Admissions Magazine Summer 2014

Summer/Fall 2014

The Admission Magazine of Hathaway Brown School

International Immersion Hathaway Brown’s Center for Global Citizenship was established to promote global understanding and foster a deep appreciation for the cultures of the world. Each year, girls expand their knowledge of other countries through unique academic travel

programs. In 2014 students made excursions to 11 different countries, including Senegal (below) and

India (above). Visit www.hb.edu/global to learn more.

Learn more at HB.edu or call 216.320.8767 to schedule a personal tour.

HB 3

Hathaway Brown is a dynamic and compassionate community dedicated to excellence in the education of girls.

Non Scholae Sed Vitae Discimus: We Learn Not For School, But For Life Hathaway Brown School is a school for girls, and it’s so much more.

It’s a school for scientists and writers and artists and budding entrepreneurs. It’s a training ground for athletes and dancers and musicians and actresses. It’s a place where young people are empowered to ask questions, challenge conventions and explore opportunities.

And everything we do is guided by the motto above.

Since 1876, HB has given students the tools they need to confidently embrace all the possibilities that exist for them beyond our Shaker Heights campus. The faculty’s dedication to hands-on experiential learning at all levels can be observed every day in the classrooms, libraries, science labs, theatres, dance studios and art rooms, as well as on the athletic fields.

In addition to the superior academic preparation they receive, at every turn HB students are inspired to become the best people they can be. We encourage girls of all ages and boys in our Early Childhood program to take chances, stretch their minds, work together, and pick themselves up and start over when they need to.

All of our students are able to apply what they’ve learned in the classroom to their lives. They know how to test theories, hold authority accountable, find beauty in overlooked places, implement creative solutions, and lend a hand where it’s needed.

Wherever they go from here, HB graduates bring strong character, unparalleled intelligence, unbridled enthusiasm, and an unquenchable thirst for knowledge along with them.

contents Admission

Contact Us pg. 5 HB at a Glance pg. 11 Important Dates pg. 30

News from North Park pg. 6 Mutual Respect, Genuine Care pg. 12 HB teachers and students share a transformative connection

Only the Sky pg. 20

HB students join Hillary and Chelsea Clinton to discuss a world where girls’ aspirations aren’t limited by ceilings

In Their Words pg. 22

Ask a Blazer Q&A with Primary School students

Cultivating Healthy Leadership pg. 26

You do your best when you’re at your best – it’s a pretty simple concept. The hard part is putting it into action.

HB Highlights

Upper School Spring Art Show pg. 18 Alumnae Connections pg. 24 Class of 2014 College Destinations pg. 25

But perhaps it is WHY we learn that is the key to our school motto: vitae—for LIFE! Maybe the real lessons are life lessons that will aid us in the decades to come, like grit, resilience, commitment, integrity, and trust. This is what we learned here. Our HB education is not valued solely for the facts we memorized or the resumes we created, but rather on the trust we built, the confidence we found, the potential we discovered all within ourselves so that we can continue to learn–and enjoy learning–every day.

Photo by Kevin Reeves

Alison Nordell ’14 - 138th Commencement, June 6, 2014

QUOTABLE

HB

Meeting of Minds

5

I am the daughter, niece, granddaughter, and cousin of college professors, so I have been predisposed to have a certain respect for teachers. But it was through my own school experience and my professional life that I learned to truly appreciate what makes an individual educator special and memorable.

Connection, knowledge, and love of the subject can combine to create a teacher you never forget. But there’s more to the equation at Hathaway Brown. With the combination of small class sizes, engaged learners, and the freedom to teach in new and innovative ways, our teachers are able to forge meaningful connections with each and every one of their students. That’s something you won’t find in very many places. Here, it’s not about teaching to the test. It’s about teaching the bright, inquisitive, unique girl in each desk.

Girls in our classes are known by their teachers; they are mentored and validated on a daily basis by some of the most brilliant educators I have come across in my entire life. As I said before, I know teachers. And I have high standards when I watch them in action. I grew up seeing my father connect with his students on an incredibly meaningful level. He was able to manage the feat of helping them to see beyond themselves, change their perspectives, and transform their thinking – all while keeping them interested, engaged, and eager to learn more. To this day, people stop me to say that my father changed their path in life by challenging them to think and learn to know themselves. Pretty amazing stuff if you ask me.

I can tell you firsthand that the My Most Influential Teachers: same thing happens at HB. In these James Liotta (my dad) halls, girls are on an academic and Karen Francis life journey with adults who care about them, listen to them, and Chip Smedley challenge them. In the 20 years I’ve Stephen Wirls spent working in education, what I’ve most valued are the bonds made Christinna Leahy with students along the way. It’s a Bill Christ great honor to intersect with girls during this amazing time in their lives. Even better is seeing those students grow and mature long after they leave. When a real connection is made, it doesn’t go away at graduation.

Outside of family, there is no more powerful influence than a teacher who can open your mind and inspire you. I am of the belief that if you only have one fabulous teacher in your life, then you have been given a gift. Can you imagine the multitude of gifts your daughter would receive with the lineup of amazing teachers at Hathaway Brown? I invite you to come see our terrific educators in action, and consider giving your child the gift of meaningful teaching that will remain with her for a lifetime.

contact us Sarah Liotta Johnston

Associate Head for Enrollment Management 216.320.8104 sjohnston@hb.edu

Tina Reifsnyder

Admission Coordinator 216.320.8767 treifsnyder@hb.edu

Shelley Johns

Admission Database Manager 216.320.8098 sjohns@hb.edu

early childhood/primary school Kristin Kuhn

Director of Early Childhood & Primary School Admission 216.320.8093 kkuhn@hb.edu

middle school Katherine Jenne Chapman ’04 Director of Middle School Admission 216.320.8091 kchapman@hb.edu

upper school Colleen Sommerfeld

Associate Director of Upper School Admission 216.320.8103 csommerfeld@hb.edu

Sarah Liotta Johnston (left) is pictured with Dean of Students Hallie Godshall (middle) and Director of Early Childhood & Primary School Admission Kristin Kuhn (right), both of whom were Johnston’s mentees at Western Reserve Academy in the 1990s.

All the Right Notes World-famous

singer-songwriter

Jim

Brickman

filled the Atrium with beautiful music during HB’s Piano-Palooza! in March. He opened an impromptu all-school performance by playing some childhood

favorites, including songs from Sesame Street, before he invited his friend and fellow musician

Anne Cochran (whom he met when they were both

students at Shaker Heights High School) to sing some songs he wrote. HB students happily joined in

a rousing rendition of Brickman’s hit “Never Alone,” which is performed by Lady Antebellum. After the

program, Brickman and Cochran spent time with the

Upper School songwriting class, offering critiques, Photo by Jason Miller

tips, and guidance to many aspiring musical artists.

Brickman’s visit was the culminating event of PianoPalooza!, a series of celebrations honoring the pianos and piano players in the HB community. The program

was organized by the Performing Arts Department to

give thanks for the three new Steinway pianos that were donated by the Hathaway Brown Parent Association and special supporters of HB. Festivities included piano-

playing marathons, special music-themed assemblies, and performances by a variety of guest musicians.

