Click here to listen to this week’s JAM – Let’s Go, Bears!
Last May, we took the members of the Class of 2027 (our current 8th graders and the founding class for the high school) to visit the Downtown Campus. As students entered the Armory, the building that will house our gym, they were impressed with the space. Then, when they started to talk and heard the acoustics, their enthusiasm grew. “This is going to be an incredible home court advantage for our teams,” they remarked. Every time I think of their comment, I close my eyes and picture the scene – a packed gymnasium, students and families chanting, “Let’s go Bears”, and our Hillbrook players streaming onto the court for a playoff game.
One of the most exciting – and important – programs that we are developing this year is our athletic program. Competitive high school athletics is a key part of the experience we are designing for our students. From the first year, we plan on fielding a variety of teams, and by year two and three, we expect to be well on our way to building out a full varsity athletic program. We know that one of the greatest strengths of a small independent school is offering excellent athletics and creating opportunities for all students to be part of a program. Unlike some of our bigger area high schools where only a small number of students can participate, we will be able to balance competitive programs with participation. There are many small independent schools that show how this works, including Woodside Priory, Castilleja, and Menlo School.
How are we going to get there? The first step is to hire an experienced and dynamic athletic director. This will be our third hire as a school – following our successful hires of Upper School Head Mike Peller and Director of College Counseling Charley Burkly – and we are excited to start receiving applications in the weeks ahead. The Search firm Carney, Sandoe is helping us conduct a national and even international search.
Once hired, the Athletic Director will work with Mike and members of the Class of 2027 to determine the best sports for our founding year. We expect to have certain key sports – volleyball, basketball, cross country, track and field – and are also excited about the possibility of many other sports – lacrosse, soccer, eight-man football, swimming, water polo and tennis just to name a few. This is yet another example of the incredible opportunity our founding students will have to help us co-create our program. We will also begin the process of finding the best league in which to compete, and looking for additional facilities to supplement our gym.
And, of course, we will have to get the students and other community members to help us come up with a name for the Armory Gym. The Bear’s Lair? House of Hillbrook? Something else? And what about that warm-up song? “All I Do Is Win,” “Hall of Fame,” or perhaps the old San Francisco Giants classic, “Don’t Stop believing.” Just close your eyes, put on the song, and let the crowd noise rise up around you…..