School had a wonderful day playing traditional Native American games and exploring artifacts and a tipi, thanks to a program sponsored by the HPA titled Journeys into American Indian Territory.

Upper School Director Andy King shares this distillation of his colleague's wisdom, offered to Upper School students at a recent assembly.

A wonderful "Ah hah!" moment for a great teaching idea popped up in 2F the other day while planning the week ahead.

Every month, Archivist Liesel Vink will share an "item of the month" from the archives...

The US Public Forum participated in the Yale debate tournament this past weekend. Seniors Philip Bonanno, Max Mallett, and Tucker Wilke, along with juniors Alex Evangelidis, Neil Singh, and Jared Tilliss, all gave strong performances in the varsity division.

Cory Gorczycki '19  received a Congressional Award Silver Medal which was presented to him by Congressman Leonard Lance of New Jersey at the NJ Congressional Award ceremony on Saturday, September 8, 2018, in Summit, NJ.

All of the students in our Lower School have been busy since day one with a variety of activities.

Michael Wirtz helps us kick off the new year in Hackley's blog, Hackley Perspectives, with these thoughts on embracing courage in many forms.

Hackley Junior Enzi Teacher was named Lohud Player of the Week following his performance at Friday's game in which Hackley defeated Poly Prep 35-19. Read about it here.

On Friday and Saturday, September 7th and 8th, 6 US Public Forum Debaters opened the debate season in impressive fashion at the Byram Hills Invitational tournament.

On Wednesday, September 5, Hackley launched the new school year with celebration, inspiration, and high spirits! Watch the video here. Check out the photo gallery here.

Adam Tannenbaum (voice) and Katherine Gonick (double bass) have been accepted to the Conference All-State chorus/orchestra for the state of New York and have the opportunity to attend the All State festival in Rochester, culminating with performances at Eastman School of Music on December 1st and 2nd. This is a tremendous honor representing a huge amount of talent and hard work. Congratulations to Adam and Katherine!

We're pleased to announce some exciting results for Hackley Fall Athletics as we head into NYSAIS competition.

The Johnson Center for Health and Wellness has achieved LEED certification at the Gold level by the U.S. Green Building Council.

On August 22nd, members of the 2017-2018 swim team came to the Johnson Center for "First Splash," an event to celebrate our swimmers and the completion of the pool. The swimmers enjoyed a few competitive relays and races, all in good fun and in a spectacular facility. Check out the photos and this fun video from the event.

After demonstrating musical performance for the Hudson Scholars, Hackley student mentors then engaged the Scholars in helping make music.  Quickly, they become a pretty accomplished rhythm section -- and celebrate their results! Enjoy the video clip here.

This summer, current Hackley students and young alumni introduced the Hudson Scholars to a wide range of activities they love.

Hackley School's Johnson Center for Health and Wellness has been chosen by the Engineering News-Record (ENR) New York as the Best K-12 Education Project in New York this year.

On June 5, Hackley Upper School students partnered with students from Sleepy Hollow High School to present a "Civics 101" lesson to members of the local Tarrytown/Sleepy Hollow community.

LiliAnna Khosrowshahi ’18 and Leah Holmes ’20, members of Hackley's Girls Varsity Lacrosse team, were recently named All Americans in Girls Lacrosse.  Congratulations to both athletes, and to  their coach, Jenny Leffler -- this is the first time two of Coach Leffler's players have been named  All American in the same year!

Michael Wirtz offers these thoughts in Hackley Perspectives as he reflects on our year end celebrations and the meaning of the awards Hackley bestows.

Another Hackley tradition we love: the Class Day Run.  This year, 91 students, parents, faculty, staff, and alumni celebrated the 10th Annual Class Day run.  Read on.

Jasmine Bayrooti '18, Valedictorian of the class of 2018, was interviewed recently by The Hudson Independent about her work at Hackley as well as her future plans.

