“I just love being on the terrace on the Founders side or the Scanlan [Campus Center] side overlooking Grubbs Quad. I particularly like it in the spring when everything is blooming, and senior week when the tent goes up and Prom happens and Commencement happens.”

Hannah Hayes is in her seventh year at Loomis Chaffee and her second year as executive assistant to Head of School Jody Reilly Soja.

“The first time I met Jody,” Hannah says, “I learned that, in the small world of small worlds, her dad was the Middlebury basketball coach for many, many years, where my dad went and played. My dad [Jeff Moger] was his captain his senior year. So he was very close to Jody’s dad, Russ Reilly [who died in 2019]. My parents get a Christmas letter from Jody’s mom every year.”

Hometown: Grew up in East Granby, Conn. Moving soon to South Windsor, Conn.

At Loomis Chaffee: Hannah started as an administrative assistant in the Dean of Students Office and soon had a desire to do more on campus and with the students. She became administrative faculty and took on duties advising students and teaching the freshman seminar course, which Hannah says “is a nice way to meet new students and help them in their transition.” Topics range from health and wellness to leadership and study skills.

Favorite place on campus: “Maybe it’s because I’ve always worked in Founders [Hall], but I just love being on the terrace on the Founders side or the Scanlan [Campus Center] side overlooking Grubbs Quad. I particularly like it in the spring when everything is blooming, and senior week when the tent goes up and Prom happens and Commencement happens. And all the activity of the student dorms on the perimeter. In the nicer weather, they're playing games, playing music. I love being able to look out at all the activity, symmetry, and beauty.”

Favorite food: She enjoys eating at Mexican restaurants and says she is “a sucker for good pizza.” As a Connecticut native, she says she believes that New Haven has the best “apizza” — pronounced “ah-beetz” — in the world. “Sorry, New York. Sorry, Chicago. I love New Haven-style pizza, so I will eat that all day.” By the way, apizza, which comes from the Neapolitan dialect, is a particular style of thin-crusted pizza this is cooked in a coal-fired oven. Afficianados say it is THE authentic Neapolitan pizza.

Favorite snack: “Depends on my mood for sure. I always love a white cheddar popcorn like Smartfood. But I am loving Nerds Gummy Clusters at the moment.”

If you could have dinner with anyone, who would it be? Taylor Swift. Hannah started listening to Swift in sixth grade. “I think she is an incredible songwriter and an incredibly interesting human and would love to have dinner with her.” On the menu of questions: how and where she gets her ideas, what her songwriting process is, and how she has been able to deal with fame through the years, especially when she was younger.

What’s one thing people might not know about you? Hannah was a Starbucks barista for about five years before coming to Loomis Chaffee. “I am a coffee drinker and a coffee enthusiast, but not a coffee purest.” She also was working toward an American Sign Language Interpreters certification when COVID occurred. With the demands of her job at Loomis, she has not been able to complete the certification but considers herself proficient.

Favorite season: "I live in New England. I like them all. That’s why we’re here. Sometimes we get them all in 24 hours. I really do, though, like them all. I was born in the summer, so part of me has an affinity for the summer, but I love the changing seasons. I think that is … unique and interesting and wouldn’t want to live somewhere that had one season.”

Hobbies: She does CrossFit and Olympic weightlifting at a local gym. “I spend a lot of time there, have a lot of friends there, and my husband is one of our coaches.”