Fall Parents' Weekend

 

It is time to register for Fall Parents' Weekend.

 

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Mid-Autumn Festival

The Hill School celebrated Mid-Autumn Festival on September 8. We served traditional Chinese cuisine, including moon cakes!

The Hill School launches 164th year with new construction, courses, planning – and students!

Headmaster Lehman welcomes parents at a preseason reception at the new Lehrman '56 Pavilion

The Hill School will proudly and officially launch its 164th academic year, with Convocation on Sunday, September 7, and classes beginning Monday, September 8. About 200 preseason athletes arrived Sunday, August 24 to begin practices; international students will arrive Thursday, September 4; our 178 new students arrive Friday, September 5 to meet advisers, begin orientation, and enjoy a cookout and other fun activities. Returning students arrive “home” on Saturday, September 6.

This coming year’s 515-member student body includes young men and women from 27 states and 26 foreign countries. Our students will benefit from 15 talented new faculty members (10 women and five men) coming from a range of backgrounds and communities as near as Pottstown and as far away as South Africa. Three of Hill’s faculty member will be living in new homes dedicated this past June in the School’s East Campus Faculty Village located off Green Street in Pottstown.

Students will explore a number of new courses including a team-taught AP Physics 1 with Pre-calculus Honors course; introductory Arabic; pilot STEM initiatives; a financial literacy workshop for sixth formers; new offerings in the fine and performing arts including term courses in animation, digital media, and Music Appreciation Through Technology; a course on the history of jazz; and an English 4 Honors course on literature and religion. This year the first-rate Jonathan Silverstein ’09 Electronic Media Studio, dedicated in June, will be put to good use.

In athletics, three new club sports will be offered this year: crew, fencing, and equestrian. The crew season will consist of winter conditioning before hitting the water in the spring; fencing will be offered in the winter only; and organized support will be offered for equestrians in the spring. The Hill is excited to introduce three new head varsity coaches who will lead four programs. New faculty member Clarence Oliver will head the girls’ and boys’ tennis teams; Dave Rackovan will head football; and returning English teacher Sue Repko has been promoted from assistant coach to head coach of the varsity girls’ basketball team. Blues’ fans should look for coming additions of new permanent dugouts and a new electronic scoreboard at the varsity softball diamond. 

Students and faculty will enjoy an updated John P. Ryan Library, where summer construction involved a reconfiguration of the Information and Technology Services offices and other public spaces. All area visitors who use the School’s Far Fields athletics facilities (which now include the new turf Briggs S. Cunningham ’26 ’50 Field and Harry L. Price Field and the William West Hauser ’81 track) will experience the new Lehrman ’56 Pavilion (designed by Hill alumnus and architect Richard McElhiney ’71) and its rooftop observation deck, concession stand, restrooms, and other facilities including new parking accommodations. Other construction and facilities upgrades occurring over the summer have include substantial renovations to the Sherrill Guest House and several faculty homes, and the addition of landscaping, attractive fencing, lighting, and other improvements throughout campus. 

The School closed the 2013-14 fiscal year very successfully, with a record $3.3M+ Hill Fund. The Hill School now has entered the two-year leadership phase of a comprehensive fundraising campaign to address goals including enhancing our living-learning environment through essential campus renovations and additions; greatly increasing the School’s endowment for student aid; growing the School’s endowment for teaching faculty compensation; supporting The Hill Fund for vital annual support; and securing funds for an initiative that will address our neighborhood’s aesthetics and safety, increase home ownership, and promote commercial and retail development.

In addition to continuing and strengthening our vibrant community service program, The Hill looks forward to again partnering with the Pottstown School District and Borough to conduct our second annual CARES Day clean-up throughout Pottstown’s downtown on Friday, October 24.

A big “welcome home” is extended to all new and returning students, faculty, staff, and families – and we hope to see our alumni family back on campus soon, as well.

