Hawken Breaks Ground on New Middle School

On Friday, May 20 Hawken School officially broke ground on its new $12 million Middle School facility, and announced that the 45,000-square-foot building would be named Lincoln Hall, in appreciation for several generations of the Lincoln family`s support of the School. Representing the current generation of Lincolns at the event was G. Russell Lincoln, Class of 1964, his wife Connie; James `91 and Nicole Lincoln, joined by their infant, Finn; and Sam, a Hawken eighth grader. Over 250 guests, including Hawken alumni, parents and grandparents, as well as 500 Lower and Middle School students and teachers, welcomed the Lincoln announcement with prolonged applause. \"It is hard to overstate this family`s generosity to Hawken,\" Hawken Board President Kip Horsburgh told the assembled guests. \"It was even harder getting Russ and Connie Lincoln on this stage today, as they choose to give quietly but powerfully.\" A near-perfect spring day greeted guests, including members of the Hawken Class of 1955, who were on campus marking their 50th Reunion. A part of the 30-minute program was a brief play imagining the moment that Chester Bolton first introduced James A. Hawken to the idea of moving the School to Lyndhurt. The two historic figures in Hawken`s history were portrayed by Upper School teacher Robert Hawkes and his son, Sebastian Orr `03. The new Middle School, expected to be completed in the fall of 2006, will accommodate several innovative methods being used by Hawken to teach its core subjects of history, mathematics, science and language and literature. These innovations include block-scheduling and interdisciplinary studies.