Mission
The Hockaday School prepares girls of strong potential in the prekindergarten through 12th grades to assume positions of responsibility and leadership in a rapidly changing world by giving them a foundation for living grounded on the traditional Four Cornerstones: character, courtesy, scholarship, and athletics. To learn more about the four cornerstones, go to the home page and click on Why Hockaday.

Within the context of an outstanding academic environment, The Hockaday School's goals are to foster a community of concern and friendship, to instill in every girl a love of learning and an understanding of herself and the ethical principles which guide her life, and to develop an appreciation of excellence in all its forms with a commitment to what is right and good.


School History*
The Hockaday School was started in 1913 by Miss Ela Hockaday. Ten students enrolled in the school in 1913 on Hockaday’s first campus, located in a house on North Haskell Avenue in Dallas. In the next few years, Hockaday increased in size, adding a Lower School and a large boarding department. By the end of the 1920s, Hockaday’s reputation for high academic standards was well-established.

In 1931, undaunted by economic events, Miss Hockaday began a Junior College; and then, in 1938, she opened The Music Institute, which was located on what would become Hockaday’s second campus on Greenville Avenue in Dallas.

After Miss Hockaday's death in 1956, J. Erik Jonsson set in motion a campaign for a new campus. Karl Hoblitzelle donated 100 acres in North Dallas, which became the site of Hockaday's third and present-day campus in 1961. The Dallas Times Herald described the new campus as "eye-catching ... the most unusual, the most attractive, the most advanced learning facility in Dallas."

Despite many changes over the years, Hockaday still remains deeply committed to its founder's vision, revering Miss Hockaday’s four cornerstones of character, courtesy, scholarship, and athletics. In addition, as Miss Hockaday would have wished, the school has a diverse student body. The campus also has grown to accommodate more than 1,000 students; and as a result of the Hockaday Tomorrow Capital Campaign, now features a state-of-the-art Academic Research Center, a new Lower School Addition, and a beautiful Wellness Center.

*Excerpts from this history were taken from Patricia Coggan’s article, "Miss Ela Builds a Home," which appeared in the Spring 2002 issue of Legacies: A Historical Journal for Dallas and North Central Texas.