The Hun School Viewbook 2023

Find your heart at Hun.

Welcome to The Hun School of Princeton, a bright and spirited learning community where you can...

curiosity, ...chase

Feel emboldened to take calculated risks.

attempt

anything,

balance, discover

Practice this foundational component of a happy life.

In doing so, you will stretch your mind, broaden your perspectives, and develop your voice.

your heart. and f ind

Laughter activates the dopamine reward system—which is important for goaloriented motivation and long-term memory.

Joyful

Great learning happens when classroom experiences can capture imaginations, bring relevance to students’ lives, and are infused with joy. We cultivate a dynamic environment where vigorous academics are enhanced by a spirit of joyfulness that includes experimentation, playfulness, and humor. While this spirit has been long embraced by Hun’s community, emerging neuroscience shows quantitative results for learners: humor can improve student performance by reducing anxiety, boosting participation, and improving focus.

When learning is active, students understand concepts more deeply, retain information better, and develop greater critical thinking abilities. At Hun, you will get up, get moving, and get your hands dirty (sometimes literally) in the classroom.

Hands-On

You may find yourself role-playing a fascinating historical figure, constructing a miniature parachute with recycled objects, or using a laser to refract light. We embrace hands-on learning, which keeps our classrooms buzzing and young minds engaged.

The Middle School

Every day, we help our Middle School students in grades 6-8 funnel raw energy and enthusiasm into intellectual adventure. This is a significant age for you to develop ownership of your studies, foster your talents, and to learn to work both independently and collaboratively with other people. Our goal is to ignite your spirit and enliven your days, providing activities in and out of the classroom that will enrich you mentally, emotionally, physically, and socially. You’ll be well prepared to move on to our Upper School to more intently pursue academic interests. The Middle School is such a rewarding experience that many former students stop by to visit favorite teachers and mentor younger students.

The Middle School Learning Lab is open four afternoons a week and is a great place for students to grow as learners. You can get homework help from a teacher, tutoring from an Upper School student, or study skills assistance from a learning support specialist. Did we mention the Learning Lab has snacks?

STUDENTS IN GRADES 6-8

“Coming from a public middle school, the kids from the Hun Middle School made me feel very welcome. In return, one of the nice things I did was that I dedicated some of my extra time after school to help fellow classmates in the peer tutoring center.”

Middle School students can explore solutions to real-world problems through projectbased learning every January for RadDays, a condensed version of our immersive NextTerm program for Upper School students. You might design a city of the future as engineering meets activism. Or you could devise an eco-friendly plan for rewilding majestic gray wolves. The future needs you to be able to think originally and boldly.

Three times a year, our Middle School students participate in All-School Debates. Under the guidance of our faculty, you will learn to organize an argument, develop credibility, and think quickly on your feet.

Innovative

Innovation and adaptation. These are among the most important skills for our fast-paced, high-tech, ever-shifting society. Every year at Hun, we stop, survey the landscape, and devise teaching methods and skills-based classes that respond to the changes we see. We offer students exciting, stimulating classes that simulate the real world and require students to think critically and creatively. Change all you want, world; our students—adaptable and resilient—are ready for you.

TED SHAFFNER English Teacher

We give our teachers limitless freedom to develop multidisciplinary lessons and projects that are active, exploratory, and experiential.

“The true spirit of innovation is not necessarily about technology or even new ideas, but about teachers continuing to reinvent themselves so they can approach the material in new ways, bringing it to life for themselves and their students.”

The Upper School

We believe a class is most meaningful when students catapult discussions into uncharted territory. This is when the learning becomes personal and captivating, allowing our students to surprise themselves with their deep knowledge, analytical thinking, and ability to reassess and refine an argument. Our goal in the Upper School is to give students the confidence to step into the unknown—from academics to athletics to arts—which translates to graduates with nimble minds and the ability to succeed. In an area rich in academia, Hun students stand out as capable, courageous, and caring young people who want to make an impact on the world around them.

All of our humanities classes use the Harkness method, which positions students at the center of education. Seated around large, oval Harkness tables, students learn in a collaborative environment that invites them to discuss passionately, debate maturely, listen intently, and think deeply—all skills they’ll need in college and beyond. At Hun, talking in class is a must, and students develop the courage to speak up.