Visitors please be mindful of Rt. 422 Armand Hammer ramp closures

For visitors traveling eastbound on Route 422, please be aware that both the Armand Hammer Exit on and off ramps will be closed for two months September 3 through November 15. View a map of the detour here.
When traveling EAST (from locations such as Reading, Lancaster, and other points south from Pottstown), please continue driving past the Armand Hammer exit to the Sanatoga exit. At the top of the Sanatoga off-ramp, turn right at the traffic light onto Evergreen Road; turn left at the next traffic light onto Rupert Road; turn left at the next traffic light onto E. High St. (a Turkey Hill convenience store/gas station will be ahead of you).
Continue to follow E. High St. for approximately 2.2 miles. Turn right onto Beech St. (WaWa will be on your left; a Dunkin Donuts will be on your right). The entrance to The Hill School will be .9 miles on your left.

Memorial information shared regarding tragic loss of recent graduate

UPDATE, Thursday, August 28:

We wish to provide this new information regarding the terrible news of yesterday (as noted below).

The memorial service for John Brewster Hill, class of 2014, will be held at 10 a.m. on Friday, Sept. 5, at Oglethorpe Memorial Park on St. Simons Island, Georgia. John’s parents, Charles Hill and Tracy Brown, and John’s beloved sister, Caroline Hill, request that in lieu of flowers donations be made to The John Brewster Hill Wrestling Fund. Gifts in remembrance of John may be sent to the attention of the Advancement Office of The Hill School at 717 E. High St., Pottstown, PA. 19464 or submitted through The Hill website.

John’s family members are so grateful for the thoughts and support being provided by their son’s extended Hill family.

Cameron Isen '14 has shared the following heartfelt tribute to his Hill roommate and dear friend:

"Very few people can fulfill a lifetime’s mission in 18  short years, yet John Brewster Hill did just that. By no coincidence, John was always surrounded by people who loved and cherished him. He was always willing to grow intellectually, emotionally, and – most apparently - physically. Still, he will be remembered for how he helped us to find the same simplistic joy in life that he carried daily. The charm and enthusiasm that John exhibited will survive through those who love him dearly, and it is our duty to maintain his grand legacy. John was headstrong, driven, and always lived in the moment; he taught me how to enjoy life. His impact on others was always immediate and lasting. 'JC' was a gifted scholar, an exceptional athlete, an extraordinary friend, and he will forever be an irreplaceable brother to us at The Family Boarding School."  

Early Wednesday, Aug. 27,  Headmaster Zachary Lehman received the heart-wrenching news of the death of John Brewster Hill, Class of 2014, a three-year member of The Hill School community. Below is the message he shared on Wednesday with the School’s students, faculty, and staff, as well as John’s Hill classmates:

Dear Hill Community,

It is with immeasurable sadness that I write to share word of the tragic death of John Hill ’14 of St. Simons Island, Georgia, late Monday night in a small aircraft crash near Willoughby Hills, Ohio, in which several people were killed. I learned this devastating news from John’s mother, Tracy Brown, early this morning. Few details are known at this time.

As many of you know, John was an outstanding wrestler and football player, a prefect, and a respected and beloved student. He was beginning his freshman year at Case Western Reserve University.

We will share additional information about services as news becomes available.

Please know that the School’s counselors, Ms. Smith and Mr. Jones; Father Houghton; and Ms. Confer Martens are available to anyone who may wish to talk. The Alumni Chapel will be open today for prayers and reflection.

We know you will keep John; his mother; his father, Charles; his sister, Caroline Hill, and all his family and friends in your thoughts and prayers as our school community comes together to address this devastating loss.

With deep sadness and warmest regards for all of you,
Headmaster Lehman

Please check our website and Facebook page periodically for appropriate updates. We know our extended community shares this loss and that John’s family greatly appreciates the concern expressed for their beloved son by Hill family members.

Friends who wish to send condolences may write to his father, Charles Hill, at 702 East Island Square Drive, St. Simons Island, GA 31522, and to his mother, Tracy Brown, at 179 Raymonds Grant Trace, St. Simons Island, GA 31522.

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