HB 7

Best of the BEST

Kavya Ravichandran ’16 won the grand prize and a gold medal in biomedical engineering at the BEST Medicine Competition (Bridging Engineering, Science, and Technology) at the University of Akron on March 22. Her project, “A Nanomedicine Approach for Thrombus-Targeted Delivery and Controlled Release of Thrombolutic Agents,” was the culmination of research she began in ninth grade at Case Western Reserve University’s School of Engineering. Visit www.uakron.edu/ bestmedicine/ to view a photo gallery and learn more about this science competition that includes top projects from all over Northeast Ohio.

ATHLETICS

UPDATE

Swimming & Diving

– Finished eighth in the OHSAA Division II State Meet * For the first time in history, the team became Division II District Champions, besting Hawken School for the title

Basketball – Set the OHSAA state record for postseason wins for girls or boys basketball, with 37 consecutive victories * Beth Brzozowski ’14 became the school’s all-time leader in three-point field goals. * Dani Lawson ’17 committed to play DI basketball at Purdue

Lacrosse – Won fifth straight OSLA Division

II Regional Championship * Advanced to fifth consecutive OSLA Division II State Semifinal * Finished the season at 9-8-2

Softball

– Logged one of the best seasons in HB history * Advanced to the OHSAA Division II District Semifinal * Ended at 13-5 * Logan Paul ’14 became the school’s all-time leader in strikeouts

Track & Field – Secured HB’s first-ever dual meet win * Sophie Richards ’16 qualified for the OHSAA Division II Regional meet in two events

Excellent Environment Hathaway Brown has received three recent awards that recognize the school as an outstanding employer. In recent months, The Plain Dealer, Inside Business, and Employers’ Resource Council all have ranked HB as one of the best places to work in the region.

Hathaway Brown has been named to The Plain Dealer’s list of Top Workplaces for 2014, a designation that is reserved for only 100 organizations in Northeast Ohio, based on employee survey data. For the seventh year in a row, HB also was honored to be recognized as a NEO Success Award winner

by Inside Business magazine. This year’s 81 NEO Success Award winners were chosen based on how they reflect and represent the rich cultural, business, innovation, and education environment in Northeast Ohio. And the Employers’ Resource Council in 2013 named HB to the NorthCoast 99.

It was the 14th year in a row for the school to receive this coveted award. The NC99 program was created to celebrate the “99 Great Workplaces for Top Talent in Northeast Ohio.”

CRACKING THE CODE In a celebration of computer science achievements, the Ohio Affiliate of the National Center for Women & Information Technology recognized three Hathaway Brown students for their accomplishments and aspirations in computing and technology.

Lauren Egts ’17 and Madeleine Ference ’16 were honored as winners of the Ohio Affiliate NCWIT Award for Aspirations in Computing.

Aarathi Sahadevan ’16 was recognized as a runner-up. Twenty-one girls from Ohio received awards this year.

Sport is what prepared me for my life.

Mary Joe Fernandez, tennis champion, Olympic gold medalist, broadcast analyst, and HB mom – Hathaway Brown Learning for Life Speakers’ Series, February 26, 2014

“With the Department of Labor predicting 1.4 million computing jobs in the U.S. workforce by 2020, it’s critical that we capitalize on this untapped talent pool and set these young women on the path to taking a seat at the technical design table,” said Lucy Sanders, CEO and Cofounder of NCWIT. The NCWIT Award for Aspirations in Computing was created to nurture the computing aspirations of young women, introduce them to leadership opportunities in the field, and generate visibility for women’s participation in technology fields.

QUOTABLE

CELEBRATED CENTENARIAN

HB Kindergartners marked their 100th day of school by welcoming a very special visitor.

Morton Weiss, a Hunting Valley neighbor of a K1 student, turned 100 years old on April 28, two days after he and his wife celebrated their 75th wedding anniversary. In 2014, Mr. Weiss was honored as the oldest volunteer at the University Hospitals Ahuja Medical Center in Beachwood, and he was feted at a Cleveland Indians game and presented with a jersey emblazoned with the number 100 on his birthday.

To celebrate their 100th day of Kindergarten, the HB students invited Mr. Weiss to their class. They had many questions for him about what life was like a century ago. He described receiving daily deliveries from the milkman and the iceman and traveling by trolley car. The girls asked him how he used to light his house, how he used to dress for school, and how much he used to pay for candy. Mr. Weiss also passed around pictures that he had found and printed off the Internet of automobiles that have come and gone in his lifetime. And he posed for several photographs with his new admiring fans, who have since Skyped with him and made plans for a return visit next year, when he is 101.

HOMEGROWN SUPPORT The GROW (Girls Reaching Others Worldwide) Foundation at HB hosted an Empty Bowls fundraising event in April. In partnership with Hathaway Brown Parent Association, California Ceramics, Stone Oven, and AVI Foodsystems, GROW invited members from the HB community and Cleveland nonprofits to join them for a simple meal of soup and bread. In exchange for a suggested $10 cash donation at the door, guests were asked to keep a bowl painted by HB students as a reminder of all the empty bowls in the world.

G . R .O.W. Girls Reaching Others Worldwide

The event highlighted the work of Providence House, the nation’s oldest Crisis Nursery, whose mission is to fight to end child abuse and neglect by protecting at-risk children, empowering families in crisis, and building safer communities for every child. The Middle School and Upper School members of GROW selected Providence House to receive a $1,000 Hathaway Brown Parent Association grant to support new programming for their Children’s Education Program and to sponsor emergency shelter in their Crisis Nursery for one child at risk of abuse or neglect for three weeks.

A unique student-run philanthropic organization, GROW generated a record 28 proposals asking for nearly $40,000 in 2013-14. Members also raised more than $7,000 and awarded an additional $6,000 to programs serving the needs of at-risk adolescent girls and young women through their partnership with The Crittenton Foundation.

The April 30 Empty Bowls event at HB included presentations by GROW Foundation student members, along with remarks by Providence House representatives. The meal – which was generously provided by sponsors – gave attendees time to reflect about the pervading problems of hunger and homelessness in the United States and abroad. Proceeds from the event will benefit the GROW Foundation’s 2015 grantees. To learn more, visit www.hb.edu/GROWfoundation.

Photo by Ripcho Studios

HB 9

MAKING A SPLASH USA Swimming stars and Olympic medalists Diana Munz (and HB mom!), Matt McLean, and Kim Vandenberg worked with 120 swimmers in the Carol and John Butler Aquatic Center at HB during the Mutual of Omaha BREAKout! Swim Clinic this spring. The unique training workshop featured direct instruction, technique practice, and lots of fun. BREAKout! was designed to inspire and motivate a new generation of aquatic athletes. Munz is pictured above with the gold medal she won in the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia.

Photo by Kevin Reeves

tuition & financial aid Hathaway Brown is a member of the National Association of Independent Schools, the National Coalition of Girls’ Schools, the Ohio Association of Independent Schools, the Cleveland Council of Independent Schools, and is a founding member of the World Education Alliance.

We look for talented students of strong character regardless of a family’s ability to pay tuition. For commonly asked questions and detailed information about HB’s financial aid program and eligibility guidelines, please visit www.hb.edu/admission.

Students are admitted to Hathaway Brown and awarded financial aid on the basis of personal and academic performance and promise, and are included in all school activities and programs, without discrimination on grounds of race, color, religion, or national or ethnic origin.

