School News

Today's events remind us of the vital work that we engage in every day in our classrooms and the culture of love and respect that are at the heart of our school.

As a student at St. Hilda’s & St. Hugh’s, Dana Catharine ‘63 drew inspiration from her teachers.“Our teachers encouraged us to approach life as a banquet of possibility!” she reflected. After a rewarding career in language and service-learning education, Catharine now turns her attention full-time to illustrating and writing.

This week, alumna Dr. Anne C. Bailey ’82 led her final lecture for St. Hilda’s & St. Hugh’s faculty about the history of anti-Black racism in the United States. The five-part lecture series began with the history of the ancient civilizations of Africa and ended with a look towards memorialization, reparations, and the ongoing work of educators in anti-racism.

Our very own Bryson Brunson ‘17 won Wayne Brady’s Comedy IQ competition this summer! During the 10-week comedy and improv competition, Bryson shared his love of performing with the world. 

Faced with the unprecedented challenges of this year, sisters and St. Hilda’s & St. Hugh’s alumnae Juliet and Justine Masters have persevered and kept the doors open at their beloved restaurant, The Edge Harlem.

St. Hilda’s & St. Hugh’s whole-child approach has always meant a commitment to daily PE and recess for students. This year, while many schools have eliminated their PE program due to the challenges of COVID-19, students at St. Hilda’s & St. Hugh’s have been able to attend PE twice a week.

“We are a democracy, and this year we are reminded that in our work as educators, modeling what it means to be citizens is continual,” said Cambridge Lynch, Eighth Grade Social Studies Teacher. 

“A story is a story, whether it is spoken, in print, or digital. Stories are what connect us," says Angela Perna, School Librarian.

Alumna Nicole Johnson describes what she loves about her new role as Lower Division Director, “It’s inspiring to be able to give back to a place that was always such a place of comfort and joy for me.” Working at SHSH feels like returning “home” for Nicole.

“We wanted to honor the need for all children to see themselves as heroes,” said Seventh and Eighth Grade English Teacher Anne Rabbino.

Most fulfilled when he is giving back to his community, Marcus Welch ‘09 found his passion working in the field of education. Last year, Marcus coached alongside some of the very same coaches who taught him at SHSH.

“History matters, and here at St. Hilda’s, you care about your history.”

When school moved online in response to Covid-19 this spring, a group of St. Hilda’s & St. Hugh’s alumni acted quickly to support their alma mater. What took shape was a multi-month program of high school and college-aged alumni partnering with current SHSH students to guide them through online learning.

This March, medical students around the country were fast-tracked towards graduation and deployed to the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic. Pietro Miozzo (‘06) jumped at the opportunity to help his community.

Our work, foundational in nature, shapes lives of meaning and raises children to become loving, caring, and thoughtful students and members of their community.

“I am determined to continue our work to educate children who will one day, as Mother Ruth said years ago, ‘tear down the walls and divisions that separate people of different cultures, creeds, and classes.’”

We are approaching this situation thoughtfully and deliberately, recognizing that the risk to our families is very low. Advice and counsel are being provided by experts in the Mount Sinai Health System.

On Valentine’s Day, early childhood students reconnected with their former eighth grade buddies, reminding the school’s newest alumni that they still have many friends at St. Hilda’s & St. Hugh’s.

“They Sold Human Beings Here” uncovers the mostly hidden and forgotten locations where enslaved people were bought and sold, accompanied by images of auction sites taken by photographer Dannielle Bowman. 

“When children have immersive play experiences, early academic skills—such as literacy, numeracy, vocabulary, and language—all emerge naturally,” says Dr. Lisa Wright, director of the Hollingworth Center at Teachers College Columbia University.

“‘Always a Hawk’ means doing your best every day. It means that when it’s time to represent your school in uniform, you know how to be a supportive teammate, to be coachable, to work hard, to balance academics, and to represent us with pride.”

Congratulations to the Cross Country Hawks! Several student-athletes achieved personal best performances as the team clinched the NYCAL Middle School championship in their final meet on Thursday, Oct. 25. 

“We are providing the building blocks of what technology is and will be. Coding languages change, tools change, but the skills and ways of thinking remain the same. We don’t know what technology will look like in the future, but we will be ready.”

Lower school social studies, science, and greenhouse lessons teach about stewardship, sustainability, and the many ways of being a good neighbor.

A new leadership team has been charged with amplifying our founder’s revolutionary mission and the values of equity and inclusion that remain a crucial part of St. Hilda’s & St. Hugh’s mission. 

