Seven Hills Celebrates Halloween
November 2, 2026
Every division spook-tacularly celebrated Halloween this year. From parades to pep rallies to pumpkin bowling, there was an event for everyone.
Lower School Parades
The day before Halloween, Lower School students and teachers on the Hillsdale and Doherty campuses showed off their creative and fun costumes during the Doherty and Lotspeich Halloween parades.
Lotspeich students waved to their families as they walked around the upper field track, and Doherty families cheered as they spotted their kids as they paraded through the Doherty driveway.
Middle School Creepy Critters Day
At the same time as the Lotspeich Halloween parade, sixth graders and their parents were conducting experiments in Founders to learn more about termites during Creepy Critters Day.
During one experiment, students drew a line of ink on paper and witnessed how the termite would instinctively follow it.
Once completed, families walked back to the Middle School to complete their next assignment — writing a poem about bugs! Students went all out as they performed their poems for their parents and friends.
Creepy Critters Day is always a fun tradition that kids and parents alike enjoy every year.
Middle School Pumpkin Day
It’s the great Pumpkin (Day), Middle School!
The afternoon festivities kicked off with a pumpkin decorating contest centered around this year’s theme: Food Frenzy. Students added pipe cleaners, paint, googly eyes, and more to their SWARMs’ (multi-age grade-level groups) pumpkins.
Once the allotted decorating time ended, SWARMs rotated between three activities:
- Food Fight (Tug-of-war)
- Candy Crush (Relay Race)
- Hot Potato (Omnikin Four-Square)
At the end of the day, students gathered together in The Schiff Center auditorium for the awards ceremony.
Early School Pumpkin Decorating Contest
Inside the Early School on the Hillsdale Campus, pumpkins filled the atrium. These weren’t ordinary pumpkins either, but carefully decorated works of art submitted by families, classes, and individual teachers.
Students from the Early School and Lotspeich cast their votes for their favorite pumpkin, and the results are in:
- Favorite Overall: “Dumplings of Distinction” by Lotspeich reading specialist Katie Leezer
- Favorite Classroom Creation: “Fairyville” by Erica Lyons’ pre-kindergarten class
- Favorite Teacher Creation: “Golden Popcorn” by assistant head of Early School Nichole O’Rourke
- Favorite Family Creation: “The Little Mermaid” by the Gamber and Benson families
Thank you to everyone who participated!
Upper School Halloween Fun
After Experiential Learning Day (learn more in “Connecting with the Community on Experiential Learning Day“), Upper School students enjoyed a Halloween festival and pep rally in the afternoon.
During the festival, hosted by 7-Up and the Upper School student council, students could participate in several activities such as spikeball, getting their faces painted, competing on a 60-foot inflatable obstacle course, and playing corn hole.
At the pep rally, students modeled costumes and vied for the top spots in the costume contest. The excitement continued with the faculty vs. students dodgeball game. Faculty battled the winning grade, sophomores, in a nail-biting challenge. Classmates cheered on the competitors from the bleachers. In the end, the faculty secured the win.