Over ten years ago, Hackley established partnerships with two schools in Rwanda -- fellow Round Square member Green Hills Academy in Kigali, and the rural Duha Complex School, a school with 3800 students in nursery through grade 12 where access to books is deeply compromised.  This year, the Lower School raised $1840 in its Read-a-thon to donate to the Rwanda Education Assistance Project (REAP) to support efforts at Duha.

The Kindergarten-Fourth Grade Buddy Program is one of our Hackley favorite traditions, connecting students across the K-12 continuum. Read on.

Hackley MS students took on yet another new challenge this week...sack races! The thrill of victory...the agony of defeat?

Hackley Track & Field athletes had strong performances at the Eastern Championships held at Iona College this past weekend. Read on for highlights.

Classics students test their knowledge and skills, June, 2018

Once again, Latin and Greek students at Hackley tested their knowledge of etymology, Latin and Greek, myth, and history, as well as their creativity in a wide variety of external contests. Read on.

The Varsity Girls Lacrosse team had another successful season. Returning an amazing 16 players and adding 6 rookies—the team worked hard all season long. Read on.

The boys and girls track teams continue to improve in personal performance, with many athletes earning All-League recognition. There is excitement for what the future holds for the program. Read on.

At the AP Studio Art Thesis Show, now in its 17th year, 16 Hackley senior artists represents the culmination of their artistic efforts not only from their AP Studio course, but from their years of matriculation through Hackley’s Visual Arts Program. Enjoy this video tour of the show. Read on.

Drama 5 ended the year with a performance of "Creepy Carrots," a children's book by Aaron Reynolds adapted for the stage by Ms. Maddox. Read on.

Hackley Boys Lacrosse defeated Fieldston 12-7 to win the NYSAIS title -- Go Hack!

Hackley Girls Varsity Lacrosse defeated Rye Country Day 17-13 to earn the state championship -- congratulations to the coaches and players!

For the second year in a row, Hackley Boys Varsity Golf brought home the NYSAIS championship title -- congratulations to the team and Coach Hasslinger!

With an 11-1 win over Holy Child on Sunday, 5/20, Hackley Softball moves on to the semifinal round of the NYSAIS tournament, taking on Dalton on Monday, 5/21, at Randall's Island, 3:30 PM.  Go Hack!

With a 16-5 victory over Horace Mann on this rainy Saturday, Hackley Girls Varsity Lacrosse advances to the semi-final round of the NYSAIS tournament and will host Holy Child at home on Monday, 5/21, 3:30 PM.  Go Hack!

The MS Concert scheduled for tonight, 5/15, has been postponed due to weather.  It will be rescheduled.

The HPA recently funded purchase of quality board games fitting for our beautiful wood-paneled library, which the library staff thought would be a great addition to our collaborative space.  Students can now enjoy five hand-crafted wooden board games--Scrabble, Solitaire, Chinese Checkers, Mancala and GO-- in the library. It’s been a huge hit!

With the help of parents, Hackley Lower School celebrated "Trip Around The World" day, representing various countries – 13 in all. Students travelled from place to place, passports in hand. We all learned something new and enjoyed the desserts provided by parents during their lunchtime.

7th grader Advith S. was one of the top 10 finalists out of 101 participants in the 2018 New York State National Geography Bee competition held on Friday, April 6th in Albany, New York. The Geography Bee is open to all students from 5th through 8th grade in the United States. Advith earned the right to represent Hackley by winning the school-wide Geo Bee this past winter.

Senior Physics All-stars Jasmine Bayrooti, Connor Larson, Hannah Mark and Demetra Yancopoulos, joined approximately 5,000 other US students to take the extremely challenging first round F = ma test. Read on.

We are grateful to Director of College Counseling Peter Latson for his thoughtful reflection on Hackley and the college choice process, published today on Hackley Perspectives.  Enjoy!

Christina Wang '18 has earned a National Medal in 2018 Scholastic Art and Writing Awards, presented by the Alliance for Young Artists and Writers for her short story “Lighthouses.” Her work was selected by creative professionals as the most accomplished in the nation.