“It was Head of School Virginia Connor’s vision to create a physical anchor for complex play that would elicit the type of creative scenarios that every child loves, and that build upon children’s innate inventiveness and playfulness,” said Lower Division Director Emily Holt.

In a school full of book lovers, Angela Perna is the “head reader.” As the school librarian, she presides over the C.V. Starr Library and Learning Center and its collection of nearly 24,000 volumes, a host of online resources, and lists of book recommendations for every occasion: summer reading, holidays/cultural celebrations, grief and hardship, and more.

After graduating from Drexel Medical School last spring, Sam Cook ‘06 was thrilled to see a congratulatory note addressed to “Dr. Sam Cook.” The senders? Two important figures from his elementary years: Upper School Science Teacher Steven Schwartz and Head of School Virginia Connor.

Faculty welcomed new and returning students and families to St. Hilda’s & St. Hugh’s for the first day of the 2019-2020 school year this Monday, Sept. 9. 

“The design of the installation was inspired by the spirit of play and exploration that permeates all aspects of the curriculum and educational philosophy of St. Hilda’s & St. Hugh’s,” said Mr. Nester.

The students in St. Hilda’s & St. Hugh’s class of 2019 have made their final decisions about which secondary schools they will attend, while the class of 2015 will soon move on to an impressive array of colleges and universities.

Alumna author Rabeah Ghaffari ’89 offered a reading from her recently published novel, To Keep The Sun Alive, in the C.V. Starr Library at St. Hilda's & St. Hugh's on May 23.

St. Hilda’s & St. Hugh’s inaugural Geography Bee challenged students’ knowledge of U.S. and world geography, with two upper division teams facing off in an exciting quiz show-style format.

“While all of our delegates performed admirably, one eighth grader won a special distinction as our only student to earn a ‘Golden Gavel’ for his legislating skill in his committee,” said advisor Duane Bailey-Castro. 

Some new friends stepped “out of the wardrobe” to greet students and parents of St. Hilda’s & St. Hugh’s when they arrived for school last Friday. 

“I'll tell you what ‘freedom’ is to me—no fear!” The words of legendary soul singer Nina Simone inspired the students, faculty, and parents assembled at this year's Gospel Celebration, titled “A Journey of Love, Rooted in the African-American Tradition.”

Students honored the birthday of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. by exploring the power of his words and taking inspiration from his influential “I Have a Dream Speech,” delivered at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom in 1963.

“We are an Episcopal school founded to bring together children and families of all racial, socioeconomic, and religious backgrounds,” she said. “One of the crucial aspects of our program is helping children to become people of conscience and compassion. This is not a new endeavor for us—it has been part of our mission since our founding 70 years ago.”

“This is a dark moment that reminds us of the importance of choosing a path of peace. As a community, St. Hilda’s & St. Hugh’s chooses the path of peace and life.”

The class of 2018 was welcomed into the alumni family by a 2007 graduate, Coral Peña. Peña, an actor who appeared this year in Steven Spielberg’s The Post with Meryl Streep and Tom Hanks, spoke at a dinner for St. Hilda’s & St. Hugh’s eighth graders and their parents. While she talked about her Hollywood mentors, Peña reserved her highest praise for her St. Hilda’s & St. Hugh’s classmates and teachers—many of whom are still on the faculty.

The class of 2018 continued a tradition of student philanthropy, launching a mini-campaign  to make a class gift in honor of their graduation. The class raised $2,414 in one week and is being used to create a test-preparation scholarship for the benefit of a future eighth grade student.

An accomplished alumna returned to St. Hilda’s & St. Hugh’s to share the fruits of her scholarship with students, faculty, parents, and alumni. Anne C. Bailey ‘82, a professor of history and African American studies at SUNY Binghamton, offered excerpts from The Weeping Time, which chronicles one of the largest slave auctions in American history.

Two educators from Symphony Space brought the sounds, rhythms, and movements of African dance to school on Feb. 22, spending a morning with our early childhood and lower school students.

The Parents’ Association welcomed Dr. Michael Sweeney, Director of the Metropolitan Center for Cognitive Behavior Therapy, who spoke with parents about managing anxiety, offering practical methods for self as well as for children.

Thirty-six St. Hilda’s & St. Hugh’s students performed at New York’s famed Carnegie Hall on Saturday, Nov. 18. Led by Jonathan De Vries, who chairs the school's music department, the student singers joined the Canterbury Choral Society, a professional symphonic orchestra, and 300 youth singers from around the city to perform Gustav Mahler’s Eighth Symphony.