Emma Willard School is a place to discover what it means to be your best self. We commend you on taking the initiative to seek out the perfect school for you. By doing so, you already show that you are ready for something more than the high school experience.
Madame Emma Hart Willard founded her school on the basis of providing girls with a first-class education that challenged, inspired, and enabled them to serve and shape their worlds.
More than 200 years later, Emma Willard School proudly continues to carry on this mission.
Emma Willard School's curriculum allows girls to focus their future aspirations, and equips them with the interdisciplinary knowledge competitive colleges are looking for.
Our academic program offers more than 140 courses, including Advanced Placement options, where girls engage in discourse that brings context to high-level concepts and understanding of the world we live in. Personalized study programs enable girls to dive deep into a topic or field of their choosing, and gain hands-on experience.
Education at Emma isn’t limited to the classroom—it’s woven into the fabric of our community. With girls from around the world and across the United States, and faculty and staff with a wide breadth of life experiences, you will broaden your perspective the moment you walk onto campus.
Bonds created between Emma Girls in the residence and dining halls, while practicing for an athletics match or arts performance, at one of our many cherished traditions, and all the little moments in between, define many girls’ Emma experience.
We continue to celebrate the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. We are pleased to share our final faculty reflection. Archivist/History Instructor Nancy Iannucci shared her reflection about Dr. King during an all-school assembly on MLK Day. Ms. Iannucci’s reflection quotes from his "Letter From a Birmingham Jail" and discusses some of the connections that Emma Willard School had with Dr. King and others during the Civil Rights movement, thanks to then Head of School Bill Dietel.
We continue to celebrate the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. We are pleased to share another faculty reflection. History Instructor Carol Bendall shared her reflection about Dr. King during an all-school assembly on MLK Day. Ms. Bendall’s reflection focuses on his "Letter From a Birmingham Jail" and discusses the legal and moral responsibility of obeying laws.
Celebrating Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. at Emma Willard School started with a series of reflections and conversations that took place before the “official day.” Interim Assistant Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Gemma Halfi created a robust schedule that included Capital Region women activists, faculty reflections (Josh Hatala, Katie Holt, Bob Naeher, Drew Levy, Carol Bendall, and Nancy Iannucci) as well as a visit with Dr. Eddie Moore, Jr., the founder and director of the White Privilege Conference (WPC). Dr. Moore, with a PhD in Educational Leadership, is also the founder of the Privilege Institute. The Institute offers research, education, and other resources including a peer-reviewed journal, “Understanding and Dismantling Privilege.” Dr. Moore spent the virtual day providing a workshop for faculty/staff and two for students before presenting his keynote presentation that is detailed in this post. Additional information about MLK Day itself will be shared in a subsequent post.
As we continue to celebrate the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., we are pleased to share faculty reflections. History Instructor Drew Levy shared his reflection on Dr. King during an all-school assembly affectionately known as Morning Reports. Mr. Levy’s reflection focuses on a central theme that Dr. King discussed regarding how we live in our world.
Robert Naeher, PhD, History Instructor and Albert P. Newell Chair of Humanities
As we continue to celebrate the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., we are pleased to share faculty reflections. History Instructor Albert P. and Newell Chair of Humanities Robert Naeher, PhD shared his reflection on Dr. King during an all-school assembly affectionately known as Morning Reports. Dr. Naeher’s reflection focuses on one of Dr. King’s last sermon’s “The Drum Major Instinct.”
In celebration of the life and achievements of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Emma Willard School hosted an intimate four-night symposium highlighting Women of Color who have made invaluable contributions to the Capital Region through their work as activists, artists, and authors in the fight for civil rights, equity, and justice. This programming was one of several events curated for the school wide observance.
Katharine Holt, PhD, Chair, History Department Chair
As we continue to celebrate the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., we are pleased to share faculty reflections. History Department Chair Katharine Holt, PhD shared her reflection on Dr. King during an all-school assembly affectionately known as Morning Reports. Dr. Holt's reflection focuses on hope in dark times and has meaning for today as well as 1968.
P. Joshua Hatala, Director of Curriculum and Innovation
This week and next, Emma Willard School is featuring a series of events and conversations in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Director of Curriculum and Innovation Josh Hatala shared a reflection on Dr. King during an all-school assembly affectionately known as Morning Reports. This reflection focuses on what has become known as the Poor People's Campaign.
As a part of the Emma Willard School Signature program, students have an experiential learning opportunity to deeply explore ideas and interests beyond the classroom. For her project, Lia R. ’21 is in the second year of a two-year effort to create a documentary film focused on the art of storytelling.
Emma Willard School is pleased to have a student-run newspaper, The Clock. From time to time, we are honored to feature articles from the digital newspaper on our blog. Section Editor Eleanor A. '21 writes about what happens behind the screens in a digital teaching and learning experience.
As we step into a brand new year, we find ourselves reflecting on lessons we learned last year. During Morning Reports one morning last fall, Ivyann S. ’23 shared with our school community about some lessons she learned during her family’s COVID quarantine.