About
What is HornetHacks?
A 12-hour hackathon built for high school students — one day of making, learning, and shipping alongside new friends and mentors.
The event date has not been finalized. Once confirmed, 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 day?
Registration updates will be announced once the event date is finalized.