For 2014-15, HB has committed $4 million to the needbased financial aid program. Students in grades K-12 are eligible to apply for these funds and approximately 32 percent receive financial assistance. Hathaway Brown School does not offer athletic scholarships. All awards are based on a family’s demonstrated need as determined by School and Student Services, a subsidiary of the National Association of Independent Schools.

Merit scholarships also are available for ninth-graders.

COST: Infant & Toddler Center (6 weeks - 36 months) tuition & fees range from $3,000 to $14,000 Early Childhood (ages 2½ – 5) tuition & fees range from $4,000 to $11,000

Head of School Bill Christ has been designated one of 20 outstanding Independent School Heads in the U.S.

by Columbia University’s Klingenstein Center for Educational Leadership.

Primary School (grades K – 4) tuition & fees range from $18,000 to $22,000 Middle School (grades 5 – 8) tuition & fees range from $22,000 to $25,000 Upper School (grades 9 – 12) tuition & fees range from $25,000 to $27,000

Partnerships with Greater Cleveland organizations Faculty Members 1:1

16 Acre Campus

8:1

33%

of HB students are awarded Financial Aid

100% of graduates attend four-year colleges

students of color

Student-Teacher Ratio

Established:

841 Students

1876

Photo by Kevin Reeves

Technology Program

32%

$53.5M Endowment (market value 6.30.14)

HB

123

100+

11

Mutual RESPECT

HB 13

Brenna Scully hates bugs.

HB teachers and students share a transformative connection

BY S C O T T PA R S O N S

And so, during her first semester of college she didn’t feel equipped to deal with a winged-ant invasion in her dorm room – after 6 p.m. when no one in the facilities department was available to help her.

Worse yet, it was the evening before her economics midterm. Sitting on the floor in the hallway and nearing her breaking point, the 2013 Hathaway Brown graduate says she recalled the wise words she had heard over the years at HB: variations of “stop feeling sorry for yourself and stop waiting for someone to save you.” Then she pulled herself together, bought “enough Raid to sustain a small country,” fumigated the room, and slept that night on her neighbor’s floor. The next morning, she called facilities and the entire ordeal was resolved before lunch. So far, she says, that experience ranks as her “ultimate ‘not for school but for life’” moment.

It’s well known that HB students are extraordinarily well prepared for college. Perhaps less well known, however, is that an essential part of this preparation—and a signature quality of the HB experience—has nothing to do with homework or extracurriculars; nothing to do with rigor or AP courses. In fact, it doesn’t even involve anything traditionally academic. Instead, it is the distinctive and vibrant working relationships between teachers and students, relationships built on mutual respect, genuine care, and attentive listening – all of which become empowering forces in students’ lives.

For Hazel Crampton-Hayes ’12, this teacher-student dynamic represents the best part of her HB education. She remembers what she learned, for instance, from art teacher Jamie Morse and his photography class; but she also values, perhaps even more deeply, their shared and nuanced appreciation of musicians Chrissie Hynde and Morrisey. Relationships like these that extended beyond the curriculum, she

G GETTIN

REAL

says, inspired both personal and academic growth, something she can’t imagine having happened elsewhere. As the mother of Emily ’15 and Audrianna Imka ’22, Kathy Bruening has an appreciation for these shared connections because “they give girls the opportunity to develop interpersonal skills with adults that are a part of their own world, rather than their parents’ world.”

Beyond the halls of HB, Brenna has been able to draw on the voices of a host of adults who believed in her and knew she had the fortitude to manage the unpredictable. Hannah Margolis ’12, who currently studies at The Ohio State University, says in the tightly knit HB community “teacher-student relationships were much easier to establish and were more personal. I really loved that aspect of the school, and through trial and error I’m slowly learning how to establish those relationships in a much larger community.” Hazel attends Oberlin, a college that prioritizes the professor-student connection, and she says her HB experience gives her “a huge advantage in terms of already knowing how to see academic superiors as potential peers, not terrifying, impersonal overlords.”

Indeed, one thing HB students learn is how to feel challenged but not intimidated by the faculty. Amanda Keresztesy ’14 is inspired by the ways in which the school culture supports valuing each community member’s contributions. She describes how important it is to be taken seriously by her teachers, whom she describes as

TOP10 TAKEAWAYS

Although she admits that “for a good student I still have a surprisingly thick skull when it comes to taking advice,” sophomore McKenna Ritter nonetheless took away from HB’s “Real Talks with Real People” series quite a bit of insight that she plans to draw upon as she continues to grow as a person. The program brought faculty and administrators together with students in an informal lunchtime forum to discuss key moments or lessons they learned in their own lives. From those discussions, McKenna gleaned the following advice and observations, in her own words:

from lunchtime forum

1

Revisit your favorite song decades later and reminisce. It will remind you of everything you were back then and how far you have come.

7

Travel abroad. Sometimes it brings perspective. Sometimes it makes home even cozier. Sometimes you discover your love for adventure.

2

Life is a combination of awe and sorrow.

8

3

You don’t need to be a Type A personality and let the stress take over.

Quitting isn’t always giving up. Sometimes it is just a new beginning.

9

4

Try out a few odd jobs: kayak guiding, musician, construction worker, and fast food worker. You’ll find what you love and what to cross off your list.

Don’t be afraid to stray from your path.

Nobody ever has their future all figured out.

10

Tell and listen to stories every single day.

Get to know those around you. Make connections. You will learn more about yourself and meet people who could forever be part of your life. Empathy is key. Try to remove “you” from yourself and view the world from a different perspective.

5

Always love those who support you.

This is especially true for your parents even when you feel the need to be the stereotypical “rebellious” teenager.

6

Recommend experiences to your friends.

You may end up leading them to find their passions.

“truly brilliant people.” She cites as an example the encyclopedic literary mind of English teacher Jamie Mueller, claiming that “if Google ceased to exist, the world could still carry on when it came to anything in the literary world” because she seems to know everything there possibly is to know about literature. That’s important, Amanda says, because when someone that smart comments on her students’ work as “absolutely fantastic” or “just brilliant,” you trust her opinion and start to think, “maybe I am smart.”

It means something to students when biology teacher Sheri Homany cheerily calls out, “Hello, smart girls!” at the start of class, or when history teacher Kevin Purpura refers to his students as “scholars.” Kathy Bruening observes these interactions through the parent perspective and describes her daughters’ teachers as “sources of moral support and confidence-building that girls may view as more objective than their parents, and therefore they potentially have a greater impact.”

There’s much more at play during the Upper School years of an HB education than high-level academics and the development of fiercely intelligent students. While Amanda describes her teachers as “exquisitely bright, shockingly hilarious, witty adults,” what really stands out to her is that it feels as though “for whatever reason, they care about us sometimes as much as our parents do.”

Teachers at HB are committed to educating the whole student - mind, body, and spirit. They know that whatever is happening in a girl’s life will shape how she learns just as much as the expertise with which a lesson is prepared and executed.

Learning, after all, does not take place in a vacuum, and adolescence is an especially intense period of growth and discovery. An Upper School education includes students finding ways to form identities outside their immediate families as they try to make sense of an often bewildering and overwhelming world.

