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.

The Federal Drug Administration (FDA) granted emergency approval use authorization for a coronavirus test that could increase the number of screenings for Covid-19 by tens of thousands per day. The test was developed by RUCDR Infinite Biologics where Rutgers University Prof. Andrew Brooks, a Horace Mann School parent, is chief operating officer and director of technology development. The test requires a person with coronavirus symptoms to spit into a cup, rather than relying on nose and throat swabs, as other tests do. It was approved by the FDA on April 10, 2020, and developed by RUCDR in collaboration with Spectrum Solutions, PerkinElmer, Thermo Fisher Scientific and Accurate Diagnostic Labs.

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.

Sanctuary for Families, New York's leading service provider and advocate for survivors of domestic violence, sex trafficking and gender violence, named Horace Mann School teacher Caitlin Hickerson one its 2020 Pillars of Change honorees, on April 19. 2020. Hickerson, a Middle Division History teacher and MD Service Learning Coordinator, was recognized with this prestigious award at the start of National Volunteer Week, April 19-25, 2020.

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.