| Hawken School | |
| Address | |
|---|---|
| 12465 County Line Road Gates Mills, Ohio, (Geauga County), 44040  United States |
|
| Coordinates | 41°31′38″N 81°23′11″W / 41.52722°N 81.38639°WCoordinates: 41°31′38″N 81°23′11″W / 41.52722°N 81.38639°W |
| Information | |
| Type | Private, Secular, Coeducational |
| Motto | That the better self shall prevail, and each generation introduce its successor to a higher plane of life. |
| Established | 1915 |
| Principal | Ross Peters[1] |
| Headmaster | Scott Looney[1] |
| Grades | P3-12 |
| Enrollment | 950 |
| Color(s) | Red and Gray, but red is so much better [1] |
| Athletics | 22 sports |
| Athletics conference | Chagrin Valley Conference[1] |
| Team name | Hawks[1] |
| Accreditation(s) | North Central Association of Colleges and Schools [2] |
| Athletic Director | Jim Doyle[1] |
| Website | http://www.hawken.edu |
Hawken School is an independent, coeducational, college preparatory day school in Northeast Ohio.
Hawken currently has two campuses, the Lower School in Lyndhurst and the Upper School in Gates Mills. The school is known for its difficult coursework and strong athletics programs, especially men's soccer and women's swimming.[citation needed] Hawken's motto is quoted from John Lancaster Spalding's Education and the Higher Life: "That the better self shall prevail, and each generation introduce its successor to a higher plane of life"; although a sign with the secondary motto, "Fair Play," hangs in every classroom on either campus. A new middle school complex in the Lyndhurst campus was built for the 2006-2007 school year. D. Scott Looney is the current Head of School, having assumed the position on July 1, 2006.[citation needed]
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The school's founder and namesake, James A. Hawken, opened his school for boys in Cleveland's Hough neighborhood in 1915.[citation needed] First housed at 1572 Ansel Road, the school later moved to 1588 Ansel Road, shortly before relocating to its current Lyndhurst campus. Because James Hawken believed in one-on-one education for the boys at his school, the original building on the Lyndhurst campus, now containing part of the middle school, has many rooms designed to seat between eight and ten boys.[citation needed] The school became coed in 1975.[citation needed] Recently, a new building was added on to the Middle School. These new class rooms can hold more students.
Hawken School is an independent, college preparatory day school serving approximately 950 students in preschool through grade 12. Hawken has long-standing rivalries with the three other founding members of the Cleveland Council of Independent Schools: Laurel School, Hathaway Brown School, and University School.
Hawken focuses on respect, fairness, integrity, character, intellect, and empathy. A student learns all of these qualities and learns "fair play" which is one important motto at Hawken. Students at the Lower, Middle, and Upper School campuses also receive an excellent education and extra curricular activities. New students at Hawken are treated with respect. Students have been divided into two different groups, red and gray in the middle school, and Vikings and Cyclops in the lower school. Once they have advanced to the middle school, Vikings turn into red and Cyclops turn into gray. In 4-6th grade, games such as capture the flag or soccer are played and the winner receives points. All students, 4-8th grades, compete once a year at "field day". This is competed at the Lower school. Every student chooses a sport to compete in, along with an assigned relay. At the Upper School, students are sorted by advisory into four houses: Ansel (derived from the name of the original campus at Ansel Road), Bolton (derived from the name of the lower school campus), Chester (referring to Chesterland, the location of the Upper School), and Mather (referring to the new campus at University Circle). The houses each have their own colors, mascots, and crests, and compete for house points through a variety of different activities. The winning house receives the Dobay Cup, named after Alex Dobay '08, who first developed the idea for the system but tragically succumbed to cancer in summer 2008.
Hawken boasts a very strong presence in academic contests. For instance, the Academic Challenge Team won Academic Challenge Television Finals in 2008 and placed third at regionals the same year.[citation needed] The Hawken Speech & Debate Team, a member of the National Forensic League, has also proven extremely successful in recent years, especially on the debate side. Hawken arguably boasts the strongest Public Forum, Policy, and Lincoln-Douglas debate programs in the Greater Cleveland area, and is competitive on the state and national level as well.
Hawken's Latin Club functions as a local chapter of both the Ohio Junior Classical League (OJCL)[3] and National Junior Classical League (NJCL).[4]
At the Middle School, 7th and 8th graders are required to participate in 2 sports seasons per year with 1 1/2 hour practices Monday through Friday. At the high school level, Hawken competes in the Chagrin Valley Conference's Metro Division, along with Cuyahoga Heights, Fairport Harbor, Independence, and Richmond Heights. While most varsity teams have had varying degrees of success, the women's swimming team, coached by Jerry Holtrey, won their eleventh consecutive state championship in 2009.[citation needed] The men's soccer program is a regional power and perennial contender on the state level, with several heartbreaking losses late in the state tournament in recent years. Before the 2007 football season, the football field was updated. New turf was installed, and lights were put up. Since then, the Hawks have played their games on Friday nights. Hawken has had success in High School football including the undefeated 1965, 1985, and 1986 teams. They were division five regional finalists in the 1986 season and state runner up in the 1987 season. Hawken also has the only turf baseball field in Northeast Ohio.
Hawken is also very proud to boast its rich Performing Arts program. This includes a concert band, salsa class, chorus, and chamber chorus, all run by Sergio Castellanos, a professional cellist. The chamber chorus is planning a trip to South America the summer of 2009. Also, there is a Jazz Combo run by Chad Komocki, a Spanish teacher and drummer. Also, last year Hawken brought in a new theatre director, Mike Larochelle, who has helped to run performances of the play Rumors and the school version of the musical Rent last year. They were the first school in the Midwest to perform Rent. This year they performed An Inspector Calls, the English drama by J.B. Priestly, and this winter performed Footloose, the stage adaptation of the famous movie.
Hawken School annually holds a battle of the bands competition in order to raise money for the Seeds of Learning organization. This is run by the head of the Jazz Combo and his brother who every summer take a group of students, with the money raised from the event, to help build schools in Central America through the Seeds of Learning Organization.
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