The Hewitt School (New York, New York)

The Hewitt School is an all-girls independent K-12 school in New York City, New York. The school serves girls in three divisions: Lower School (K-4), Middle School (5-8), and Upper School (9-12).

History

Caroline D. Hewitt founded the Hewitt School in 1920. Hewitt was born in England and educated there. She came to the United States in 1902 as a private tutor to a prominent family in Tuxedo Park, New York. After a decade in that position and at the suggestion of the Hoffman family, Hewitt began private classes for children in a townhouse on the Upper East Side. At this time the school was referred to as Miss Hewitt's Classes. By 1920, Hewitt had established a small kindergarten for boys and girls located at the Mannes Music School. Over time, the school expanded and began to exclusively educate young women.

In 1942 Hewitt retired and was succeeded by faculty member Charlotte Comfort. In 1950, the school was granted a charter as a nonprofit corporation. The school moved to its current location at 45 East 75th Street in 1951. In 1955 Miss Hewitt's Classes became The Hewitt School. In 1968, the Gregory Building, named for board of trustees president William Gregory, was built. In 1969 Janet Mayer succeeded Comfort as headmistress and served until her retirement eleven years later. In 1976 the Building Fund Drive added three new stories to the Gregory Building. In 1980 Agathe Crouter succeeded Mayer as headmistress and served until her retirement in 1990. In 1986 a major renovation of the 75th Street Building was completed, adding classroom space and the John and Elizabeth Hobbs Performing Arts Center. In 1990 Mary Jane Yurchak became head of school and then took on a leadership role in integrating academics and technology. In 2000 Linda MacMurray Gibbs became head of school and initiated a long-term plan for its growth. In 2001 the Hewitt community went online, and a revised course of study based on the curriculum mapping process was initiated. In 2002, with a gift from the McKelvey Foundation, Hewitt purchased another townhouse to accommodate the Lower School, beginning in the fall of 2003. This building is named McKelvey in honor of trustee Andrew McKelvey. Also in 2003, a major renovation of the library was completed. Joan Lonergan served as Hewitt's seventh head of school. Lonergan assumed this position in July 2010. In her five-year tenure, Lonergan lead the expansion of the school; the townhouse to the west of the Gregory Building was purchased. Beginning in July 2015, a complete renovation of the buildings was funded and planned under Lonergan's leadership.

In November 2014, The Hewitt School's board president announced that Tara Christie Kinsey would be the eighth head of school. Kinsey's tenure began on July 1, 2015.

Academics

Hewitt's academic program is modeled around four academic pillars: presence, empathy, research, and purpose. The curriculum is based on liberal arts and the practice of inquiry-based learning. The Hewitt School provides STEM education, introducing design challenges in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics classes starting in the lower school, preparing the girls to study robotics in middle school. Other important areas of focus are the foreign language program and foreign exchange program, the creative arts program, which includes both visual and performing arts, and varsity sports teams.

Co-curricular activities

* Hewitt annually participates in New York City's Middle School Model Congress.
* Hewitt competes in rowing (the only NYC girls' school to have crew), track and field, tennis, soccer, volleyball, squash, basketball, and badminton.
* Hawks Robotics team, who regularly qualify for VEX IQ State Championships and have competed in the VEX Robotics Competition World Championships.
*Hewitt Middle School Service and Sustainability Committee is dedicated to creating sustainable and ethical practices within the Hewitt community and throughout New York.

Campus

The Hewitt School is housed in four connected buildings on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. The Upper School (9-12) and Middle School (housed in the adjacent buildings: Gregory Hall, Stillman Hall, and Winslow Hall) (5-8) and (4) are housed at 45 East 75th Street near Met Breuer between Madison and Park Avenues. The McKelvey Lower School (K-3) is in a townhouse at 3 East 76th Street just off Central Park.

Hewitt's four townhouses contain state-of-the-art science labs, art studios, performing arts center, gymnasium and photography labs. The nearby Central Park provides grounds for outdoor activities and St. Jean's Theater is used for arts productions.

On September 6, 2017, Hewitt expanded its campus with the opening of Winslow Hall, an adjoining townhouse on 76th Street. The building is named for Ann Winslow Donelly (Hewitt class of 1966) and was designed by Robert A.M. Stern Architects. It includes a lab for STEM programming and 10 new classrooms.

Notable alumnae

*Phoebe Cates, American actress and entrepreneur
*Sophie Beem, songwriter
* Joan W. Patten, American sculptor, scholar, and preservationist of Mayan art
*Sheila Rabb Weidenfeld, former Press Secretary to First Lady Betty Ford and Special Assistant to President Gerald Ford
*Lee Remick, Academy Award-nominated° actress
*Christina Onassis, Greek heiress and daughter of shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis
*Judith Peabody, philanthropist
*Athina Livanos, heiress of shipping magnate George S. Livanos
*Mary Duke Biddle Trent Semans, philanthropist and heiress
*Nikki Finke, journalist, publisher and blogger
*Brenda Frazier, Depression era debutante
*Julie Harris, Tony and Emmy Award-winning actress, Academy Award nominee.
*Margaret Campbell, Duchess of Argyll, British socialite
*Barbara Hutton, heiress to the Woolworth fortune
*Lady Pamela Hicks, daughter of Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma, a British admiral and statesman
*Patricia Knatchbull, 2nd Countess Mountbatten of Burma, daughter of Earl Mountbatten
*Edith Kingdon Gould, poet, linguist, and actress
*Betsy von Furstenberg, stage and screen actress and writer
*Jean Stein, author and editor
*Cobina Wright, opera singer, actress, and syndicated gossip-columnist

Memberships/Affiliations

* The National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS)
* The New York State Association of Independent Schools (NYSAIS)
* The Parents League of New York
* Independent School Admission Association of Greater New York (ISAAGNY)
* The National Coalition of Girls Schools
* Prep for Prep

References

External links

The Hewitt School Website

{{Authority control

Educational institutions established in 1920
Private K-12 schools in Manhattan
Preparatory schools in New York City
Girls' schools in New York City
*
1920 establishments in New York (state)