As the head of the venerable Horace Mann School in the Riverdale section of the Bronx, Westchester county native and veteran educator Thomas Kelly admits that it’s all about the teaching.

“Each and every moment that we are together is a teachable moment, one in which both students and teachers challenge each other to mine their worth for all it’s worth,” said Kelly, who has been involved in teaching since his junior year in college and whose daughter Emma Rose has been a student at the school since he took the helm eight years ago.

Kelly, who holds several education degrees including a Ph.D. from Columbia Graduate School of Arts & Sciences and Teachers’ College, said that “hands down, it’s the life of the mind that looms large for everyone within the Horace Mann family.”

He adds that the school’s rigorous academic program is what keeps students motivated and energized, always thinking in entrepreneurial ways. In addition, said Kelly, there is the strong sense of community at Horace Mann School. “At every layer, there is a connective tissue that allows us to both celebrate and care for each other in highly personalized ways.”

The Mann school, with 1,816 students and 240 faculty members, has been in existence for 125 years and functions as a complete private school serving grades N-12 with an 18-acre main campus in Riverdale and a 275-acre outdoor education center in Bethlehem, Conn. The school is one of the 10 largest day schools in the country and was ranked as the second best prep school in the country by Forbes magazine in 2010.

Notable alumni include Pedro Alvarez, a 2005 Mann graduate who now plays Major League baseball for the Pittsburgh Pirates, as well as Samuel Newhouse, a media executive who is one of the top 50 richest Americans.

According to Kelly, some highlights of the school include special events, such as the sixth-grade trip to Colonial Williamsburg, climbing atop a 50-foot Cooperative Adventure Tower at the Dorr Nature Laboratory in Connecticut, or the Middle Division Read-In day, when all students celebrate the same piece of literature.

Kelly said he is especially thankful for the school’s John Dorr Nature Laboratory, where by way of scripted experiences, middle-division students learn essential team-building and healthy risk-taking skills, all while developing a greater appreciation for the physical environment and the need to think carefully about each individual’s carbon footprint.

Speaking more generally about Horace Mann’s academic offerings, Kelly said, “From the core academics to the arts, to the programs at John Dorr, to athletics, and to our robust co-curricular programs, all aspects of the teaching-learning process are valued equally at Horace Mann School.”

Parents of Horace Mann students had nothing but glowing comments on the school and its stellar reputation. “We feel very fortunate to have found the perfect school for our son—one that constantly stimulates him to stretch his mind and exercise his curiosity within an environment that makes him feel safe and nurtured and that makes learning fun, with unparalleled resources to make it all possible,” said Susan, a parent of a 2019 Mann School graduate.  “What more could a parent wish for?” she asked.

Then one of the team’s starters tore a knee ligament, and suddenly a spot in the starting lineup opened up for Scott.

“I guess it was a blessing in disguise,” she said. “Going into the season, I didn’t know if I wanted to keep doing this. Then I was given this opportunity, and since then I’ve been working as hard as I can to keep playing.”

Kelly Scott is heading to medical school next year.

Scott has been a regular in the team’s rotation ever since, always providing the sort of quiet contributions that recently earned her UPenn’s Unsung Heroine Award, which honors “accomplishments that do not necessarily show up in the statistics but contribute to the team’s success.” As a senior captain, she also won a prize for sportsmanship, loyalty and leadership. Scott started all 28 games this season, averaged 10.2 points and three rebounds and compiled 27 assists and 20 steals. She was also named to the Ivy League weekly honor roll three times
“Overall, I had a really fun season,” she said. “We didn’t have all the success we wanted to, but it was a good learning experience.”

With team basketball now behind her, Scott will focus on getting ready for medical school. But she still has time for games against an opponent much tougher than any conference rival—her older brother Will.

Will usually has the upper hand. He is, after all, the all-time leading scorer at Collegiate and a three-year member of the Louisville basketball team, a powerhouse program that has reached the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament the past two years. This year, he played in 21 games and averaged 4.5 minutes and 2.1 points for a team that finished 31-6.

“If we play one-on-one now, I have to make rules like he can’t block me and has to only shoot three-pointers,” Kelly said. “I don’t like to admit that, usually.”

For a city with plenty of roundball heritage, New York always has a lot of players in the collegiate ranks. And the East and West Sides held their own this year in terms of producing talent. At Monroe College, Regina Washington (Beacon) appeared in 28 games for a 31-2 team that reached the national junior college semifinals. She shot better than 40 percent from three-point range and finished with averages of 12.4 points, 2.7 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 2.8 steals.

There were three other Beacon graduates playing college ball this winter. Janina Jurewicz-Johnson wrapped up her career at John Jay by playing in 25 games and starting 20. She averaged 4.5 points and 5.5 rebounds. Her younger brother Calvin totaled 18 points and 15 rebounds at Baruch for a team that went 23-6 and made the Division 3 NCAA Tournament. Drew’s Kathryn Kozma appeared in 12 games.
Monique Sampson (Cathedral) had a dominating season at Lehman. She started 21 games and helped steer her team to a 20-11 record and the CUNY Athletic Conference championship game by shooting .537 from the field and averaging 7.8 points and 10.3 rebounds. She also had 45 assists, 75 steals and 23 blocks.

There were excellent performers at other CUNY schools as well. Gary Brady (Martin Luther King Jr.) saw action in 24 games and started 15 for John Jay, averaging 7.1 points and 2.3 rebounds. Stephanie Herbert (Environmental Studies) and Julissa Blanco-Benedict (Norman Thomas) played for Medgar Evers, with the latter earning 25 points and 40 rebounds. York’s Monique Denson (Brandeis) started 14 games as a freshman and finished with 31 points, 48 rebounds, 19 assists and 11 steals.
Elsewhere in the city, Kelvin Valdez (St. Agnes) played in 18 games for St. Joseph’s Brooklyn. He averaged 7.6 minutes and had 36 points and 27 rebounds. And Yeshiva’s Tova Laufer (Ramaz) was named to the All-Hudson Valley Athletic Conference Team for the third straight year for starting 19 games and averaging 6.5 points and 9.2 rebounds. She also had 48 steals and 22 blocks and led the squad with 59 steals.

Three Collegiate alumni besides Will Scott played basketball this winter. Mike Nelson spent the season on the junior varsity squad at Williams. Middlebury’s Ashton Coghlan averaged 8.8 minutes and 2.8 points for a team that went 24-4 and won its conference tournament. At Skidmore, Matt Belsito played in seven games. His teammate Sam Cohen-Devries (LaGuardia) appeared in 20 contests and started three, averaging 14.7 minutes, 3.7 points and 3.4 rebounds with 22 assists.
Molloy’s Matt Wafula (St. Agnes) started eight games and averaged 5.7 points and 3.1 rebounds while shooting .447. He also had 15 blocks and 23 steals. Miranda Arthur-Smith (Churchill) played 25 games for SUNY-Purchase and averaged three points and 2.2 rebounds. Another Churchill graduate, Forrest Alvarez-Ringer, started 10 games at Bard, averaging 20.1 minutes, 6.7 points and 5.3 rebounds. Brendan Barile (Horace Mann) appeared in eight games for Stevens Institute.
Finally, two Regis alumni had solid seasons. Matt Galvin started 13 games for Tufts and averaged five points and 2.3 rebounds while leading the team with 67 assists. Sean O’Connor played in 18 games at Johns Hopkins, while his teammate Josh DeLott (Trinity) appeared in two fewer but had 25 points and 16 rebounds.