As a community, we believe in joyful learning. We challenge our students academically, but even more, we expand their potential, their confidence, and their dreams.

UPPER SCHOOL COURSES

Academics

We support a culture of innovation that encourages our gifted teachers to discover and design cutting-edge teaching methods that respond to the global community. Our teachers’ passion and curiosity are infectious, and they create lively classroom experiences that allow you to acquire skills and truly absorb content, rather than simply memorize and recite it. Our students acquire real-world skills that help them become problem solvers who embrace challenges and take risks. And because Hun students are hands-on, our vigorous curriculum has real staying power. Our unique approach allows students to direct their own education and seek individual support from teachers, mentors, and peers.

Each day, students can use the dedicated extra help period to seek oneon-one guidance from teachers or study in small groups.

UPPER SCHOOL COURSES

INTERDISCIPLINARY

Experiential learning at Hun culminates each year with our signature program NextTerm, a three-week project-based immersive semester that gives students permission to act on their passions, curiosities, and interests. Each May, students will press the pause button on life as usual to embark on a time of intense discovery.

Experiential

NextTerm gives students opportunities to develop knowledge and skills through engaging projects with realworld experts. Each course is designed for students to think beyond themselves, and to explore and find solutions to some of the most pressing issues of our time. And because of NextTerm’s team approach, students practice collaborating with their peers while experiencing new places together, near Hun and around the world.

We believe it’s not just about what you learn; it’s how you learn it, so experiential and project-based learning are strongholds at Hun. Our classes are immersive experiences, sparking passions and honing critical skills. For example, you may be leading a presentation that debates the social implications of eradicating a specific disease. Or you might work with a team of classmates to create a board game where the three branches of the U.S. government face off in order to fully understand how historical context, politics, and economics interplay. You’ll be having so much fun, you may not realize you’re drawing from cultural analysis and science while employing logic and using your abilities to reason.

NEXTTERM COURSES OFFERED EACH YEAR

Young people excel when they can draw from real-world experience. Simply put, experiential learning is learning by doing. Research shows that when students interact and engage with material—instead of listening to it or reading about it— their brains fire differently, storing the information more deeply and advancing their high-level critical thinking skills.

Entrepreneurship

New inventions, startups, and disruptors are continuously changing the world. Why should Hun students have to wait until they’re “grown up” to be a part of this innovative surge? We let them harness their passion, intellect, and big ideas right now, providing specific courses to help them launch their entrepreneurial visions.

Scholars Program

In the spirit of Hun’s vision for inspiring passionate inquiry, we offer our students access to a comprehensive and individualized curricular path within Honors. Through our Scholars Program, students can declare an interdisciplinary area of interest and then select courses and experiences that inform and support that study. Working with their advisors, students design a project portfolio that advances their understanding of a particular thesis or guiding question. Following completion of their work and a related capstone experience, they will graduate with Honors.

Cultural Competency

With students from more than twenty countries, diversity is a way of life at Hun. We have a robust Cultural Competency curriculum, with several pinnacle programs in place designed to foster cultural exchange and learning that includes seminars on community and leadership. Students might attend a Martin Luther King Jr. Leadership Summit or travel in our Global Immersions Program. Our students graduate as informed citizens who are used to being part of a global community. By embracing Cultural Competency in our pedagogy, our students develop an openness to others and the ability to evolve as learners and as people.

Global Immersion

Few experiences carry the educational impact of an immersive travel course. Our Global Immersions Program offers courses throughout the year that give students a chance to step out of their comfort zones and experience new cultures. Travel to Belize to study art; Iceland to examine climate change; or Edinburgh, Scotland, for the world’s largest performing arts festival.

Service Learning

Service Learning is an active element of a Hun School education and is embedded in many areas of student life. Students understand their roles in our larger community and embrace the chance to give back. There are opportunities and expectations for students in all grade levels, from helping younger children produce a play to running a school-wide awareness and fundraising event to combat youth homelessness. Not only do students see the impact of their efforts in a real-world setting, they step outside themselves, imprinting the intrinsic value of service to others.

