The first part of my blog series on returning to Hamden Hall focused on what hasn’t changed since I roamed the halls with my Polo shirts, Painter’s pants, and Frye boots. Yes. Those were real things back in 1982.
This time, I want to report on how Hamden Hall looks today. If you haven’t had the chance to return to campus, I strongly recommend that you join us next year for Homecoming or Reunion 2025. All classes are welcome, and you’ll get a chance to reconnect with friends, see some of your favorite teachers, and tour our amazing campus.
Before I begin, let me get all of my “when I was at Hamden Hall…” grumblings out of the way. So, here I go…I remember when the gym had green windows. I remember when the science classrooms were in a mobile home. And, I remember having to get a tetanus shot after banging my head into a rusty nail when I was helping to build the Cushing Cabaret stage.
Okay. I feel better.
To begin, I left my office and walked around campus to take a few photos, and who do you think I bumped into Mr. Zundell, my high school physics teacher! I’m happy to report that he teaches astronomy classes at Hamden Hall twice a week. I tried to impress him with a reference to the second moon that’s been in the news lately, but he quickly corrected me to say that it’s not a second moon, but an asteroid. Just like old times.
After that failure, I checked out the beautiful Taylor Performing Arts Center, state-of-the-art Schiavone Science Center, and incredible Beckerman Athletic Center and Skiff Street Athletic Fields.
While I wish we had those buildings when I was a Hornet, we really need them to continue to keep pace with our growth, demand, and competition. Hamden Hall currently has over 680 students with 79 seniors. Our students come from 50 communities and six foreign countries! To maintain our 6-to-1 student/faculty ratio, we now have 112 faculty members.
In addition to PreSchool through 12th graders, Hamden Hall now offers after-school programs through Grade 8, over 50 varsity and sub-varsity sports at the Middle and Upper School levels, more than 60 clubs and activities, and an eight-week summer program. There is a LOT happening on this growing campus!
Yet, with all that growth, it still feels like a family here at Hamden Hall.
“Similar, but different,” as the expression goes. I can walk around campus and see buildings from my past, but I can also imagine what it would be like to perform on the stage of the Taylor Performing Arts Center. (Hint, hint… Lisa Daly) And, high school students today will come back in 25 years for Reunion 2050 to see how Hamden Hall has gown…and stayed the same. But I’ll cover Hamden Hall’s future in my next blog entry.