So complicated are the high school years, in fact, that Bruening believes that “no parent, or pair of parents, can possibly tackle every question, reservation, attitude, peer relationship, etc. that is thrown at our high-schoolers.” As the girls navigate all that confusion, it’s essential, she says, that they are being taught and mentored by “invested, mindful, caring adults whom our daughters trust and feel comfortable with.”

Dean of Students Hallie Godshall agrees, and she believes fervently in the influence of mentors in adolescent girls’ lives. “They need their peers and parents for support,” Godshall explains, “but they absolutely need mentors who believe in them, help guide them, and challenge them. This collaboration is an essential component of our educational philosophy, helping girls to understand that reaching out for help and looking to others for advice is crucial to success in our world.”

All of these factors combine to create the distinctive HB energy: an electric learning environment that is palpable to anyone who spends time on campus.

Reflecting on her experiences as a writer in residence at HB for the last three consecutive years, author Alexandra Fuller notes that her visits inspired her to reimagine how she understands education and the role teachers play in it. “It wasn’t until I came to HB,” she says, “that I realized a teacher’s job is not so much to fill his or her students’ minds with what they believe to be an education, but to allow the student the courage of her own convictions so that she may hunger for knowledge and wisdom and wit and thereby fill her own mind. In that way, HB provides not only an education for those years traditionally given over to learning, but also for a life – a whole, fully realized life.”

Being a part of students’ journeys, teaching and nurturing them as they explore their curiosities and passions is a high calling to which each adult in the building enthusiastically responds. HB faculty members truly do believe that helping the girls to “learn not for school, but for life” should be at the heart of what they do.

In the 2013-14 school year, a fascinating (and very natural) manifestation of this dynamic emerged. Inspired by casual conversations she had during lunch with students, Torrey McMillan ’90, director of HB’s Center for Sustainability, had a vision for a regular lunchtime forum during which faculty members could share key moments or life lessons from their own perspectives. So began “Real Talks with Real People.” Originally envisioned as a monthly program, the interest grew so strong so quickly that the series ran every Tuesday and Thursday through the spring. Each discussion drew a large and curious standing-room-only crowd of students and faculty into the Osborne Writing Center to hear stories of turning points, moments of reckoning, and surprise discoveries.

Some Real Talks sessions were somber, some whimsical; participants shared anecdotes about family, love, loss, fear, and resilience. Koyen Shah, director of HB’s Center for Leadership & Well-Being, says that each talk challenged notions the girls might have of a perfect life trajectory. She noted that every conversation demonstrated to students that that life is filled with wildly unpredictable twists and difficulties and that “your response to those challenges is really the whole art of living.”

Conversations of this caliber and depth are only possible in a community that’s built upon trust, a trait that is evident in every aspect of the HB experience. With that trust in place, both teachers and students are able to be their genuine selves, rather than subscribing to traditionally defined roles. In the end, Shah notes, that leads to “a tighter community more deeply rooted in each other’s stories.”

McKenna Ritter ’16 has found great comfort in entering into those stories she heard in the writing center during her sophomore year. When she entered HB in ninth grade, she says she felt “awkward and disconnected.” But that quickly changed. “In the last year and a half,” she says, “I have become myself. It sounds cliché and odd, but I have never been more accepted for who I am and acknowledge myself to be than when I am inside these brick walls.” McKenna describes HB as more like a second home than a school. She credits the Real Talks series with helping her to connect even more with her extended “family.”

That description makes a lot of sense to Amanda Keresztesy, who says that “Hathaway Brown is more than a place; it’s a feeling; it’s a culture.” As she heads to Northwestern University, Amanda explains that although she’ll continue to use in college what she learned in the classroom of calculus teacher Bill Adler, she cherishes even more the moment when he told her that her strange and comedic Morning Meeting announcement was still in his head two weeks after she’d delivered it. She also fondly recollects bonding with her mentor, science teacher Diana McBeath, while eating Ben & Jerry’s ice cream with her mentor group. And while she’s going to remember Director of the Center for Global Citizenship Joe Vogel for his lectures in Global Scholars, what will resonate most in her memory is riding a tuk-tuk with him in Cambodia. Above all, she simply appreciates having been treated like a real person by her teachers, and that they were willing to be real themselves.

Scott Parsons is director of HB’s Osborne Writing Center.

HB

It means something to students when biology teacher Sheri Homany cheerily calls out, “Hello, smart girls!” at the start of class, or when history teacher Kevin Purpura refers to his students as “scholars.”

15

LEADING FROM THE

MIDDLE

LASTING

LESSONS Susan Levitan nurtures her lifelong passion for literature and inspires her students in the process

by Sienna Zeilinger ’11

Sharon Baker named Director of Middle School Amanda Keresztesy ’14 remembers the first time she felt like a grownup.

Specifically, something happened between the seventh-grade Hathaway Brown trip to Cape Cod and the eighth-grade trip to Washington, DC, when she was trusted to be on her own for periods of time. “That,” she says, “is when I first realized I was capable of being independent and that the teachers were not my surrogate helicopter parents. They were people who treated me like a person.”

Sharon Baker, newly installed director of the HB Middle School, sees that type of growth toward independence as a core part of the learning experience for students in her division. She explains that middle school advisors work closely with the girls over the course of four years to build those skills, moving them from being closely monitored to being in charge of themselves. The end result is that “by the time they reach eighth grade, girls have learned to be independent, and to value establishing relationships with their teachers by seeking help when needed, emailing thoughts and questions, and understanding that they are known and valued at HB.” In announcing her appointment, Head of School Bill Christ noted, “Since 2005, Sharon has been one of our most respected and beloved teachers, a star in the English department and an anchor on the seventh-grade team.” Baker is enthusiastically embracing her new role. Her vision is “to continue developing the pioneers that make up our students and faculty, people who are willing to try new, innovative projects, to lean in to challenges, and to be new and varied versions of ourselves who are willing and ready to lead the way.”

While Baker’s appointment as Middle School Director was greeted with great and unanimous enthusiasm by the community, there was one concern: Would Mrs. Baker, Middle School Director, be as fun as Mrs. Baker, English teacher? Specifically, her students want to know if there will be any more of her trademark practical jokes.

“Obviously I cannot divulge my plans for pranks, and fake spiders and squirt guns may or may not be involved,” Baker says. “But I can assure you that there are plans in the works.”

I can’t bring myself to call her Susan. For a moment, I forget that I long ago traded the granny-style glasses I wore throughout Middle School for contact lenses. I almost go to brush my horrendously geometric bangs (to call it a hairstyle would have been generous) out of my eyes. I realize that I haven’t even heard what Levitan just said. And then I realize that, for a moment, I’ve reverted to age 13 on the inside, too.

“I love eighth graders. The eighth-grade girl is in some ways the most self-centered individual you could possibly have,” Levitan tells me. “On the one hand, that’s the essence of who the eighthgrader is. And on the other, it’s the girl who’s saying, ‘I can solve world hunger.’”

This willingness to be involved with the world around us even as we look inward would strike all of us as deeply familiar, but Levitan, an English teacher and class dean, has a special reverence for eighth-grade students. Through her Facing History and Ourselves curriculum, which allows for examining the ideas and events that led to the Holocaust through primary resources and discussion-based exercises, Levitan has been able to harness that introspection and turn it into fruitful self-reflection.