Every aspect of a Hun education is focused on preparing our students to pursue relevance and create meaning in their lives. From ethical decision-making to leadership to effective communication, students learn vital skills as they grow more specialized in academic pursuits.

Dining Hall

Poe Dormitory

Wilf Family Global Commons

The Mall

Carter Dormitory

Katherine Wright Gorrie ’98 Memorial Garden

Mason House

Breen Performing Arts Center and DAYLO Stem Center

Putman Courtyard

The Upper School Chesebro Academic Building

The Hun Middle School

Roberta J. King Outdoor Education Center and Eco Pond

Breen Family Gymnasium

Athletic Center

Grant M. Shipley ’42 Pavilion

James M. Byer ’62 Amphitheatre

Alan Landis Fine Arts Center

Natale Family Athletic Field

Wilf Family Baseball Field

Softball Field

South Field

East Field

Philadelphia Magazine recently named Princeton as its Best Day Trip: “... take a straight shot up 95, and you’ll see a very different New Jersey—one full of art, history, shopping, and natural thrills.”

Princeton

The Hun School has an iconic campus that’s just a stone’s throw from downtown Princeton, a vibrant, intellectual hub. Picture a beautiful, self-contained campus nestled in a residential neighborhood, with Princeton’s museums, libraries, and cafés a walk away. Students live and study in historic architectural buildings sprinkled among newer facilities with modern amenities and cutting-edge technologies. We’re close to many major cities like New York and Philadelphia, making it easy to come and go by car, plane, and train.

PRINCETON

Each day presents an opportunity for students to set ambitious goals and make an effort to improve. As a community, we don’t applaud a student for achieving greatness; we applaud a student for striving for greatness. It’s dedication to this process—digging deep, trusting oneself, learning from mistakes—that ultimately leads students to success.

Dedicated

Hun students have steadfast devotion to giving their all, and that spills out of the classroom into physical and artistic pursuits. They approach both new activities and lifelong passions with equal parts zeal and enthusiasm and work hard to gain skills and grow their abilities.

Athletics

The Hun School wins its fair share of athletic competitions and championships, but we place the highest value on playing each game with grace, resiliency, and respect for others. We believe the athletic arena can help shape each student’s strong character and develop a lifelong commitment to wellness. Our studentathletes understand what it takes to push themselves individually and to work as a team, and each season builds on the legacy of what it means to play as a Raider—an endeavor bigger than self. Many of our alumni become college, professional, and Olympic athletes, but more importantly, ALL learn how to be good teammates and strive for their personal best.

“Playing on a team at Hun has helped in many ways. I made many friends, and we have kept really close even if we’re not in classes together. We work out any conflicts on the field. Playing on a team has helped us become closer and helps me feel connected.”

SPORTS TEAMS

SPORTS AND WELLNESS

BASEBALL

BASKETBALL

CHEERLEADING CROSS COUNTRY DANCE

FENCING FIELD HOCKEY

FITNESS TRAINING FOOTBALL GOLF ICE HOCKEY LACROSSE MARTIAL ARTS ROCK CLIMBING

ROWING SOCCER SOFTBALL SWIMMING TENNIS TRACK & FIELD YOGA

Leadership

Student leadership programs are an integral component of our curriculum. Whether on the field, heading a club, or as part of a formal leadership cohort, we teach students how to connect with and motivate others so they can sharpen their unique leadership styles. Long before they leave Hun, they’re strengthening a supportive peer and faculty network that will prove rewarding for years to come. Student leaders at Hun go on to college and into the workforce with the confidence to speak up, stand out, and inspire others.

Performing and Visual Arts

Music, art, dance, and dramatic literature are meaningful components of a vibrant education. Every day, we help students find and cultivate outlets for individual and collective expression—from conceiving a theme for a social justice mural, to learning the basics of loadbearing construction in stagecraft, to perfecting a Mozart piano concerto. Through engaging in artistic observation and exploration, the talented students in our arts programs have the unique opportunity to experiment with techniques and develop their own unique creative language. Our arts faculty introduce students to new paths of personal discovery and nurture students with lifelong artistic visions.