On Saturday, March 17, 2018, Hackley senior Jasmine Bayrooti presented a poster of her work on the “Applications of Algebraic Topology for Video Compression and the Classification of Pseudo Random Number Generators” at the Westchester Science & Engineering Fair (WESEF). Read on.

Hackley Fifth Grade spanish students created posters representing the theme "España: un mosaico cultural (Spain: a cultural mosaic)," and several were recognized by the Metropolitan New York chapter of the American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese for their work. Isabella E. and Philip M. received Honorable Mention, and Lucia B. won the competition in the Elementary School category. Lucia will be presented with her prize at the annual Gala in NYC in April.

On March 9, Hackley parent Dr Samantha Rai visited eighth grade science students together with Dr Nicole Patrone. Dr Rai and Dr Patrone worked with the students as they dissected heart specimens. Read on.

We often say here at Hackley that once something happens twice, it's a tradition. But some traditions have much deeper roots -- among them, the longstanding commitment to learning Shakespeare in the Upper School.  Students of the legendary late Arthur Naething (he of the resonant words "Go forth and spread beauty and light") from the 1960s through the mid-1990s know that deep study of Shakespeare was the bedrock of the Senior English course, and many can still recite Hamlet's "To be or not to be" soliloquy from memory.

The short answer is - EVERYTHING!  We recently reported on Kindergarten music projects and Middle School Aquabot work in the MakerSpace, and this week saw 7th grade history classes as well as Multivariable Calculus and Linear Algebra making abstract math things "real." Read on.

After the first week of the winter season the Hackley swim teams quickly realized the potential they would have this year. With a large group of seniors retuning form last year there was no doubt the teams had their eyes set on great accomplishment.

The 2017/18 Boys Varsity Squash team entered this winter coming off a dream season last year when we won the 2017 Ivy League title. With several high level players from last year’s team now playing squash collegiately; it was an opportunity for our team to give some younger guys more competitive experience in matches.

The Hackley Boys’ Winter Track team enjoyed a strong season of training and competition. In addition to adding many new participants, the team performed well individually and collectively.

The Hackley Girls Basketball Team ended up with a final record of 12-12, which included a trip back to the state tournament and a win in the first round before losing to this year’s state champion, Dalton.

The Hackley Girls Squash Team performed well in a rebuilding year, benefiting from many new faces and a new facility which inspired some great squash.

The Hackley Fencing Teams had an excellent season with five of six squads medaling in the ISFL final season standings, and capturing nine individual medals.

The Hackley Wrestling Team exceeded all expectation driven by experienced leadership and an influx of talented and hardworking newcomers. The team came together as a group and delivered exceptional results throughout the season.

The fifth graders recently enjoyed an adventure filled Activity Night. They ventured out to the High Exposure Climbing complex for an afternoon of climbing, bouldering, parkour and ninja warrior obstacle courses.

On Friday, February 23, the Lower School students welcomed award winning, bestselling author and illustrator, Bryan Collier for the annual LS Author Visit. Mr. Collier spent the day sharing his process of how he illustrates books using both watercolors and collage techniques. Read on.

The MS debate team had a tournament this past weekend and sent 19 debaters braved the weather to travel to two separate locations in the city – the Big Apple Division was at BISNY and the Empire Division was at the Garden School. Highlights included multiple top 5 finishes for several teams and speakers and a gavel as the top speaker of the day for Zara Y. at Garden. Our next MS tournament will be hosted at Hackley on April 14th. Please reach out to Mr. Fitzpatrick ASAP if your child plans to attend as space is limited.

As Mr. Variano's phone message announced on Wednesday evening, Winter Storm Quinn "blanketed our beloved Hilltop" with snow.  Thanks to Mr. McLay, those of us who weren't on campus can still enjoy the view.

Hackley 5th graders have been hard at work building the new LEGO Saturn V rocket set and the new LEGO Women of NASA set. This has been a great team building experience and connects nicely with what they have been learning about the space race in science class.