To engage her students, Levitan works to ground the ideas of her class in concrete, familiar experiences—asking her students, for example, whether they would rather go to prom with Romeo or Mercutio—which gives them a jumping-off point to begin wrestling with bigger ideas. Recently, she says, they have been reading Primo Levi’s description of the “demolition of a man,” and exploring how we, as individuals, assert our identity on a regular basis. Levitan instructed her students to hold up their pencil cases and asked them how these objects make a statement about who they are.

“They’re open to making that imaginative leap,” Levitan says, “and in terms of Primo Levi’s work, it gives the girls the ability to dig in and really think about what’s being stripped away. That’s the beauty of working with eighth grade: you’re working with girls who are suddenly ready to embrace the ideas of the world.”

But teaching eighth grade was not always the plan.

Levitan had intended to become a veterinarian.

Then she took a class at Harvard about the history of education, and “I thought, wait, this is where I want to be,” she says. A few years later, she was teaching in the Upper School at nearby Laurel.

When she heard that Hathaway Brown had an opening in the Middle School, she applied, and she’s been working here ever since.

That was 35 years ago. For Levitan, though, the novelty never has worn off. “You know, it sounds kind of corny, but it’s absolutely true—every day when I go into work, I think, ‘I’m happy to be here,’” she says. “I’m doing something I love, that I think is important, at an institution with amazing people, and at an institution that trusts me.”

That trust is crucial when it comes to revamping a curriculum. “I had a combination of incredible mentors and people who said, ‘Go try it.’ It’s always been true of HB that when you want to do something, from a curricular point of view, the administration says, ‘Go try it.’ And I’ve come to appreciate that as not the norm.”

with literature. She read me Pride and Prejudice, she read me King Lear … I have an entire pillow that I needlepointed while she read me War and Peace,” Levitan says.

“She was a huge influence in my life. She taught me that you have to think about your role in society and think about how you affect other people. That became very much part of who I was as a teacher.”

That dedication to her profession, to bringing out the best in her students, is palpable, and is exactly why Levitan is regarded with such awe.

She recounts a time when a student chose to present her assigned essay topic in the form of a video, rather than a written piece; Levitan was so impressed that even after talking with the student, she called her mother and prompted her to encourage her daughter’s filmmaking skills.

For Levitan, “being able to help a kid find that moment of identity, that sense that they’ve found something they do and want to do,” is the best part of teaching.

The reward goes both ways. Recently, a former student came back to visit Levitan’s classroom.

She told her, “You know, all that stuff that you taught us, the Facing History stuff—I get it now.”

“Those are the moments when you say, ‘This is why I do this,’” Levitan explains. “It makes for a better world. That’s what I really want.”

Levitan has overhauled her curriculum no fewer than six times since her arrival at HB. At first, her students studied Greek mythology and the Old Testament. Now, they are reading The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks and unpacking

There’s a lot to remember about Ms. Levitan’s class—games of Balderdash, piles of vocabularyword-adorned index cards, how powerful it felt to read Maya Angelou’s Still I Rise aloud. But my main memory from eighth-grade English is Ms. Levitan’s comments on my written work. There

white, male, and heterosexual privilege. She says the book has led to fascinating discussions with the girls. “The most important thing is to be able to teach material that I feel passionate about, that will get kids to think about themselves and their place in the world,” she says.

were, unfailingly, notes all over the margins of the essays I wrote. I can still see her handwriting now, the letters loopy and rounded, the ink bright purple. Her notes were unflinchingly honest and held the power to validate and to humble. It took something like courage to turn over your paper and face what she had to say. And then you read those words and you were better for it.

Levitan ties her lifelong love of literature and social justice directly back to her maternal grandmother, Anne Terry White, who wrote more than 100 children’s books. “I spent a lot of time with her, and she is the reason I fell in love

A 2011 HB graduate, Sienna Zeilinger is a senior at Brown University, where she studies English/Nonfiction Writing and heads the Writing Fellows Program for undergraduate peer advisors.

HB

When Ms. Levitan picks up the phone, I’m instantly rendered my eighth-grade self again.

17

Perspectives Selected works from the 2014 Upper School Spring Art Show.

ballpoint pen on paper by Sarah Dierker ’14

ceramic teapot by Rebecca Weinberger ’15

graphic novel panel by Natalie Sayed ’14

self-portrait/acrylic on canvas by Emily Imka ’15

HB

oil crayon drawing by Amelia Visnauskas ’14

19

oin j s nt

HB

C here ren’t a se orld wtions a ilings l e Ch ss a w spira by ce

& cu s i y d

r a l l Hi

to

n’ o t lin girls

de u t s

a ited m li

Hathaway Brown was honored to be one of only four schools

in the country selected to participate in a live “No Ceilings” video conversation with Secretary Hillary Rodham Clinton and Clinton Foundation Vice Chair Chelsea Clinton in April.

The program – which was the first of a series of No Ceilings interactive initiatives – was moderated by actress and activist America Ferrera. HB students were able to speak directly with the Clintons about how vital it is for girls and women to come together to support one another.

Broadcast from the Lower Eastside Girls Club in New York City, organizers used Skype to join HB students with girls from the Girls Club, the Girl Scouts of the USA, Girls Inc., Girl Up, the Young Women’s Leadership Network, and three other U.S. schools: The Seattle Girls School in Seattle, Wash; The York County School District in York, Va.; and the KIPP Delta High School in Helena, Ark. During the 90-minute conversation, nearly 40 Upper School students were gathered in the school’s Worldwide Communications Center to be

part of the live feed. When it came time for the first question, HB juniors (and twin sisters) Sunny and Sue Roy rose to the podium to offer some observations and open an important discussion. “You both teamed up for this initiative as mother and daughter, bringing in others in order to accomplish one common goal,” Sunny remarked. “In this campaign, you’ve had to collaborate and negotiate together on issues addressing the various concerns surrounding girls around the world. Our question to you is: How does collaboration promote and advocate for girls and women across the globe?”

HB 21

Both Secretary Clinton and Chelsea thanked the Roy sisters for their engaged insights and explained that the Clinton Foundation is working with the United Nations, World Bank, Google, Facebook and telecommunications companies around the globe to spread their message and get feedback. “It’s the only way that we’ll have a holistic or at least a holistic attempt at where we stand with rights and opportunities for women and girls around the world,” Chelsea said.

For HB students and faculty members who were unable to participate in the conversation itself, the program was streamed live in The Ahuja Auditorium. A large group of community members, including parents, were able to view the talk in real time. People from all 50 states and more than six countries tuned in as well, and joined in the conversation on social media using the hashtag #NoCeilings.

Those watching the program were among the first to hear the news that Chelsea Clinton and her husband, Marc Mezvinsky, are expecting their first child, as she made the announcement during the program’s closing remarks. “I just hope that I will be as good a mom to my child and hopefully children as my mom was to me,” Chelsea said as Secretary Clinton beamed.

The April No Ceilings conversation was focused on listening and learning. By hearing directly from women and girls around the world about the progress they are seeing in their own lives and also challenges and barriers they still face, The Clinton Foundation believes that we can best understand where we need to focus our efforts to truly make progress. Many other programs have been planned as well. Visit www.clintonfoundation.org/noceilings to learn more and to view video footage and highlights from the conversation that included HB students.

