Articulate and broaden the curriculum in terms of competencies and experiences to meet the needs of tomorrow’s learners and citizens.
Orient the Hackley program toward enduring competencies in areas of “character, scholarship, and accomplishment.”
By marrying the development of timeless academic and personal skills (e.g. oral and written communication, research, critical thinking, teamwork) with the generation of curriculum that cultivates emerging competencies (e.g. creative expression, systems thinking, data fluency, scientific and mathematical literacies), Hackley’s program will continue evolving to serve the future needs of our students.
Selected Action Steps:
Identify and ensure the continued emphasis of enduring knowledge and skills throughout the curriculum.
Develop emerging competencies aligning with the Portrait of a Graduate.
Create opportunities for interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary teaching and learning.
Interesting and complex problems and questions often lie at the intersection of disciplinary boundaries. While continuing to develop deep discipline-based knowledge, Hackley will expand curricular offerings across academic boundaries to better prepare students for a life of continuous learning.
Selected Action Steps:
Explore real world project-based learning K-12 to create formative interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary experiences throughout the curriculum.
Prioritize the development of interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary courses in the Upper School.
Identify the time and resources needed for additional interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary collaborations, including those supported by distinctive course models (e.g. trimester, pass/fail, “J-Term” ).
Develop research centers within and across disciplinary boundaries, based on the multi-year model of Hackley’s Independent Research Program.
Expanding on the Science Department’s Independent Science Research Program, Hackley will develop opportunities for Upper School students to pursue research in other disciplines with support from Hackley faculty and other experts. This approach strengthens the curriculum while developing independence and promoting academic scholarship.
Selected Action Steps:
Develop a network of mentors/experts to help students see research projects to fruition.
Identify opportunities to create research centers in additional disciplines informed by student interest.
Deepen Hackley’s focus on students’ local, national, and international responsibilities.
Hackley will develop a student’s sense of responsibilities as a member of a democratic society and integrate these into the K-12 curricula. Through experience-based opportunities including service, travel, and engagement with local government, Hackley seeks to teach and cultivate a sense of civic and global responsibility independent of political views.
Selected Action Steps:
Create a comprehensive approach devoted to civic and global responsibility in alignment with Hackley’s mission.
Enhance K-12 engagement in political and social discourse to help students learn and practice communication skills across differing viewpoints and perspectives.
Examine and reframe assessment practices to best support desired learning competencies and experiences.
Through a holistic examination of assessment practices, faculty will consider and implement additional modes of assessment (e.g. project-based learning, portfolios) to reinforce curricular competencies and encourage deep learning.
Selected Action Steps:
Identify in-house best practices and create dedicated time for faculty to learn from each other.
Research best practices and trends in assessment, examining the link between mastery, depth, wellness, and assessment.
The Plan in Action
The Independent Science Research Program recently had the honor of (virtually) hosting Professor Bruce Kirchoff, author of the program's textbook, Presenting Science Concisely. During his visit, Professor Kirchoff presented his research on plant morphology in Zingiberales, the order of plants that contains bananas and ginger.
Hackley alum Sandy Mattei ’10 recently returned to the Hilltop to speak to students in the Independent Science Research Program.
This fall, Hackley seventh graders participated in the "Coding is Art Challenge" hosted by imagiLabs. Their designs were noticed and applauded by the team at imagi and, on Oct. 24, co-founder and CEO Dora Palfi spent a day on the Hilltop visiting with our creative coders.
Hackley juniors Katherine Chen and Aniketh Arvind competed among 349 other finalists at the 2023 International Genius Olympiad held at the Rochester Institute of Technology from June 12 to 16.
Hackley junior Sam Sanders recently earned the prestigious honor of having his essay on the ancient Greek historian Polybius accepted for publication in the summer edition of The Concord Review. Sam spoke with the Communications Office about the subject of his paper and the path to publication.
On June 3, seven sophomores from Hackley’s Independent Science Research Program joined more than 600 students from the region to present their work at the Somers Science Fair, the nation’s only science fair dedicated to first-year science research students.
