About

What is HornetHacks?

A 12-hour hackathon built for high school students — one Saturday of making, learning, and shipping alongside new friends and mentors.

On Saturday, October 10, 2026, the Valdes STEM + Innovation Center at Greenhill School turns into a hive of builders. You'll arrive in the morning with an idea (or none at all — that's fine), form a team, and spend the day turning it into something real: an app, a game, a website, a gadget. By evening, you'll demo it to judges and a room full of people cheering you on.

HornetHacks is completely free, and no prior experience is required. Workshops run throughout the day for first-time hackers, and mentors roam the hive ready to help you get unstuck.

What to expect

Workshops

Hands-on sessions on web development, APIs, and AI — built so a total beginner can follow along and ship.

Mentors

Experienced students and industry volunteers circulate all day to help you debug, design, and demo.

Food & fuel

Breakfast, lunch, and a steady supply of snacks are on us. Twelve hours is a long flight — we keep the hive fed.

Prizes & demos

Projects are judged in the evening expo, with prizes across categories — including ones just for first-time hackers.

Who can come

HornetHacks is open to high school students in grades 9–12 from any school — public, private, or homeschool — across Dallas–Fort Worth and beyond. Teams are 2–4 students; come with one or find yours at the morning team-formation mixer.

The venue

We're hosted in the Valdes STEM + Innovation Center at Greenhill School — 4141 Spring Valley Rd, Addison, TX 75001. It's a space built for exactly this: open maker studios, plentiful outlets, and room for the whole swarm. Get directions.

Sound like your kind of Saturday?

Registration is open. Sign up to build, learn, and create with us.