Our arts curriculum gives students the chance to work on developing their own sense of aesthetics and creative articulation. Whether putting an original spin on an existing work of art or designing the toothbrush of the future, your vision and voice can be brought to life at Hun.

Clubs and Activities

Hun students have numerous opportunities to join clubs and participate in activities that interest them. You may choose to pursue something physical like rock climbing or yoga, to dedicate yourself to practicing modern rhetoric, or to launch a new sustainability initiative on campus. We are committed to bringing balance into the lives of our students and encourage them to pursue whatever brings them joy!

CLUBS

ACADEMIC CLUBS

BUSINESS CLUB

COMPUTER SCIENCE CLUB

DEBATE CLUB

EDGERSTOUNIAN (YEARBOOK)

ENVIRONMENTAL AWARENESS CLUB

FEMALES IN FINANCE

FTC ROBOTICS HUN REVIEW

INVESTMENT CLUB

MATH COMPETITION CLUB MIND GAMES

NATIONAL JUNIOR CLASSICAL LEAGUE

PHILOSOPHY CLUB

POETRY SOCIETY ROCKETRY CLUB

SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH CLUB

THE MALL (STUDENT NEWSPAPER)

SERVICE CLUBS

AFGHAN OUTREACH CLUB

CANCER AWARENESS CLUB

COMMUNITY SERVICE CLUB

DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS

THE FIRST BOOK

FIRST RESPONDERS CLUB

THE GIFT OF SIGHT CLUB

OPERATION SMILE PAWS CAUSE

RED CROSS CLUB

SPECIAL OLYMPICS OF NEW JERSEY

CIVICS CLUBS

CHINESE HISTORY CLUB

CONSERVATIVE CLUB

MODEL CONGRESS

MODEL UN

POLITICON

AFFINITY/CULTURE CLUBS

ASIAN CULTURE CLUB

BLACK STUDENT UNION

BUONGIORNO ITALIA

DIVERSITY CLUB

EUROPEAN CULTURE CLUB

FELLOWSHIP OF CHRISTIAN ATHLETES

FEMALE ATHLETE NETWORK

FRANCOPHONE CULTURE CLUB

GENDER AND SEXUALITY AWARENESS GENDER EQUITY MATTERS

GREEK CULTURE CLUB

HISPANIC CULTURE CLUB

JEWISH CULTURE CLUB

MASALA CLUB

MIDDLE EASTERN SOCIETY YOUNG ABLE VOICES

ARTS CLUBS

ANIMATION CLUB

ARTS IN ACTION CLUB

ASIAN RAP CLUB

CALLIGRAPHY AND MODERN ART CLUB

FASHION CLUB

FILM CLUB

GUITAR CLUB

IMPROV CLUB

MUSIC UNITE

MUSIC PRODUCTION CLUB PHOTOGRAPHY CLUB

HOBBY AND SPIRIT CLUBS

AUTOMOTIVE ENTHUSIAST CLUB

BADMINTON CLUB

CEREAL CLUB

CONNECTIONS CLUB

THE GOLF CLUB

HUNGEON CLUB

LETTUCE CLUB

OUTING CLUB

PING PONG CLUB

POKER CLUB

RUBIK’S CUBE CLUB

SELF-STARTERS CLUB

SKI CLUB

SPIKEBALL CLUB

SPORTS STATS AND ANALYTICS CLUB

TABLETOP GAMES CLUB

TASTING CLUB

ZOMBIE APPRECIATION CLUB

“

The people make Hun. You can talk to anyone—any student in any grade. People are welcoming to each other in a way that you don’t find at other schools.”

STUDENT

From our Anonymous Culture Survey

Hun’s community is made up of an extraordinary group of people who are full of energy, promise, and warmheartedness. Friendly is the word students and their families use most often to describe our community, and we cherish our way of approaching each other with kindness and open hearts. From the moment you step on campus, you’ll be embraced by a community that is welcoming, accepting, and inclusive.