From May 13 to 19, Noah Nager ’23 and Aniketh Arvind ’24 of Hackley’s Independent Science Research Program joined more than 1,600 students from 64 countries at the Regeneron-International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) in Dallas, Texas.
The Whirlpool Robotics, Hackley's 11th grade ROV team of Cydnee Copeland, Travis Knaggs, and Sam Nadol, had an exceptional performance at the Villanova MATE Regional competition on May 13!
Hackley's Upper School Debate Team achieved an unprecedented accomplishment at the Championship for the East Coast High School Public Debate Program (HSPDP) League for the 2022-2023 season on May 6. Hackley was the top team overall with a 100% winning percentage and tied for the most number of wins despite having just three teams in the event.
The Independent Science Research Program recently hosted Adjunct Professor and Associate Research Scientist Michelle Levine ‘96, as a guest speaker. During her visit, Michelle described her current research project focused on the ability to tell a lie from a truth, and her software platform that can train people to become better lie detectors.
The Independent Science Research Program (ISRP) was excited to host Stephen Zak ’16 as a guest speaker. During his visit, Stephen taught students the fundamentals of knee replacement surgeries and discussed his published clinical research paper.
Hackley Engineers, or Aquabots, from the Upper School Minor Submersible ROV Engineering Team earned recognition for their impressive performance at the New England MATE competition held on Saturday, April 22.
The Independent Science Research Program (ISRP) recently had the pleasure of hosting Hackley alumnus Kiegan Lenihan ’15 as a guest speaker. Kiegan is currently working at Carbon3D in the San Francisco Bay Area, where he is applying geometry and mathematics to drastically improve 3-D printing technology.
The Independent Science Research Program (ISRP) was excited to host ISRP alumnus Josh Zhang ’19 as a virtual guest speaker. During his visit, Josh presented his recent research at Notre Dame on combination treatments for pancreatic cancer. What was particularly exciting is that there was a direct connection between his current research with the acute pancreatitis research he completed while in ISRP at Hackley!
During spring break, nine of our Independent Science Research Program students presented their research at the Westchester Science and Engineering Fair (WESEF) and the NY State Science and Engineering fair (NYSSEF). They won a total of 14 awards, including two finalist spots for the International Genius Olympiad and two finalist spots for the International Science and Engineering Fair!
Upper School Submersible ROV Engineering students participated in robotics competitions during spring break.
Independent Science Research Program students Kiran Marfatia '23 and Akshi Khowala '23 joined more than 150 students in the Westchester Rockland Junior Science and Humanities Symposium (JSHS) in January.
Hackley’s Middle School debate team had their best showing in several years at the final regular season MS debate tournament of the academic year at the Dalton School on Saturday, March 4!
Hackley is proud to announce that Independent Science Research Project senior Vihaan Dheer was recognized as a Regeneron Science Talent Search Scholar for his project entitled, “The Optimization of Flux Trajectories for the Adiabatic Controlled-Z Gate on Split-Tunable Transmons.”
The Independent Science Research Program (ISRP) had the honor of hosting former ISRP and Hackley alumnus Josh Saha ’19 as a guest speaker.
On Saturday, Nov. 5, 21 Hackley debaters traveled to the Nightingale-Bamford School in Manhattan for a Middle School debate tournament.
The Independent Science Research Program welcomed Michael Quan as its first guest speaker of the year on Oct. 31.
On Friday, Sept. 30, and Saturday, Oct. 1, eight Upper School students competed in more than 20 rounds of debate at the Yale Invitational in New Haven, Conn., for the first time in three years.
Senior Massimo Soto’s short film, Below the Rise: The Untold Story of Costa Rica, was selected at eight film festivals (so far) in three countries — the United States, Spain, and Czechia — and he won an award for Outstanding Excellence at the Nature Without Borders Film Festival.
Vihaan Dheer ’23 recently had his research published as a solo author in the American Institute of Physics journal Advances.
On April 19, 2022 students in Mr. Sykes’ Advanced Topics in Economics class ventured into NYC for a day of learning about finance. The students had three extraordinarily interesting and unique experiences.
During Spring Break, twelve Hackley students participated in the state’s largest science and engineering fairs.