On Saturday, March 3rd, 26 students from across Hackley’s MS and US, as well as four students from outside Hackley, participated in a historical simulation based on the Battle of Borodino, which took place on September 7th, 1812. The game, played on an 18x5 foot board filled with over 3,000 hand painted figures, was a raucous, fun filled event that left participants ready for another round. Read on....

While Winter Storm Riley hammered our region, Hackley's own Kioni Marshall was her own kind of force of nature, delivering an outstanding performance in the ESU Shakespeare NY semi-finals.

In February, four Hackley seventh graders took part in Hackley's third consecutive student exchange with Strathcona-Tweedsmuir School in Calgary, Canada. Arushi C., Willow Q., Daniel O., and Daniel P., along with Hackley teachers Dianne Fahy and Trevor Ogden, lived with host families and attended school each day while also exploring the great outdoors of Alberta, Canada. Read on....

If you missed the recent fifth & sixth grade play, check out these highlights!  If you did see it...do you agree with the jury's decision?  Congratulations to all our performers!

Hackley’s Upper School Support Services arranged for students to take Exam Review breaks with furry friends on Monday. Students were able to spend a little time with emotional support dogs visiting campus from Hudson Valley Paws with a Cause. Students were all smiles, and able to relax and hang out with some very cute, friendly pups!

Fencing had an outstanding day at the Team Championships with competitors in three of the six weapons taking top honors in the tournament.

Three Hackley wrestlers competed in the Inaugural NYS Wrestling Federation Championships. This tournament is touted as one of the most grueling in the country, in which the best wrestlers from all public, private and Catholic Schools in New York State compete.

At the February 22 NYSAIS Indoor Track Championships at the Armory, Onye Ohia-Enyia '18, Jasmyn Phillips '21, and Kiara Abbey '21 crowned NYSAIS champions in their respective events, joined by other Hackley athletes with great performances in their events. Four Hackley athletes qualified for statewide competition at the Federation meet, and both the boys' and girls' teams finished fourth overall. Read on for details.

The Performing Arts Deparment led an all school sing-along celebrating the legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr. Students across the full K-12 community joined as singers and instrumentalists in this wonderful, heart-filled community gathering.  Enjoy the video here.

Hackley Girls Varsity Basketball brought in an impressive win at Portledge to advance to the quarterfinal round of the NYSAIS tournament.  Leading 12-6 at the end of the first quarter, Hackley built that lead to 32-23 at the half, and 44-28 at the end of the third quarter, finishing the game with a score of 55-42.  The team plays Dalton away tonight, 2/22, at 5:00 PM.  Go Hack!

Our latest contributor to Hackley Perspectives, Cyndy Jean, writes about the transformative power of learning through working together.  Enjoy!

Hackley Wrestlers Rob Horan ‘21, Tyler Wyman ‘21 and Jack Bosco ’20 will be wrestling in Albany (Times Union Center) at the Division 2 NYSPHSAA Championships this weekend. February 23 & 24. You can follow Hackley Wrestling online here.  GO HACK!

This month, Hackley Lower School students have been “building bridges” of empathy as they gain greater awareness about children and adults with different abilities. Read about their experiences here.

As the Winter athletics season comes to a close, Hackley teams wrap up their seasons with state championship competition ahead. Read on for details.

"Hack Gives Back" is a new student-driven initiative to engage members of the Hackley community in relief for communities beyond the Hilltop.  Students wrote proposals for their projects in the fall, and then ran highly successful collection drives from January 22 to February 2.  Many thanks to all who contributed! Read on to learn about the projects.

Hackley Upper School students brought "beauty and light" to a cold January evening as they performed with and for their friends at the Winter Coffeehouse.  Check out a few highlights from the night here.

William Zhou '18 was a finalist among all the international participants in the 38th Annual College & High School Photography Contest hosted by Photographer’s Forum Magazine. His image will be published in the Best of College & High School Photography 2018.