Shortly after the program, a note arrived at HB from The Clinton Foundation. Personally signed by Secretary Clinton and Chelsea, it read: “Thank you for helping us bring together such a dynamic group of young women for our very first No Ceilings conversation.

We were delighted to have Hathaway Brown join our efforts to empower all girls to reach their full potential. We were especially glad to hear from Sunny and Sue Roy, both shining examples of the thoughtful, engaging, and academic-minded young women who inspire us every day.”

Special thanks to HB alumna Kate King Klein ’80, whose recommendation helped HB secure this opportunity.

Photo by Keith Berr

PRIMARY SCHOOL TEACHERS SO SPECIAL TO YOU?

I like to see my teacher not just in my classroom, but doing other things around the school, like I have always been able to rely on my teachers. They have always coaching me in been there for me. field hockey or on the playground.

Tatum, Grade 4

Alison, Grade 4

They

love math!

Ava, Grade 3

They let us do things a little differently – like going outside if we need a break from the classroom or reading on the floor in the cozy area instead of our desks. Maya, Grade 1

THEY ALWAYS

WANT TO HELP ME. Bridget, Grade 3

I have loved all of my HB teachers, but one teacher really helped me understand what friendship is. Lizzie, Grade 3

Their senses of humor!

Zoe, Grade 3

HB

WHAT MAKES HB'S

23

QUOTABLE

Maybe you have a plan, or a vision for your future. Whatever it is, if that’s what you really want, then awesome — I hope you get there. But in the meantime, I encourage you to think hard about what your plan is and where it came from. Just think about it. And as you go through the next few years of your life, be ready to consider modifying the master plan if the right opportunities come along.

Laney Kuenzel, HB ’08, Facebook software engineer, Presidential Scholar, and one of the top 25 graduates in her 2012 class at Stanford – Hathaway Brown Cum Laude Society Induction Ceremony, April 25, 2014

24 40

25

46

9 17

31

150

23

2

40

5 6

3

6 3

45

18

4

13

5

21

107

66

8

9 68

22 3

23 2

61

15

36

1546 7

66

71

80 131

209

221

4

HB alumnae reside in 48 U.S. states and in several countries around the world.

48

9

7 156 1

Deep Roots Each year, the daughters of Hathaway Brown leave our hallowed halls to make their marks in locations near and far. Lifelong learners all, HB women make the world their classroom. Our alumnae include more than 3,500 diverse and talented women who live in 48 states and 23 foreign countries. Ranging in age from 17 to 102 years old, they hold positions in every type of professional industry, from technology to government, and from art to medicine. Many were the first females to complete particular college degree programs or to rise to executive-level offices in their respective firms.

No matter where they are in the world, HB will always be there home. And everywhere they look, they can find their sisters.

HB graduates also spend time on campus connecting with current students as speakers, mentors, and friends. Scores of alumnae return to the corner of Courtland and North Park for the following annual events:

Homecoming – everyone is invited to come back to school in the fall to reconnect and cheer on the Blazers Winter Celebration – an annual gathering to kick off Winter Break Dinner with 12 Sisters – scheduled meetings of alumnae groups with members of the senior class Alumnae Weekend – open to all class years; held the second weekend in May Commencement – alumnae celebrate with us in Shaker Heights each June as we wish our graduates well

Photo by Kim Ponsky ’98

HB 25

Congratulations to the Class of 2014, 100% of whom will now be off to continue their studies at some of the best colleges and universities

in the world. HB graduates are equally at home at historic Ivy League schools, top public and private universities, specialized conservatories, and small liberal arts colleges in the U.S. and abroad, where they live out the motto of their alma mater: “We Learn Not For School, But For Life.”

Class of 2014 College Destinations American University Ashland University Boston College Bowling Green State University Bryant University Carnegie Mellon University Case Western Reserve University (5) Colgate University College of Saint Rose Columbia University (2) Cornell University (2) Dartmouth College Dickinson College Elon University (4) Emory University (3) Georgetown University John Carroll University Johns Hopkins University Kenyon College

Lehigh University Loyola Marymount University Massachusetts Inst. of Technology (2) Miami University (4) New York University Newcastle Univ. Medical School (England) Northeast Ohio Medical University Northeastern University (1) Northwestern University (3) Pennsylvania State University (2) Pitzer College Princeton University Purdue University Rice University San Diego State University Saint Louis University (2) Southern Methodist University Swarthmore College

Among the 84 members of the HB Class of 2014, one student earned a perfect score on the SAT, two had perfect ACTs, nine were named National Merit Finalists, one is a National Achievement Finalist, and nine are National Merit Commended Students. Many were awarded merit scholarships from their schools of choice, and several have committed to play collegiate-level sports.

The Ohio State University (4) Tufts University Tulane University University of California at Berkeley (2) University of California at Los Angeles University of Chicago University of Cincinnati University of Missouri, Columbia University of Mount Union University of Notre Dame University of Pennsylvania (2) University of Richmond University of Southern California University of St. Andrews (Scotland) Vanderbilt University Villanova University

Wake Forest University Washington University in St. Louis (3) Wellesley College Yale University (2)

You do your best when you’re at your best— it’s a pretty simple concept.

The hard part is putting it into action.

STORY BY KATHLEEN OSBORNE

Meet Sasha. A junior at Hathaway

Brown with bouncy red curls, she’s the only girl in her family. Her two older brothers are away at college, and they’re doing very well in school. Sasha earns good grades too, which makes her grandparents proud. They gave up everything to come to this country. Education­­ —particularly for girls—is extremely important to their family. They often remind their granddaughter that she can be anything she wants to be if she just puts her mind to it and her nose to the grindstone.

Every day, Sasha wakes up early and makes the trek from Solon to the Carol and John Butler Aquatic Center at HB for swim team practice that begins at 6 a.m., followed by a full day of school. During classroom discussions, she’s pretty outspoken, especially when she really knows the subject matter. When it comes to newer topics, she prefers to sit back and listen as she types bullet points in a note-taking program on her laptop. A lot of her friends take the same courses she does.

They love catching up in the halls during class changes, and they study together in the Atrium during free periods. Sasha’s enrolled in the Science Research & Engineering Program and she’s a Global Scholar.

Once a week, she makes her way to the Cleveland Clinic after school, where she works in a lab studying the neurological implications of certain cancer treatments. Next year, she’s planning to travel to Spain with the Center for Global Citizenship. Since she was a freshman she’s been taking Spanish and she’s looking forward to putting her speaking skills to good use.

The HB faculty met Sasha at the start of the 2013-14 school year, when she was introduced by Koyen Parikh Shah, director of the school’s Center for Leadership & Well-Being. Sasha is a friendly, bubbly, freshfaced young girl with whom most people can relate. But Sasha isn’t real.

To be clear, Sasha isn’t an actual HB student – she’s an amalgam of girls created to illustrate a point. Still, the idea of Sasha is real enough that she could be any girl on campus. In fact, Shah dreamed her up as sort of an HB Everygirl, a poster child for the school’s “Be Well, Lead Well” initiative. Announced as the year’s theme by Head of School Bill Christ, “Be Well, Lead Well” was designed to help girls and women reimagine leadership, broadening their personal definitions beyond title and rank.

