This month, The 805 has played host to a group of four Middle School students and a teacher from Colegio Bilingüe ANAN school in Quito, Ecuador! During this two-week Round Square visit, each of our Ecuadorian friends is staying with a HIES host family and shadowing a Middle School student, a.k.a. their “Bear Buddy,” to get a taste of what life is like at HIES and in Atlanta. It has been a wonderful opportunity for our students to make global connections and see our school and city through a new lens. Thank you to the Middle School families and faculty for helping our visitors feel welcome!

On Wednesday, April 17, our Middle School baseball team won the 2024 State Championship! After a send-off parade with their peers, the Golden Bears took down Greater Atlanta Christian School in the championship game with a score of 11-3. Congratulations to our Middle School Baseball Bears on a fantastic season. Go Bears!

Every single Lower School student went all-hands-in on Thursday, April 18, for a division-wide service learning project called "Bears Pause 4 Paws." The students spent the afternoon creating bags full of dog treats, toys and supplies for Lifeline Animal Project Atlanta. Everyone had an important role to play as students and teachers worked at specific stations with the other members of their House. Thursday's event was just one piece of an ongoing initiative that has included supply drives, shelter visits and fundraisers led by our Service Learning and Leadership Ambassadors, who are overseen by Mr. Jason Harrell and Mrs. Sarah Winter. The event was a huge success thanks to the support of the entire Lower School faculty, and Upper School volunteers Gigi Core '27, Meriwether Jaax '27 and Mary Fuller '27. Great work, Lower School!

On Wednesday, April 17, a special celebration was held at Holy Innocents' Episcopal Church to honor the 25th anniversary of Horizons Atlanta at HIES. Ms. Kate Kratovil, HIES site director, spoke about the history of this special partnership and celebrated many of its amazing supporters. Ms. Emily Hannan ‘17 received the Horizons Legacy Award, reflecting her dedication to the program as a volunteer and for spearheading the creation of “Broader Horizons,” an expansion of the program focused on college prep. We are so grateful to the many members of the HIES community for their ongoing support of Horizons and its mission!

On Tuesday, April 16, our College Counseling team hosted another great Lunch and Learn for Upper School students. This week's event was focused on the world of business, and students got to hear from a panel of professionals working in four different business sectors about their career paths. It was so helpful for our Golden Bears who someday want to major in business to hear their college and career advice first-hand. Thank you to Mr. Bryan Cruce, Mr. Geoff Malcom ‘06, Mrs. Anna Marie Fulbright Fulbright ‘11 and Mr. Ed Knapp, chief financial officer at HIES, for taking the time to share your stories with our students.