The Hackley Wrestling Team captured two titles at the annual NYSAIS championship meet this past Saturday at Long Island Lutheran High School.  With many young Hackley wrestlers having success, the future looks very bright for the program. Congratulations to all Hackley wrestlers! Read on for details.

This month's Character Ed "virtue" in the Lower School is Empathy -- and a courageous group of moms and dads stepped up to help demostrate the meaning of empathy to Lower School students with an original play. Check out highlights here.

Hackley's Director of Informational Technology, Jed Dioguardi, muses in Hackley Perspectives on the benefits and challenges presented by LEGO kits -- which become a powerful metaphor for the way we think about teaching and learning.

Check out the great stuff our Middle School Art students are exploring!

On Saturday, February 3, 2018 Hackley students Vinay Bijoor '18, Will Crainer '19, and Josh Zhang '19 presented posters of their past summer's research at the Westchester Rockland Junior Science and Humanities Symposium.

Hackley swimmers delivered a strong performances at the Ivy League Championship meet on February 6th at Lehman College. The boys' team finished second, 85 points ahead of the third place Fieldston team and within shouting distance of the first place Trinity team.  Hackley Girls Swimming finished the team event in 4th place.  Both girls and boys teams brought in spectacular individual and relay performances, with new records set. Great job all around! Read on for results.

On Wednesday January 31st, Hackley fourth grade students worked on a special community service project making winter themed placemats. These placemats will be used by middle school students to decorate the tables during their community service work at the Trinity Episcopal Church in Ossining, NY which provides hot meals to approximately 50 local families every Saturday evening. Great job, Fourth Grade!

Rohun Rajpal ’18 has been accepted to Carnegie Hall's Weill Music Institute's National Youth Orchestra of the USA (NYO-USA), an annual program, free to all participants, that brings together the brightest young players from across the country to perform around the world. Read on for details.

Hackley Wrestling crowned four Ivy League champions en route to a second place team finish at the Ivy championships this past weekend. Robert Horan ’21 (99lbs), Tyler Wyman ’21 (106lbs), Jack Bosco ’20 (113lbs) and Giovanni Crispi ’18 (182lbs) were all conference champions in their respective weight classes. For their championship efforts they were also recognized as Hackley Athletes of the Week (AOW). Other strong performances include Lara Schechter ’21 who captured third place. Great job team!

Ijeoma Nwokorie ’18, Jack Bosco ’20, Charles Dewey '21, and Jordan Wade ’19 earned Athlete of the Week honors this week. Read on for details.

Hackley Upper School Math teachers traveled to Durham, North Carolina for the recent Teaching Contemporary Mathematics conference at the North Carolina School of Science and Math. The conference explored a wide range of topics using math to engage with subjects as varied as science and social activism. Read on for details.

On January 27, four schools (Hackley, Long Ridge, GCDS and Greenwich Academy) brought a total of 24 lego ‘sumo-bots’ to Allen Memorial Hall to participate in the first Independent School Sumo-Bot League tournament. Students have been working on their robots since the start of the year, where each robot was required to push another opponent robot out of a battle zone. Read on...

The Hackley Girls Basketball Team has been on a roll of late beating Rye Country Day 54-29, Trinity School 57-42 and Fieldston School 43-13 to end a fantastic week of play. Read on.

Members of the Hackley faculty have volunteered to take over the school's Instagram page for a day to tell the story of what happens in their classroom.  Check out our Instagram feed to see the "day in a life" stories presented by MS Art teacher Monica Carrier and MS Drama teacher Merideth Maddox. Follow us and stay tuned for more in the weeks to come!

Head of School Michael Wirtz' Martin Luther King, Jr. Day letter, "The Power of Words," along with our "Selma" video created in celebration of Dr. King's life and work, were shared through our blog, Hackley Perspectives.

From Lexington, MA to New York City, Hackley Middle and Upper School debate teams tackled topics as diverse as "Are Libraries Obsolete?" and "Should Spain Grant Catalonia Independence?" Read on for details.

Hackley Upper School Advanced Forest Ecology Research students set off to Teatown on a rainy Tuesday morning in January to study the winter forest. Read on.

