The seventies presented a new set of challenges for the Hewitt community. With the evolving national mindset, many of the school’s defining qualities—exclusivity, intimacy, single-sex element—had become less appealing. As Hewitt approached its fiftieth anniversary in the fall of 1970, administration made an effort to address the school’s major issues.

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Appointed the new head of school in 1969, Miss Janet Mayer encouraged student activism and oversaw many changes to Hewitt’s curriculum. During her tenure, she created an Assembly Committee that allowed for student input on assembly topics and initiated a joint student-faculty Curriculum Committee that facilitated communications between students, teachers, and administration. Hoping to expand the school’s curriculum and improve the social atmosphere, Miss Mayer established a Hewitt-Browning exchange in 1972. Hewitt allowed Browning juniors and seniors to enroll in courses such as Creative Writing, Art History, and AP Modern European History. In return, Browning offered Comparative Religion and Philosophy. Educators were also keenly aware of the rebellious adolescent behaviors that would have shocked previous generations. In 1970, the board organized parent viewings of films on marijuana and drug abuse. As Sarah Weddell Dillon, Class of 1971, explained: "The world changed in the sixties." Hewitt students now spurned anachronistic debutante balls, instead focusing their attention on being politically active and having a well-rounded education.

 

The decade saw the end of many school traditions. The ninth-grade quarterly The Sparklet, which many students felt should represent a broader segment of the student body, published its final edition in 1973. Another institution to cease operation in the seventies was the boarding department, which began to house children during World War II. Miss Mayer and the board agreed that the department, located at 43 East 75th Street, was no longer practical in the new decade. Since the building was in poor condition, the school decided to sell in 1971 and use the profits for new initiatives. 

 

The seventies constituted an era in which administration stripped away antiquated institutions and replaced them with innovative ones to carry the school into the eighties. With the hiring of new faculty in the mid-seventies, the drama program regained its vigorous reputation, ultimately becoming the school’s largest after-school activity. Hewitt also introduced a novel computer literacy program with a designated computer lab. In the spring of 1974, the board voted to enlarge Hewitt’s campus by adding three floors to the Gregory Building, which was added to the school in 1968. The school had filled its new building; the Middle States evaluation of January 1974 pointed out the need for more space. With only lower and upper school divisions (the middle school was created in 1978), the expansion allowed for one building per division: grades one through six in the newly renovated Gregory Building and grades seven through twelve in the Stillman Building. 

 

Throughout the decade, the school confronted widespread societal change, financial challenges, and changed expectations for the education of young women. Eventually resigning in 1980, Miss Mayer successfully guided Hewitt through the tumultuous culture of the seventies.

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