Hopkins School News The Razor

Empowering Student Voices: CT SDLC Returns to the Hill

Sonali Bedi '28 Assistant News Editor

For the third consecutive year, Hopkins hosted the Connecticut Student Diversity Leadership Conference (SDLC) on April 6. The event, founded by the Connecticut Association of Independent Schools (CAIS) in 2003, aims to bring students from grades 7-12 and adults from independent schools across the state together for a day of dialogue, networking, and community building, according to the CAIS website.

Hopkins Aims to Improve During Reaccreditation

Rose Porosoff '27 News Editor and Anvi Pathak '26 News Editor

This year, Hopkins is undergoing reaccreditation by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC), a process that helps ensure the school meets high standards across academics, resources, safety, and student experience. According to Head of School Matt Glendinning, the reaccreditation study “examines key factors in a school’s success such as resources, admissions, the academic program, the student experience, health, and safety.” Though reaccreditation is required for NEASC recognition, the process also offers opportunities for reflection and growth. The NEASC process essentially forces a school to undertake this kind of work,” said Glendinning, “and that is fundamentally beneficial for the school, its students and families.”

Patricia Lockwood Inspires and Offers Advice to Student Writers at Assembly

Sarah Solazzo '26 News Lead Editor and Lena Wang '27 News Assistant Editor

Award-winning poet, novelist, and essayist Patricia Lockwood visited Hopkins on March 31 to share her work and speak with students about her writing. During assembly, she read excerpts from her debut novel No One Is Talking About This (2021), poems from her poetry collection Motherland Fatherland Homelandsexuals (2014), and answered questions about her own experience with writing. Selected by the Hopkins English Department out of a 21st Century American Literature class booklist, Lockwood and her visit serve to introduce students to a professional perspective on literature.

A Cathedral Without People: Saying Goodbye to the Hill

Asher Joseph ’25 Editor-in-Chief

As I savor the last few months of my time at Hopkins, I return to Joan Didion's seminal essay collection “The White Album,” which I first read over Thanksgiving break. The Hopkins Drama Association had just closed Shakespeare's "The Tempest," our last production in the Woodbridge Club before we transitioned into the new Academic and Performing Arts Center. Didion writes, “A place belongs forever to whoever claims it hardest, remembers it most obsessively, wrenches it from itself, shapes it, renders it, loves it so radically that he remakes it in his own image.”

Black Excellence: BSU and DivBo Honor Black History Month

Sonali Bedi ’28, Campus Correspondent

Black History Month at Hopkins serves as a time when students are able to honor and learn about the experiences of Black individuals. Throughout February, Diversity Board (DivBo) and Black Student Union (BSU) organized a plethora of events to celebrate Black History Month (BHM) at Hopkins including Spirit Week, movie nights, an affinity lunch, a showcase, gallery tour, game night, basketball tournament, and a final affinity celebration.

Elena’s to Serve Up Advice in Assembly

Rose Porosoff ’27, Assistant News Editor

Nestled into a residential section of New Haven is an ice cream shop called Elena’s on Orange. Elena’s serves three flavors: soft-serve vanilla, oat milk chocolate and a rotating seasonal flavor. Inside the store are bright colors, customers enjoying sweet treats and smiling staff. Elena’s also offers baked goods, hot chocolate and more. Elena’s is owned by Hopkins graduate Elena Grewal ’02, who will speak at assembly on March 28 as part of the Alumni Fellows Program to share her wisdom and perspective.

Hopkins Students Support IRIS Amidst Funding Cuts

Claire Billings ’25, Lead News Editor

On the morning of February 9, amidst piles of snow, thousands of runners gathered outside of Wilbur Cross High School to run New Haven’s 18th annual IRIS Run for Refugees. Among them, a record number of 18 Hopkins student runners and 10 volunteers. Saidan Thapa ’25 and Evan Yan ’25, co-heads of the Hopkins IRIS Club, organized a team of Hopkins community members to volunteer, run, and fundraise for the Integrated Refugee and Immigrant Services, which helps roughly 2,000 refugees reach self-sufficiency each year.

Can the Hilltoppers Find a Middle Ground?

