Alumni News

The Horace Mann School Girls Varsity Basketball team's Ella Anthony '20 was named co-Player of the Year in the Class B (small school) category by the New York State Sportswriters Association (NYSSWA) on May 7, 2020. The NYSSWA also named Julia Robbins '20 to the Class B 13^th Team All State. Anthony shared her title with Jackie Piddock, a sophomore at South Jefferson High School, in Adams, N.Y. Antony and Robbins were tri-captains, along with Halley Robbins '20, of HM's 2019-2020 championship-winning Lions team. Halley Robbins was named the winner of this year's Coach's Award at HM's winter sports banquet on March 9, 2020.

These days of repeated hand washing and face mask wearing have also given rise to another, more fulfilling, ritual. It's that moment, each evening, when New Yorkers emerge from their homes and open their windows to applaud the healthcare professionals and others at the forefront of the fight against COVID-19. This past Mothers' Day saw a new category added to the "healthcare heroes" we regularly salute: the moms who are also at the center of this crucial effort. Horace Mann School alum Dr. Melissa Leber '00, an emergency medicine physician at NYC's Mt. Sinai Hospital, is one. The mother of two young children, on May 9, 2020 Dr. Leber was recognized on ESPN's Sports Center as a "Mother on the Frontlines." Zooming into the broadcast to thank Dr. Leber for her dedicated and heroic service was none other than the physician's own personal hero—New York Yankee legend Derek Jeter. Click to read more about Dr. Leber, and HM's recent webinar Front Line Report: HM Alumni Physicians on COVID-19.

As Horace Mann School's remote learning initiative concludes its fifth week of providing its students the enhanced education they traditionally experienced on-campus, it's clear the program's success relies on the entire school's participation. Named "HM Online," this program that Covid-19-required school closings necessitated, engages HM's students, Nursery through Upper Division, with their regular roster of academics, art, music, physical education, Service Learning, athletics, co-curriculars, clubs and more. For HM students and teachers, the school's libraries are key to their on-campus learning, and continue to be essential now, as they work remotely, providing resource materials, and teaching research skills, while continuing to encourage the love of literature that Horace Mann School has always fostered.

New York Army National Guard Col. Seth Morgulas '89 and his 369th "Harlem Hell Fighters" Sustainment Brigade are at the forefront of N.Y. State's response to the COVID-19 pandemic. "I currently have about 1,200 of my soldiers on duty," reported Col. Morgulas, who was appointed Commander of the historic 369^th Harlem Hell Fighters Brigade in August 2019. "We are spread out from Albany to New York City." His troops have provided much of the labor to set up the hospital at the Javits Center, said Col. Morgulas. Click to read more.

The Living Through History Project – created by Dr. Emily Straus '91, Upper Division history teacher, and Katz Library Head Librarian, Caroline Bartels – is establishing an archival collection that traces the impact of the global COVID-19 crisis on our community. Alumni are invited to contribute to this repository, which ultimately will be housed in the HM archives. Examples of submissions are photographs, written logs, videos, poems, songs, interviews, artifacts, scrapbooks, and archived communications.

Click for more information.

The HM Gallery is seeking alumni artwork to include in an online collection of COVID-19-era creative works by the HM community of students, employees, and alumni. The artwork can be anything that can be captured in digital format – paintings, drawings, sculpture, photography, video, animation, or crafts, among others.

Click for more details.

Horace Mann School welcomed its students back to classes on March 31, 2020, following their well-deserved spring recess. But, for the school's 1,780 students in HM's Nursery through Upper Divisions those classes are not taking place on campus, but through HM Online. HM Online is Horace Mann School's academic and student life response to the COVID-19 public health crisis that has shuttered schools worldwide. It was launched, officially, on the students' first day back after their break, but was devised, created, tested, and optimized by HM administrators, faculty, and staff over the preceding weeks, before and during the faculty and staff vacation period. Working around the clock with the school's Technology Department, and guided by HM Head of School Dr. Tom Kelly, the school's educators were able to ensure that students would be able to continue their full learning and co-curricular experience remotely, as the novel coronavirus calls for society-wide social distancing. Click to read more.

One week after winning its second Ivy League title in a row the Horace Mann School Girls Varsity Basketball team captured the New York State Association of Independent Schools championship. The top seed going into the game against Masters School on Monday night, February 24, 2020, the Lions led from the start, winning with a score of 55-33. The win marked the first NYSAIS for HM's Girls Basketball team since 2000.

The Horace Mann School Girls Lions Basketball team claimed the 2020 Ivy League title following a decisive win over Riverdale Country Day School in the annual Buzzell Games on Friday, February 14, 2020. The win brought the team its second consecutive Ivy League Championship, with a 12-0 record in the league. The team's 2019 championship brought HM its first Girls Basketball title in 21 years.The Girls Varsity Lions Basketball team has been ranked number one in New York State in its Class B category by the New York State Sportswriters Association (NYSSWA) since Feb. 11, 2019, topping a list of 25 teams from around N.Y. State in their category (AIS/Association of Independent Schools). The team faces its final challenge—the New York State Association of Independent Schools (NYSAIS) championship game against Masters School on Feb. 24, 2020, at 7 p.m. at Fieldston High School.

Horace Mann School senior Brian Wu '20 was named one of 40 top scholars in the 79^th Regeneron Science Talent Search, the Society for Science and the Public announced on January 22, 2020. Wu was selected from among the 300 top science students nationwide announced by Regeneron on January 8, 2020. This list was narrowed down from an original 1,993 highly qualified entrants from 659 high schools across 49 states, Washington D.C., Puerto Rico, Guam and eight countries. Each submitted an original research project for the nation's oldest and most prestigious science and math competition for high school seniors.

The holiday season is a time of tradition. A favorite tradition at Horace Mann School is the annual holiday dinner students host on behalf of children and parents served by Sanctuary for Families, an organization assisting victims of domestic violence and their children. The evening of December 11, 2019, marked this get-together's 27^th year. The dinner brought some 150 mothers and their children, babies through teens, to HM's Cohen Dining Commons for a party featuring craft-making, face-painting, games, and a delicious meal of turkey and all the trimmings, with holiday-themed cake for dessert. The evening began with each child invited to choose a book to take home, upon entering the festively decorated space. The children all left with a specially-packed present, while each mom received an Amazon gift card. In between, the children and parents practiced a line dance taught by members of HM's Upper Division Dance Company, and listened to holiday favorites performed by the UD's Jazz Combo.

Three Horace Mann School alumni were among the honorees in the "Forbes 30 Under 30 Class of 2020," announced on December 3, 2019. The Forbes list presents a selection of 30 honorees in 20 different categories, for a total of "600 young entrepreneurs, risk-takers and game changers who are redefining what it means to innovate and lead by example," according to Forbes.com. This year's honorees were selected from among 15,000 nominees, vetted by judges who included experts in each field, along with "the world's top investors and entrepreneurs."

For the Horace Mann School community, and its art students in particular, the first months of the academic year were enhanced by a special exhibit in the school's Art Gallery. The exhibit, titled "Ways of Seeing" presented deeply evocative paintings by artists from the legendary Blue Mountain Gallery, one of New York's oldest artist-run galleries, together with works by HM student artists.

The Horace Mann School community commemorated Veterans Day 2019 with two engaging initiatives. November 11, 2019 marked the publication of a special issue of The Horace Mann Record that focused on the HM alumni community's involvement in military service. The following day, November 12, 2019, the school's Upper Division participated in a special assembly that brought two HM graduates in military service, and one veteran to the Gross Theater stage to discuss their experiences with students.