Inclusive

We work actively to create a culture of collective responsibility around inclusion through curricular programming that fosters community and purposefully works to create equitable and safe spaces. Foundational to The Hun School experience is a student-centered education that mentors students in character development and interpersonal skills that will allow them success in high school, college, and life.

Campus Life

While living at Hun, students extend their learning beyond the classroom, using evening hours to meet and study in small groups or to access one-onone coaching with teachers. When our students attend college, living away from home is customary, and they have the independence, study skills, and global mindedness to excel.

Boarding

Our residential experience is specifically designed to offer students an introduction to the wider world in a supportive environment. Students live and learn alongside peers from global cultures and diverse backgrounds, which deepens their understanding of experiences beyond their own. At the same time, our boarding community’s intentionally small size gives students the comfort and sense of home that they need to thrive in a rigorous academic setting.

175 BOARDING STUDENTS

DORM PARENTS AND FAMILIES

Boarding students at Hun report feeling known, loved, and inspired by our community, and they describe our dorm parents as kind, understanding, and caring. Before you know it, you’ll feel a strong sense of belonging.

Hun boarders live alongside nurturing dorm parents (and their families and pets!) and heartstrong friends with familial bonds. The residential community forges a true home: a place to study, relax, recharge, and engage. Living in a dorm is the ultimate college preparatory experience. Students gain independence, agency, and the self-awareness to build and navigate relationships with others.

Weekend Activities

Weekends are jam-packed with exciting activities and academic electives, with plenty of downtime for studying and rejuvenation. Hun is nicknamed “The Fun School of Princeton” because there’s always so much to do. Students often walk into downtown Princeton for bubble tea and a movie, catch a lecture at Princeton University, or join a facultyled trip to a trampoline park—or for a hike. The best part about weekends? Strengthening new and longstanding bonds with friends and faculty.

“

What’s Happening Wednesdays

Everyone at Hun loves What’s Happening Wednesdays—evening programming where we have the opportunity to learn about students’ cultures and traditions, play games, or participate in wellness activities. Some recent favorites have been Cultural Connections—where students present and share food from their home countries including Germany, Canada Cuba, Greece, and Taiwan—Black History Month Family Feud, Faculty versus Student Trivia, Lunar New Year, Hanukkah, Gratitude Bingo, and a variety of mindfulness activities.

Centennial Speaker Series

Each year, The Hun School welcomes a world-class line-up of thought leaders, performers, artists, and activists to share their experiences and expertise as part of our Centennial Speaker Series. This thought-provoking series will give you the opportunity to extend your understanding of pressing current events, to reflect, and to be entertained.

I feel so fortunate to go to Hun because I know that the community is just not the same anywhere else. No other school’s faculty would be so dedicated to partaking in students’ cultures and making them feel at home like at Hun, and it is very much appreciated.”

Reflections from Ramadan

Supportive

At Hun, we have a shared responsibility for each other and our community. We walk our talk, so when we call ourselves a supportive environment, we’re deliberate about creating one. In both structured and unstructured ways, students can tap into individual mentorship opportunities and advisory relationships with their teachers, coaches, and peers.

We build a powerful foundation of trust between students and faculty through mutual respect and open communication. Our teachers give you the safety net you sometimes need as you continually rise to your personal best. Hun faculty will inspire you to unleash intellectual curiosity, challenge convention, and calibrate your moral compass.

Hun’s gifted educators are energized by teaching and mentoring young people and are constantly honing a cuttingedge curriculum. They are also experts in their respective fields—bioethicists, professional artists, robot engineers, and historians—allowing them to teach from authentic places and make relevant connections across disciplines. They know that “to teach is to learn twice,” so they often challenge students to take the lead and teach each other.

Hun’s faculty are there for you during our daily dedicated Extra Help Periods. It’s a time and space to ask questions, dive deeper into a subject, get one-on-one tutoring, and build bonds with your teachers.

Everyone needs a home base, and for Hun students, that’s your advisory. Your advisory consists of a faculty advisor and eight to ten other students with whom you meet regularly to discuss, well, pretty much everything!

93%

Every year, Hun students are accepted to more than 200 colleges and universities around the country and the world. Our college counseling curriculum begins freshman year and emphasizes getting to know yourself, so you can choose the right school and stand out.