Sarah Solazzo ’26 Assistant News Editor

Every few Wednesdays, the Weissman Room fills with students discussing political issues. Middle Ground, a student-organized conversation platform, tackles a variety of polarized global topics. Similarly, Students United for Racial Equity (SURE) created Community Conversations as a way for the community to engage in discussions about race, identity, and culture. Recent Middle Ground conversations following the presidential election and the Israel-Hamas war have left many students reflecting on what makes for a productive dialogue.

Democracy Speaker Series Tackles Authoritarianism

Aurelia Wen ’27 Campus Correspondent

For the Term Two Democracy Series, Hopkins is welcoming a number of important speakers to campus. As the first speaker of the term, former Nicaraguan pre-candidate for president in the 2021 general election, Juan Sebastián Chamorro, spoke in Assembly on January 24. He also held small group Q&A sessions in the Lower Library in the morning with students and faculties.

SusBo Takes on “Veganuary”

Aiden Chan ’26 Campus Correspondent

In the first week back from break, the Sustainability Board (SusBo) launched its inaugural Veganuary initiative, aimed at promoting sustainable eating habits across the school community. Spearheaded by the Energy Subcommittee, the campaign was based on the Veganuary movement—an annual challenge that encourages individuals to adopt a vegan diet during the entire month of January. The effort also included the support of Ms. Connelly, who documented her experience through promotional vlogs.

After 40 Years of CFBF, StuCo Switches it Up

Rose Porosoff ’27 Assistant News Editor

The Connecticut Food Bank Fundraiser (CFBF) has been around for roughly 40 years and is now in its peak
time of development. Big changes came to the CFBF this year.

Fall Community Service Brings Opportunities Galore

Lena Wang ’27 Campus Correspondent

On and off campus, and even all the way in Hartford, Hopkins students have been serving the community this past fall. Maroon Key, Hopkins’ largest student-run community service board, ran their annual Clothing Drive from September 30th to October 30th, partnering with St. Luke’s Episcopal Church to replenish their clothing closet. Outside of campus, Hopkins has extended its outreach in the Greater New Haven area and beyond.

New Schedule To Be Tested Before Potential 2025-27 Rollout

Sarah Solazzo ’26 Assistant News Editor

Hopkins faculty members are working alongside a redesign team Leadership+Design to implement a new schedule as early as the 2025–2026 school year. The redesign team, led by 15 Hopkins faculty members, is in the process of exploring different prototypes of schedules including trimester and semester based schedules. Matt Glendinning, Head of school, said that before any changes are made, the team will be “piloting the proposed new schedule for a week or two” in order to make changes and understand its impact.

After 40 Years of CFBF, StuCo Switches it Up

Rose Porosoff ’27 Assistant News Editor

The Connecticut Food Bank Fundraiser (CFBF) has been around for roughly 40 years, and is now in its peak
time of development. Big changes came to the CFBF this year.

Fall Community Service Brings Opportunities Galore

Lena Wang ’27 Campus Correspondent

On and off campus, and even all the way in Hartford, Hopkins students have been serving the community this past fall. Maroon Key, Hopkins’ largest student-run community service board, ran their annual Clothing Drive from September 30 to October 30, partnering with St. Luke’s Episcopal Church to replenish their clothing

closet.

Reimagined Lovell Hall To Open Term II

Rose Porosoff ’27 Assistant News Editor Sarah Solazzo ’26 Assistant News Editor

At the start of Term 2, Lovell Hall will again be open and ready for use. Over the summer, significant progress was made on the construction of the new performing arts center. The new Lovell will have nearly twice the square footage as the old Lovell, and, with several levels, lots more volume. Drama teacher Michael Calderone said that “all of Hopkins is going to benefit from the renovation.” Complete with state of the art technology, Lovell “will be a place where we come together as a community,” Calderone shared.

Stacey Abrams to Visit Hopkins for Democracy Assembly Series

Claire Billings ’25 Lead News Editor

As part of this fall’s Democracy Assembly theme, Hopkins will be hosting several important guest speakers, most notably former Georgia State Representative and gubernatorial nominee Stacey Abrams. Speakers will also visit sections of the senior-school Twenty-first Century Democracy elective, designed by Assistant Head of School John Roberts, which studies and dissects different pieces of modern government and involves a distinctive experiential component where students work on a local campaign.

Échange Fantastique: French Students Visit Hopkins

Rose Porosoff

This month, thirteen students and two teachers from Lycée Louis Pasteur in Avignon, France came to Hopkins and stayed with host families throughout the week.