Portrait of a Hackley Graduate

Hackley faculty members explored and answered a fundamental question: What habits and skills do we want to develop in our students across a K-12 spectrum? The answer is found in the Portrait of a Graduate.

In partnership and conversation with one another across divisions and departments, faculty members helped create the aspirational vision shared below. The process helped surface and affirm important values, skills, and ideals that fully articulate the habits of "character, scholarship, and accomplishment" we seek to develop in our students.

Our “Portrait of a Graduate” vision connects overtly to Hackley’s mission, our core values, our unique school culture, and our program: an emphasis on relationships, embracing a diversity of perspectives, accomplishment defined by serving a greater public purpose rather than by material gains, and the development of enduring academic skills.

Creating this document was an essential first step in the generation of our next strategic plan. By working together to think about the attributes and habits developed by a Hackley education, we created an important touchstone for the community, something we will use for years to come as we shape the broad strategic future of the school and in our daily work with students.

Hackley School’s Portrait of a Graduate

Hackley School’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."

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 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