Some of the schools that are consistently popular among Hun graduates include:

Boston College

Georgia Institute of Technology

Gettysburg College Johns Hopkins University Lehigh University

New York University Northeastern University

Penn State University Princeton University

EACH YEAR

College Counseling

Our college counseling process gets personal. What we mean is this: our college counselors spend quality time with our students, so they can understand where they’ll thrive best. Does a student flourish in an urban environment or feel most comfortable at a small school? Does a student want to be challenged academically or grow artistically? What grants, scholarships, and financial aid can help make college affordable? Our college counselors are experts at pinpointing ideal matches for each student, setting them up for future success as they embark on college.

The Hun School offers a four-year college counseling curriculum, helping students and their families prepare for the college application process and ultimately guiding them through it. We host dozens of programs throughout the year—from affinity group programming for LGBTQI+ students, HBCUs, women’s colleges, and collegiate studentathletes—to college list development, visits, interviews, and program selection.

Purdue University Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Syracuse University Tulane University University of Pennsylvania Vanderbilt University Williams College

OF SENIORS ARE ADMITTED TO ONE OF THEIR TOP THREE SCHOOLS

Well-being

Students learn, perform, and live their best lives when they have a deep sense of well-being. We prioritize mental and physical health, knowing that finding a balance might look different for each student. Opportunities abound to nourish the body and mind, strive toward personal growth, and create healthy relationships with adults and peers.

At Hun, students learn about health, wellness, and healthy relationships in all aspects of our curriculum and programming, including Middle School Orientation, ninth and tenth grade Seminar, Wellness Days, and guest speakers. We stay calm and focused whether meditating, attending an aromatherapy session, joining (or starting) a club, checking in with a counselor, or hiking campus trails.

Caring

We understand that parents and families are entrusting us to educate their children and to ensure they have a loving and joyful passage into adulthood. We use a student-focused approach as we plan every facet of the Hun experience—from academics to athletics to residential life—which helps us best care for and support every young person on our campus. This feeling of being cared for and known allows students to develop their own curiosity and capacity for personal wellness and emotional intelligence.

Healthy eating promotes successful learning and all-around wellness—and teenagers love food. Our dining hall serves meals cooked from scratch, using seasonal, locally sourced ingredients alongside glutenfree and vegan options. Outside of meal times, grab-and-go foods like fruit, bagels, sandwiches, and hummus with veggies are readily available. Studying in Global Commons? Stop by the PA Café for pizza, wraps, salads, chicken tenders, drinks, and dessert. You’ll never go hungry at Hun!

We have a carefully calibrated formula for a balanced education: challenging academics combined with an all-embracing emphasis on personal growth and development. Every day presents an opportunity for students to work individually with teachers and mentors, share their experience with beloved friends and peers, and interact with one of the most intellectually inspiring communities in the world here in Princeton.

Balanced

A Hun School education is highly personal; it is transformative; and it is balanced. It will push you to new heights and broaden your idea of success. Because, quite simply, we are the very best at what we do.

How to Apply

Scan the QR code to begin the admission process.

1

MAKE THE CALL

Call (609) 921 7600 or email admission@hunschool.org to schedule a tour and interview.

2 CLICK SUBMIT

Fill out the Inquiry Form on our website. This will give us a chance to learn about you as a person with unique interests, goals, and experiences.

3 TAKE THE TOUR

During your visit, you and your family will be led on a tour of our 45-acre campus. A current Hun student will guide you, highlighting dormitories, academic classrooms, and extracurricular facilities. They will also happily talk with you about life at The Hun School.

4 HANG OUT AND CHAT

ADMISSION OFFICE

THE HUN SCHOOL OF PRINCETON

176 EDGERSTOUNE ROAD

PRINCETON, NJ 08540

(609) 921-7600

ADMISSION@ HUNSCHOOL .ORG

After your tour, you will meet individually with an admission counselor. You will have the opportunity to ask questions about The Hun School, and we will have a chance to get to know you better.

176 EDGERSTOUNE ROAD PRINCETON, NEW JERSEY