Strategic Plan FAQs
What does the Strategic Plan seek to accomplish?
Broadly, the Strategic Plan sets out four goals:
To broaden Hackley’s curriculum and offerings — both in and out of the classroom — to meet the needs of tomorrow’s learners and citizens.
To expand learning opportunities beyond the boundaries of disciplines, classrooms, and the campus.
To further Hackley’s tradition of outstanding teaching by promoting lifelong professional learning within and beyond the campus
To promote lifelong habits of wellness for students and employees, while also ensuring the continued overall health of the institution.
Why does Hackley need a strategic plan?
Hackley is an exceptional school, and it must constantly evolve to meet and anticipate the demands of a constantly changing world. With our current kindergarten class graduating in 2031, it is important to think about the ways in which we will serve our students going forward.
We brought together representatives from across the Hackley community — parents, teachers, staff, students, alumni, and trustees — to think about and offer feedback on Hackley’s strengths and our collective aspirations for the future. The strategic plan, created with the help of Ian Symmonds and Associates, an outside consultant, and extensive research and input opportunities, reflects those aspirations and the framework upon which our plans will be built.
How does the plan build from the core values to which Hackley is committed?
The plan affirms our core values, building on programs already taking root at Hackley. This approach means that the plan when implemented will have the chance to flourish all the more. The plan’s title, “Redefining Excellence,” challenges us to maintain the high standards of excellence to which Hackley is committed, while thinking deeply about what “excellence” means to us. Its aspirations are drawn directly from Hackley’s Portrait of a Graduate, and Hackley’s mission to challenge students “to grow in character, scholarship, and achievement.”
How will this work support Hackley’s academic program?
Hackley students will continue to be challenged within a curriculum that supports critical thinking, writing, collaboration, and confidence in problem solving. As we look at the K-12 curriculum, we will articulate and highlight the enduring competencies and curricular threads that students will need to thrive in college and beyond. The plan aims to enrich and expand the current educational experience for our students and faculty, and will offer opportunities to “build forward” through intersections across disciplines as, for example, a history course finds intersections with a science course, or a service learning opportunity makes studies in language and culture immediately impactful. Most important, all programmatic expansion will be intrinsically Hackley, driven organically and thoughtfully by those already deeply invested in this work. The Academic Committee, our community service and other program leaders, and teachers will collaborate in defining and developing the plans, expectations, and priorities.
What will be different about Hackley as the plan is implemented?
We look forward to expanding opportunities to learn beyond the boundaries of campus, disciplines, and the current curriculum through interdisciplinary course work, connection to local community, service learning, the Hackley Forest, and more — work that has already taking root on campus and offers room for so much more in terms of affirmation of enduring skills and knowledge with integration of important emerging competencies. We also look forward to elevating the place of creative expression and wellness within the K-12 program, to expanding access to travel opportunities and civic engagement, and to integrating capstone immersive learning experiences at key transition points across the K-12 experience. The plan will be developed with clear priorities and timelines, which will be communicated as the plan unfolds as a natural part of Hackley life.
How do the current athletics and arts programs factor into this plan?
Athletics remains an area where Hackley manifests its commitment to character, leadership, teamwork, collaboration and unreserved effort, and it is a central component of our health and wellness curriculum that supports wellness in all its dimensions, including physical. In addition, the expanded focus on creative expression and interdisciplinary learning will open out more opportunities in the arts. The plan will also support the flourishing of arts programs with a new integrated arts facility.
How will these changes address student wellness?
“Wellness” is among the core competencies we seek to develop more fully within the school culture, and student wellness will be at the heart of all we consider as our programming evolves. We expect ongoing conversations about the role of wellness competencies as related to teaching and learning to be central to the plan. We anticipate the need to consider what accommodations may be necessary within the daily and yearly academic schedule. In addition, we seek to value much of the work and experiences that students already take on as “extra” as core to their learning experience in order to balance their load.
Will all students have equal access to opportunities?
An essential aspect of the plan will center on ensuring inclusivity and access.
How can we help?
The key to the plan’s ongoing success is constructive collaboration. The steering committee and working groups set out to listen, learn, and develop proposals that answered to aspirational possibilities, always thinking about Hackley’s greatest potential, with the student at the center of the conversation. We look forward to including the wider community in this partnership as we move forward.