The HSMSE community hosted several thousand visitors on the wettest afternoon and evening in recent memory. Thanks to the teachers, parents, and students who worked through torrential rain to welcome prospective students and their parents. Special thanks to Ms. Kasi, Ms. Hudson, Mr. Dolcy, and Ms. Pecorari, who worked so hard to rearrange the open house to keep people out of the rain as much as possible. The students were heroic, escorting visitors through the downpour. Several prospective parents told us how impressed they were with the HSMSE students: if they were willing to host visitors so graciously on such a wet night, this must be a special school. It was a challenging night, and we're so proud of our students, faculty, and PTA.

Thanks to everyone who joined us at the 3rd annual The One Run to raise money for HSMSE and other participating public schools on Sunday, October 20th. Runners and walkers spent a wonderful morning moving at various speeds along the river. There were prizes for the fastest runners in each age group and for the most successful fundraisers, along with custard provided by Shake Shack (one of the event sponsors). Registration for the race filled, and we exceeded last year's fundraising by more than $1000.

In the last week we hosted two inaugural community-building events. Last week was our lively Freshman/Sophomore parent mixer where we hosted over 60 parents for wonderful food, drinks, and conversation. On Monday, we held a similar event just for Junior parents to swap stories and advice for managing the junior year juggle, all over a delicious Peruvian meal.

We hope these events will inspire more families to get involved in our vibrant and special community.

The cross country team has had an excellent season, with a dozen races and many running-related activities. We kicked off our August practices with our annual alumni vs. varsity frisbee game and held a special practice and picnic on Governors Island. Fourteen freshmen were welcomed into the Flying Dragon family.

Races began in mid-September against Manhattan teams where we competed ably against the likes of Stuyvesant, Hunter, and Beacon high schools. In our first city-wide competition we did very well, with the boys varsity team finishing 1st, and the girls finishing 6th, out of 25 teams. We made a special trip to a meet in Suffolk County where the freshmen boys came in first on an unfamiliar course at Sunken Meadow State Park. In recent days the Manhattan Championships were held, where our boys Varsity team came in 2nd place and secured for the team a berth at the upcoming City Championships. JV boys also came in 2nd in Manhattan, and in the sophomore races boys & girls teams came in 3rd and freshman boys came in 2nd in the borough out of 19 schools.

As we do every year, the team weaves our enthusiasm for the sport into our families and the New York running community. We did volunteer trail maintenance in Van Cortlandt Park where we train and race, and supported marathoners at the Mile 24 water station this past weekend. Also, we held a family picnic in September and participated in the PTA One Run with parents, siblings, and classmates. You can see some our season’s highlights at  https://adobe.ly/2CaSNXz

HSMSE offers a variety of clubs and extracurricular programs for your student to join.

Below is a partial list of HSMSE clubs and programs.

To find out more about individual clubs, go to 

http://www.hsmse.org/school-information/clubs-and-activities/

Fulfilling the 200-hour service requirement helps HSMSE students to build social skills, create a sense of responsibility to their community, and help promote the development of their individual strengths.

Check the Internships and Service page of our website for community service ideas.