During the 2017-2018 academic year and under the direction of the Board of Trustees, Hackley School launched a comprehensive strategic planning process.  The strategic plan, “Redefining Education,” was developed to provide a long-range view of future school priorities and was created through a highly inclusive and participatory process.  

A steering committee was formed and focused on research, environmental scans, SWOT analysis, committee exercises, and trends in the independent school and the education sectors.  The school community - parents, students, faculty and staff, alumni, and trustees - were surveyed about their thoughts on priorities for the future at the outset of the process. As the work unfolded, the community was provided monthly updates on the process.

To build a base of sound information and to guide the planning process, the school enlisted the assistance of a research and planning firm, Ian Symmonds & Associates.  A comprehensive research effort was completed, including stakeholder surveys, competitive and educational landscape analysis, market segmentation, and demographic trends.  This information laid the foundation for sound assumptions about the future.

The strategic planning steering committee worked collaboratively through a series of exercises designed to establish priorities based upon the findings of the research.  This process culminated in the summer of 2018, with the steering committee developing a small set of priorities for future focus. As strategic priorities were developed, the steering committee expanded upon them to outline specific initiatives, action plans, and a series of sequenced priorities.  The following white paper draft outlines these initiatives and associated action plans.

Each of the strategic goals contains several strategic initiatives and numerous action plans.  While not elaborated here, the strategic initiatives and action plans benefit from having additional implementation details, such as costs and metrics of success, to be further developed in the planning process.  These will be utilized as the school moves forward on the execution of the strategic plan.

Hackley’s Mission

Hackley challenges students to grow in character, scholarship, and accomplishment, to offer unreserved effort, and to learn from the varying perspectives and backgrounds in our community and the world.

Hackley’s Portrait of a Graduate

A Hackley education….

Cultivates habits of character that help students choose to:

• Treat others with respect, honesty, and generosity in thought, word, and action

• Act with humility, integrity, and a sense of responsibility toward the greater good

• Respect and strive to understand varying backgrounds and perspectives, fostering empathy, friendships, and community

Creates habits of scholarship that lead students to:

• Experience joy in learning while navigating the challenges and failures that are integral to growth

• Explore the breadth of their intellectual curiosity, stimulate their creativity, and pursue meaningful questions

• Communicate ideas, arguments, and analysis clearly and persuasively  

• Collaborate to sharpen thinking and broaden perspectives

Elevates students to form habits of accomplishment, uniting character and scholarship to:

• Demonstrate the personal courage to attempt new things, the intellectual courage to consider new ideas, and the moral courage to stand for matters of principle

• Create a sense of purpose, orienting talent, service, and actions to transcend individual success

• Reinforce the immeasurable value of a life marked by friendship, balance, and joy