Hockaday School - Clubs and Organizations

Clubs and Organizations

Some of the more popular clubs are Quizbowl, Junior Engineering Technical Society (JETS), Pre-Med, Mosaico (the Spanish literary magazine), Art History Appreciation, Environmental Awareness, Video Yearbook, Model United Nations, Race Relations, and Psychology. If a particular club does not exist, students may enlist a faculty sponsor, recruit members, and create a chapter on campus.

Middle School and Upper School schoolers are given the opportunity to contribute to various student-run publications. In Middle School students learn leadership and responsibility in addition to journalism skills as they write, edit and conduct interviews for Newsway, a student-run newspaper that is published several times a year. Currently, Newsway is an option on elective choices. It is not required for Middle Schoolers to attend this elective, but those who choose it may. The Middle Schoolers also put out Banner, a literary magazine which teaches them skills in editing and drawing, layout and design, cooperation, and judging works anonymously. In Upper School, students have the opportunity to experience the atmosphere and process of a professional newspaper while working on The Fourcast. The Vibrato literary magazine showcases the works of upper school students. It was recently inducted into the NSPA (National Scholastic Press Association) Hall of Fame for earning 10 All-American ratings in an 11-year stretch. The school yearbook, "Cornerstones," is produced entirely by students and as such, students are responsible for the design, layout, copy, and photographic content. Freshmen in Upper School have recently been made mandatory to take a class titled "Intro to Journalism" before proceeding to "The Fourcast" or "Cornerstones."

Beginning in the fifth grade there are areas for extracurricular leadership by serving as a club officer or participating in an elected council. Upper schoolers may participate in student government, community service board, the honor council, athletic board, fine arts board, technology board, form council (grades 9-12 are referred to as forms I-IV), academic council and house council (boarding department governing system) as well.

The school has a community service program, which operates in conjunction with St. Mark's. In the middle school, each grade level is required to do service, with supervision by the school, with St. Marks. The program later requires every upper school student to perform at least 15 hours of service every year, although many students far exceed this quota. H-Club, the school's hosts and tour guide society, is a popular program. Another notable organization is Hockaday's debate team, which ranks in the top five nationally for secondary schools.

Although not formally recognized, the Hockaday School has a secret society known as "The Owl Society." Students receive envelopes with the Hockaday insignia that contain owl pins. These pins are then worn on the uniform blazer, outerwear, or blouse.