Our understanding of leadership is expanding to reflect a world that is hyper-connected and rapidly changing, and girls today want to become intentional leaders of their own lives while they work to make the world a better place. Spearheaded by the burgeoning Center for Leadership & Well-Being, the initiative has made its way into every classroom on campus, as teachers explore ways to bring wellness,

ILLUSTRATIONS BY LEN PERALTA

HB 27

health, leadership, and power together. In addition to curricular lessons, a number of school-wide events and activities have united students and faculty members in discovering how they can be well and lead well at the same time.

Back to Sasha. As Shah brought her to life, she pointed out that there’s more than one way to look at the manner in which young women are structuring their routines in this day and age. One is to see Sasha spinning away on a “success treadmill” – running in place. In fact, a lot of multitasking women think of themselves in this way. They’re constantly busy, and feeling that they’re not really advancing in the way that they’d like on any horizon. For people on this treadmill, fulfillment always lies in the distance. Maybe they’ll find it in the next set of accomplishments, maybe they won’t. But they have to try.

Nothing exists in a vacuum. Regardless of education, profession, or family structure, people are compelled to put their lives into context.

This is especially true for women. Working hard and feeling themselves pulled in many different directions, they want to be assured that it’s all worth it – that they’re bringing something important and valuable to the world. This can set up a vicious cycle, though. If you spend too much time looking outward, you may forget to look inward.

If you’re going to be a leader – an effective leader, anyway – you’re going to have to make your own personal well-being more than just an afterthought. Anyone who’s ever been on an airplane understands this.

Before each takeoff, in the event of an emergency you’re reminded to secure your own oxygen mask before attempting to assist anyone else.

You can’t be much of a savior if you’re struggling for air.

There’s another side to the achievement spectrum, one that’s currently being discussed at great length and in great depth by psychologists, authors, career counselors, and CEOs. Rather than seeing themselves in a never-ending rat race – one that starts when they are very young – women are shifting the paradigm. They’re looking at success as a present construct. It’s not something to be achieved eventually; it’s something to appreciate and cultivate in the now. At HB, Shah calls this notion the “success garden.”

The United States Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that “of the 3.2 million youth age 16 to 24 who graduated from high school between January and October 2012, about 2.1 million (66.2 percent) were enrolled in college in October. For 2012 graduates, the college enrollment rate was 71.3 percent for young women and 61.3 percent for young men.” Those are some pretty important figures. In higher education and in the professional workforce, women are starting to outnumber men by a growing margin.

Sasha and the HB girls she represents are inspired to go above and beyond because they are in charge of their own work. They enact changes in their lives not because they’re unfulfilled, but because they want to discover the next best version of themselves. These girls are excited about breaking uncharted ground.

So what does this mean?

“Our students tell us they don’t want a watered-down version of HB,” Shah says. “They are aware that the kind of education they are receiving is of such a high caliber that they sometimes feel guilty because they know that there are so many girls all over the world who do not have the same opportunities. At the same time, they don’t want a typical American education. They want to be exactly where they are – at HB, where they’re encouraged to expand their horizons, try new things, and nurture their passions. The key is that they’re not in this alone. They’re in charge of their own lives, but a whole lot of people are here to help them.”

Connecting an inner life with outer purpose is tough today. Given all the external forces at play, adopting a more personally fulfilling outlook is a serious challenge in our culture. Yet it’s extremely important. HB faculty members play a crucial role in shaping girls’ perspectives, and they take that responsibility seriously. With the establishment of “Be Well, Lead Well,” people all across campus have been redoubling their efforts to help girls develop their inner reserves and identify support systems so they don’t stress themselves out unnecessarily. And in the times when girls do find themselves feeling overwhelmed, they don’t have to be derailed. Instead, they can find the help they need to dig in, turn the soil, and plant something new.

HB 29

What it most likely boils down to is that there are as many different definitions of success as there are women to own them. Because the individual is a vitally important part of the equation.

Despite the fact that women now earn more bachelor, master, and doctoral degrees, they still are not well represented in senior management positions in United States corporations. This is a real problem that is being analyzed and debated by many. Sheryl Sandberg, Chief Operations Officer for Facebook, addresses it in her book Lean In: Women, Work and the Will to Succeed, she writes, “We’ve ceased making progress at the top in any industry anywhere in the world. In the United States, women have had 14 percent of the top corporate jobs and 17 percent of the board seats for 10 years. Ten years of no progress.”

Sandberg asserts that women are being held back by the culture and by themselves. In defense of her somewhat controversial advice for women to “lean in” at work, loosen the reins at home, and recognize why they don’t stand up for themselves, she has said, “My message is not one of blaming women. There’s an awful lot we don’t control, but there is an awful lot we can control and we can do for ourselves, to sit at more tables, raise more hands.”

There are a multitude of hot-button topics related to women in leadership, and countless schools of thought about the right approach.

For decades, we’ve been talking about “having balance” and “having it all.” While Sheryl Sandberg advocates leaning in, Debora L. Spar, president of the all-women’s Barnard College, says it’s OK to pull back.

In promoting her new book, Wonder Women: Sex, Power, and the Quest for Perfection, Spar wrote, “We have opportunities today—to choose our educations, careers, spouses—that would’ve stunned our grandmothers.

But now we’re dazed and confused by all the choices. Feminism was meant to remove a fixed set of expectations; instead, we now interpret it as a route to personal perfection. Because we can do anything, we feel as if we have to do everything.”

A Google search of “women’s leadership and well-being” yields 78.2 million results, ranging from scholarly articles to proprietary business sites. While it is daunting to try to synthesize all of the different points of view, tips, tricks, and definitions of female success, it’s incredibly heartening to know that so many people are talking – and talking

loudly – about it. At the same time, people are paying more attention than ever to the women themselves. What it most likely boils down to is that there are as many different definitions of success as there are women to own them. Because the individual is a vitally important part of the equation.

At HB, we’re using all of this material to inform the way we teach girls about being leaders in their own lives. We provide them with an array of resources, support systems, and opportunities to develop and enrich their minds, bodies, and spirits. We also encourage them to try new things, expand their leadership vocabularies, and exercise their voices.

Because we know that what a woman thinks and knows and feels mean just as much to any organization to which she lends her talents as they mean to her personal well-being.

When one girl learns to look inward and nurture her own aspirations, everyone benefits. The best kinds of leaders do just that. And the best kinds of leaders change the world.

Kathleen Osborne is HB’s director of communication & outreach.

admission calendar

december ISEE Testing

for prospective students grades 5-12 Saturday, December 6, 2014 8 a.m. – 12 p.m.

Anne Cutter Coburn Reception Room

Family Food Fest at HB

for current and prospective families Sunday, October 11, 2014 9 – 11 a.m.

Atrium, Courtyard, Mixon Family Playground

Parent Education Series: Middle School for current and prospective parents Wednesday, October 15, 2014 6:30 p.m.

Middle & Upper School Open House for prospective families grades 5-12 Sunday, October 19, 2014 1:30-3:30 p.m.

Upper School Parent Preview

for parents of prospective students grades 9-12 Tuesday, October 28, 2014 8:30-10 a.m.

Anne Cutter Coburn Reception Room

Middle School Parent Preview

for parents of prospective students grades 5-8 Wednesday, October 29, 2014 8:30-10 a.m.

Anne Cutter Coburn Reception Room

november

Infant & Toddler, Early Childhood, and Kindergarten Open House

for prospective Infant & Toddler – Kindergarten families Saturday, November 8, 2014 10-11:30 a.m.

