Hackley School is a private college preparatory school located in Tarrytown, New York, and is a member of the Ivy Preparatory School League. Founded in 1899 by a wealthy philanthropist, Frances Hackley, the school was intended to be a Unitarian alternative to Episcopal boarding schools. Since its founding, Hackley has dropped its Unitarian affiliations and changed from all-boys to coeducational.
The current Head of School is Charles Franklin.
History
Founding
Frances Hackley
Frances Hackley, a wealthy widow and leading supporter of the Unitarian movement, decided to give her summer mansion in Tarrytown to a school for boys. She provided substantial funding to refurbish the mansion for school purposes and to operate the school for several years.[1][2]
In the spring of 1899, a board of trustees was formed and a headmaster hired. The first students arrived in the autumn of 1899 and resided in what is today called Hackley Hall.[3]
Expansion
Hackley Lower School in 1908
In the fall of 1899, Theodore Chickering Williams and Seaver Buck, the first headmaster and the first master hired, respectively, searched for additional land. They found a large estate for sale near the grounds of what later became Marymount College, and purchased it with funds from Hackley. The buildings on the estate were torn down immediately, and within a short period, construction began on the buildings that would eventually join to form the Hackley quadrangle. The first buildings constructed were Goodhue Hall and the Minot Savage building. They were in use for the first time in 1902–1903. The remaining buildings, including the Sarah Goodhue King Chapel and the Headmaster's house, were completed by 1908. Inscribed above one of Hackley's doors is the phrase "Enter Here to Be and Find a Friend."[3]
From the beginning Hackley was non-sectarian, but shaped by Unitarian values. An early and influential president of the board of trustees was Samuel A. Eliot, a Unitarian minister.[4] A vigorous interscholastic sports program began during the first years with football already prominent in 1900–1901.
Of the faculty of twelve, six have been with the school for periods of from ten to twenty years. It is distinctly a college preparatory school. A handbook published in 1920 stated that "Of the two hundred and sixty alumni the great majority have entered Harvard and Yale. The boys come from well to do families, chiefly of New York and New England."[4]
Clarence Francis, a famous industrialist at the time and special consultant to President Dwight D. Eisenhower, was the commencement speaker at Hackley in 1959, in order to commemorate the school's sixtieth anniversary.[5]
Headmasters
Walter Boutwell Gage, among the teachers who taught in Hackley's first term, was made headmaster in 1908.[4] Peter Gibbon published a book titled A Call to Heroism in 2003. He also wrote for several newspapers, magazines, and professional journals. Walter Johnson was the eleventh headmaster from 1995 to 2016.[6]
Destruction of Goodhue Memorial Hall (2007)
On August 4, 2007, a fire, sparked by an intense lightning storm, destroyed Goodhue Memorial Hall. The Kaskel Library and its 27,000 volumes, artwork, and other resources were lost. The stone facade of the building remained intact.[7]
In September 2010, Goodhue Memorial Hall reopened, with the Sternberg Library and computer labs located on the new second floor. In total, over 8,000 sq ft (740 m2). of space was added to the building.
Academics
Courses additional to the core curriculum include Creative Writing, History of Western Theater, Seminar in Moral Philosophy, Economics, History of Media & Culture, Art History, Calculus, Finite Mathematics, Statistics, Organic Chemistry, Marine Biology, Ecology, Etymology, Computer Science, Electronic Publishing, Studio Art, Three-Dimensional Sculpture and Design, Architecture and Design, Ceramics, Photography, Filmmaking, Music Theory, Seminar in Music Listening, Acting, Seminar in (music) Composition, and Opera and Jazz, and Student Teaching (where high school students assist in lower school classes).
Music
Hackley is known for the quality of its musical training. Composer Charles Griffes taught there from 1907 until 1920.[8]
Student Life
Sports
Hackley School is a part of the Ivy Preparatory School League. There are teams for boys and girls in most of the sports typically offered by New England prep schools.
Boarding program
The Upper School's five-day boarding program provides a combination of school and academic concentration during the week coupled with family and home life on the weekends. The program houses up to 30 students of all genders.
Student body
Newsweek editor Naveed Jamali, who attended the school briefly around 1990, wrote of his lasting memory of the student parking lot: it was filled with "shiny new" expensive cars like Porsches and BMWs.[9]
^Schneller, Walter (2002). Where the Seasons Tell Their Story: Hackley School's First 100 Years.
^ abSchneller, Walter L. (January 1, 2002). Where the Seasons Tell Their Story: Hackley School's First 100 Years. Hackley Alumni Association. ISBN0971897700.
^Anderson, Donna K.; Sperry, Paul; Griffes, Charles (September 1990). "The Songs of Charles Griffes". The Musical Quarterly. 47 (1): 231. doi:10.2307/940572. JSTOR940572.
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