The Walter C. Johnson Center for Health and Wellness

Hackley has embraced a wide array of programming, ranging from mindfulness and meditation practices at all grade levels, nutrition education, and fitness activities including yoga and walks in Hackley’s own woodlands. Our Lower School teachers established a garden where students learn to plant and cultivate vegetables which they later enjoy and share, and faculty partake in a full range of wellness and well-being practices in partnership with colleagues.

The new 100,000+ square foot facility includes:

• a cardio fitness center
• a wellness studio
• three basketball courts
• an eight-lane pool
• eight squash courts
• a fencing studio
• a wrestling room
• a free weights room
• a modified indoor track
• three classrooms
• a teaching kitchen
• café concession area
• student common areas
• locker rooms
• office space

The new Center has been made possible by Ethel Strong Allen’s extraordinarily generous gift and the proceeds from the paintings she donated to Hackley. In June 2016, the Hackley Board of Trustees announced its decision to name this project in honor of Headmaster Walter C. Johnson and his 21 years of leadership. Board President John C. Canoni ’86 notes, “Through all these years, Walter’s vision transformed our beloved campus and our programs, and instead of stopping as many would have with what he had already accomplished, he continued to look forward, guiding the creation of our Health and Wellness programming and envisioning the facility that would become its home. It is in appreciation for his vision for Hackley, today and in the future, that we dedicate the new building in his honor.”

The Johnson Center for Health & Wellness extends our commitment to our founders’ vision for a community “where it should be easy to be good” into our second century.