Courtland Boulevard Entrance

Choosing an All-Girls’ Kindergarten for current and prospective parents of rising Kindergarten students Wednesday, November 12, 2014 8:30-10 a.m.

Anne Cutter Coburn Reception Room

Middle School Parent Preview

for parents of prospective students grades 5-8 Thursday, November 13, 2014 8:30-10 a.m.

Anne Cutter Coburn Reception Room

ISEE Testing

for prospective students grades 5-12 Saturday, November 15, 2014 8 a.m.-12 p.m.

Anne Cutter Coburn Reception Room

Upper School Parent Preview

for parents of prospective students grades 9-12 Tuesday, November 18, 2014 8:30-10 a.m.

Anne Cutter Coburn Reception Room

Primary Visitation Day

for parents of prospective students grades 1-4 Friday, November 21, 2014 8:30-10:30 a.m.

Anne Cutter Coburn Reception Room

for prospective students grades 5-12 Saturday, January 31, 2015 8 a.m.-12 p.m.

Anne Cutter Coburn Reception Room

february

Current Eighth Grade Parent Preview

Kindergarten Curriculum Night

Application Deadline for Early Decision Round

Kindergarten Screenings

Tuesday, December 9, 2014 8:15-9:30 a.m.

Anne Cutter Coburn Reception Room

october

ISEE Testing

for grades 4-12 Friday, December 12, 2014

Imagine High School

for current eighth-grade students and prospective ninth-grade students Wednesday, December 17, 2014 9:45 a.m.-12:45 p.m.

Anne Cutter Coburn Reception Room, The Ahuja Auditorium, Atrium

january

Primary Visitation Day

for parents of prospective students grades 1-4 Wednesday, January 14, 2015 8:30-10:30 a.m.

Anne Cutter Coburn Reception Room

CCIS Admission & Financial Aid Early Decision Date for prospective students with completed admission files grades 4-12 Friday, January 16, 2015

Accepted Upper School Student Dinner for accepted students and their parents grades 9-12 Thursday, January 22, 2015 6-8 p.m.

Atrium, Margery Stouffer Biggar ’47 and Family Dining Hall

Infant & Toddler, Early Childhood, and Kindergarten Open House

for prospective Infant & Toddler – Kindergarten families Saturday, January 24, 2015 10-11:30 a.m.

Courtland Boulevard Entrance

Kindergarten Visitation Day

for prospective Kindergarten families Wednesday, January 28, 2015 8:30-10 a.m.

Anne Cutter Coburn Reception Room

Middle School Parent Preview

for parents of prospective students grades 5-8 Thursday, January 29, 2015 8:30-10 a.m.

Anne Cutter Coburn Reception Room

Kindergarten Screenings

for prospective Kindergarten and current Pre-Kindergarten students Friday, January 30, 2015 9 a.m.-2 p.m.

Kindergarten Classrooms

CCIS Grades 4-12 Early Decision Round Reply Date Friday, January 30, 2015

for current and prospective parents of rising Kindergarten students Wednesday, February 4, 2015 7 p.m.

Kindergarten Classrooms

for prospective Kindergarten and current Pre-Kindergarten students Friday, February 6, 2015 11:30 a.m.-3 p.m.

Kindergarten Classrooms

Early Childhood Screenings

for prospective Early Childhood families Saturday, February 7, 2015 9 a.m.-12 p.m.

Early Childhood Classrooms

Middle School Reverse Egg Drop

for accepted students grades 5-8 Wednesday, February 11, 2015 3:30-5 p.m.

Atrium, Margery Stouffer Biggar ’47 & Family Dining Hall

Infant & Toddler – Grade 3 Application Deadline

for prospective students Infant & Toddler-Grade 3 Friday, February 18, 2015

CCIS Infant & Toddler – Grade 3 Admission & Financial Aid Decision Date rolling admission grades 4-12 Friday, February 27, 2015

march

Primary Acceptance Day

for newly accepted K-4 families Tuesday, March 3, 2015 9:30 a.m.

Anne Cutter Coburn Reception Room

Infant & Toddler and Early Childhood Acceptance Day for accepted Infant & Toddler Center and Early Childhood parents Friday, March 6, 2015 9:30 a.m.

Anne Cutter Coburn Reception Room

CCIS Early Childhood – Grade 3 Admission Reply Date Wednesday, March 11, 2015

Eighth Grade Musical Reception for new families grades 5-8 Sunday, May 3, 2015 2-2:30 p.m.

Anne Cutter Coburn Reception Room

Middle School New Family Orientation for new families grades 5-8 Tuesday, May 5, 2015 8:15-11 a.m.

Anne Cutter Coburn Reception Room, Worldwide Communications Center, The Ahuja Auditorium

Rising Upper School Mentor Lunch and New Upper School Student Placement Testing for current students grade 8 and new students grades 9-12 Wednesday, May 20, 2015 11:30 a.m.-3 p.m.

Anne Cutter Coburn Reception Room, The Ahuja Auditorium, Atrium

june

Early Childhood Orientation for all new Early Childhood families Monday, June 1, 2015 4 p.m.

Playground Patio

Parent Kindergarten Orientation Night for all rising Kindergarten parents Tuesday, June 2, 2015 7 p.m.

Prime Music Room

Primary New Family Ice Cream Social

for all Kindergarten families, new families grades 1-4, and host families Wednesday, June 3, 2015 6-7 p.m.

Playground Patio

Located in beautiful Shaker Heights, Ohio, Hathaway Brown School is an important part of the Greater Cleveland community. Because we’re just a few minutes outside of downtown, HB students have the opportunity to appreciate many of the city’s fantastic arts and cultural offerings on a regular basis.

Cleveland is an ever-evolving mecca of innovation. With worldclass healthcare facilities, cutting-edge biomedical research labs, an amazing array of museums, galleries, and performing arts venues, the city has quite a bit to offer in the way of groundbreaking technology and creativity.

From University Circle to PlayhouseSquare to the Historic Warehouse District and everywhere in between, there’s plenty in the region for HB students to discover and explore.

Middle School New Family Picnic

For new families grades 5-8, and host families Monday, June 8, 2015 5-7 p.m.

Margery Stouffer Biggar ’47 & Family Dining Hall Patio

Upper School New Family Picnic

for new families grades 9-12 Tuesday, June 9, 2015 5-7 p.m.

Margery Stouffer Biggar ’47 & Family Dining Hall Patio

Several HB Upper Schoolers are members of the Cleveland Youth Rowing Association, with teams of students from numerous regional school who crew on the Cuyahoga River.

HB

may

31

Non-Profit Org. U.S. Postage

19600 North Park Boulevard Shaker Heights, Ohio 44122

PAID

Cleveland, Ohio Permit #3439

The best way to get to know Hathaway Brown is to come see us.

Call 216.320.8767 today to schedule a personal tour.

We’d love to show you around.

Extensive additional information about HB, including overviews of all our signature customized academic programs, may be found at www.hb.edu. Navigate to the Admission tab for details about interviews, student visits, applications, screenings, and financial aid. Be sure also to “like” Hathaway Brown School on Facebook and follow us on Twitter @HathawayBrown.

Photo by Keith Berr

learn more.

FSC/RECYCLE LOGO