On January 20, two teams represented Hackley Lower School at a First Lego League Junior tournament in Chappaqua. The theme this year was Aqua Adventures, and teams were required to learn about water use and conservation.  Read on.

In the days following Martin Luther King, Jr. Day 2018, members of the K-12 Hackley community joined together to perform an excerpted presentation of Dr. King’s “Selma” speech. Less well known than his “I Have a Dream” speech, its message is equally profound and forward-looking. Here is our collective celebration of that vision. Read on...

Hackley Director of Information Technology Jed Dioguardi has been selected to serve as a presenter at the Association of Technology Leaders in Independent Schools (ATLIS) conference in Washington, DC in April 2018.  His topic, "A Design Approach to Problem Solving in Project-based Learning," delves into how the lessons from the disciplines of computer science and design thinking can be applied to education, particularly in project-based learning.

On Friday, January 19, 16 Hackley teachers from across the divisions joined Trevor Shaw of Genesis Learning for hands-on Professional Development in our pilot makerspace, which will be opening soon.

Hackley swimmer Garrett Towne '18 has been chosen as the Con Ed Scholar Athlete of the Week for the week of January 15. Garrett has been on an incredible streak of late breaking multiple records and swimming times giving him the status of All American. Read on.

Hackley Review Winter 2017-18: By Vladimir Klimenko P ‘12 -- There is little doubt that the political climate in recent months has stoked political passions among the country’s adult citizens. For our community on the Hilltop, however, the more relevant question is what impact this has on our own educational environment. Has the politically-charged climate in the country as a whole affected the culture of Hackley’s Upper School? To what degree has it altered the fundamental nature of discussion, both within and outside of the classroom? As so much of America seems drawn to opposing sides, does one still “Enter Here to be and Find a Friend”?

Congratulations to Robert Horan (99lbs) who took 1st place at the Hendrick Hudson Wrestling Tournament. Robby went 4-0 on the day with 4 pins, in wins against John Jay, Hendrick Hudson, Putnam Valley and Somers. Robert is currently 15-2 on the season with 18 takedowns and 12 pins.

Jasmine Bayrooti '18 has been named one of the Top 300 Scholars in the 2018 Regeneron Science Talent Search competition. Her research project, coming out of her independent study work with Hackley math teacher Keshena Richardson, was selected from more than 1,800 entries in this very competitive competition.  The recognition earns Jasmine a cash prize, as well as funds to support STEM-related programs at Hackley.

Veteran Hackley swim coach John Gillard continues to marvel at the strength and depth of this year's Hackley swim team. In a recent meet against powerhouse Brunswick (Boys) and Greenwich Academy (Girls) where eight pool records were established, Coach Gillard stated "I have never seen a faster high school meet."

The K-12 Hackley community returning to campus from Winter Break on Monday, January 8 were greeted with a great surprise: gathering for a ribbon cutting in the brand new Walter C. Johnson Center for Health and Wellness, students learned that they would not be going back to regular classes for the day, but would instead spend the entire day enjoying a wide array of special activities surrounding the theme of “health and wellness.”

Andy King reflects on the culture of gratitude in Hackley's Upper School in Hackley Perspectives.

In the Winter 2018 edition of Hackley Review, Spanish teacher Emily DeMarchena Washington '94 shared the transformational power of service learning, and the benefits this program has brought both to communities beyond Hackley and to Hackley students.  Check out her story below, as well as this podcast of a conversation on the topic between Dr. Adrianne Pierce and Ms. Washington.

On December 16th, two Hackley teams attended our second HSPDP Parliamentary debate of the season at the Wilberforce school in Princeton Junction, New Jersey. Read on.

Before Winter Break, the Chinese 6 architects completed models of two of Beijing’s most famous sites in record time. The team put together a complex Lego set of the Temple of Heaven (天坛) and a very complicated and detailed model of Tian’an Men (天安门). Work on the Great Wall (长城) will commence when we return to school.