Faculty Housing: The Heart of Campus Community

It is impossible to understate the importance of faculty housing to the culture of Hackley School and the degree to which a stable, committed residential faculty shapes and strengthens the community. The words “attracting and retaining faculty” are far more than fundraising jargon.

Mr. Silverman continued, “The need for new facilities for faculty members has been an urgent one for many years. Although Mrs. Hackley founded the school with the idea of an all-bachelor teaching staff, the enlargement of the student body and faculty soon made necessary the building of the present faculty house in 1929,” pointing to the faculty apartments constructed near what is now Zetkov Gymnasium.

Prior to The Legacy Campaign, the Allen Houses (fondly known as “Allen’s Alley”) in the late 50s were the last faculty homes built on campus, even though Hackley has evolved from a 5th- or 6th-grade through 12th grade boys boarding school with a small “day boy” population to a coeducational K-12 day and boarding school -- growth that throws young Mr. Silverman’s observation about the move beyond the “idea of an all-bachelor teaching staff” all the more sharply into relief.

As Margie Ford ’85 eloquently recalls, Hackley became home to not just Hackley teachers but Hackley families. The tradition continues today, with a new generation.