Hackley is an exceptional school. With a strong and distinct school culture, Hackley places great value on character and relationships formed on the Hilltop.

Hackley students are curious and open to diverse learning experiences, while the dedicated and talented faculty and staff contribute to the vibrant community and to extraordinary educational opportunities on a beautiful campus. So why does Hackley need a strategic plan? Simply put, learning at Hackley should have no limits, and the world is constantly changing. 

This year, we welcome the Class of 2036, and to ensure we provide the best education for them and all our students, we're committed to leading important conversations about what it means to educate and be educated within the context of a modern educational institution.

The 2023-2024 school year marks the sixth year of our strategic plan, Redefining Excellence: Learning Beyond Boundaries. As you will read throughout this brochure, we have made significant progress toward our shared goals since we launched the plan in 2018.

While teaching and learning at Hackley have evolved since its founding in 1899, timeless skills like clear communication, deep thinking, mastering subjects and teamwork remain central. We embrace these hallmarks of a Hackley education while also acknowledging the ever-changing world today's students face. In these interconnected, complex and fast-evolving times, students need an education that equips them with both traditional and new tools to thrive, adapt and make a positive impact in their community and beyond. 


“Redefining Excellence: Learning Beyond Boundaries” is Hackley’s contribution to the national conversation on the changing nature and future of education. Our plan contains four major strategic priorities:

  1. Redefine a Liberal Arts Education: articulate and broaden the curriculum in terms of competencies and experiences to meet the needs of tomorrow’s learners and citizens.

  2. Promote the Hilltop as a Learning Hub: increase learning opportunities for students beyond the boundaries of disciplines, classroom and campus, and serve as an educational leader and incubator to push the boundaries of existing programs.

  3. Build for the Future: promote lifelong professional learning within Hackley’s faculty and assume a leadership role in cultivating the next generation of independent school educators.

  4. Nurture a Culture of Wellness:  establish wellness — both at the student and institutional levels — as cornerstones of a healthy learning environment and school community.

Embedded throughout these strategic priorities are signature programs that will shape Hackley’s future. They include (i) developing an approach to K-12 curricula that centers on enduring and emerging competencies, (ii) elevating creative expression in all its forms and improving our performing, visual, and digital arts programs and facilities, (iii) integrating service work and service learning, including developing a sustainable model for Hudson Scholars, (iv) creating culturally immersive opportunities for students domestic and international, (v) integrating the Hackley Forest and surrounding natural ecosystems into our program, (vi) creating a series of culminating “Big Experiences” at important transition points for students, (vii) affirming our national leadership in teaching excellence, and (viii) fostering a culture of individual and institutional wellness. 

Redefining Excellence” was conceived to provide Hackley students and faculty with the tools, experiences and learning environment necessary to cultivate the habits of “character, scholarship, and accomplishment” defined in the Portrait of a Graduate. And by virtue of our history and current strengths, Hackley is poised and ready for the educational vision expressed by this plan. Like the school it describes, “Redefining Excellence” will be an active and vibrant conversation, and its implementation will be as dynamic as the ideas it contains. Together, we will create an approach to learning that transcends boundaries, further strengthening a Hackley education and its enduring value in the lives of our students.