About

Mission and Strategic Plan

About Hockaday

The Hockaday School is an independent, college-preparatory school in Dallas, TX for girls from prekindergarten through twelfth grades. Founded in 1913, the School is accredited by the Independent Schools Association of the Southwest. Hockaday is a member of the National Association of Independent Schools, the International Coalition of Girls’ Schools, One Schoolhouse, The College Board, the National and Texas Associations for College Admission Counseling, and the Cum Laude Society.

Mission

Believing in the limitless potential of girls, Hockaday develops resilient, confident women who are educated and inspired to lead lives of purpose and impact.

Vision

Hockaday will engage every girl in a shared journey of discovery, integrity, scholarship, and accomplishment.

The Four Cornerstones

Miss Ela Hockaday identified the Four Cornerstones in 1914, one year after the School opened. They continue to serve as the foundation for Hockaday's vision and mission. 

The Hockaday Difference Strategic Plan

Building on Hockaday’s 111-year-old foundation, which is firmly footed in the Four Cornerstones of Character, Courtesy, Scholarship, and Athletics, the School’s strategic plan was refreshed to reflect the purpose and priorities of the School. Hockaday’s Leadership Team, Faculty, Staff, and Trustees worked collaboratively in 2018 to develop an updated blueprint that captures our aspirational goals and affirms the progressive and strategic direction of the School.

Goals

List of 4 items.

  • Goal 1: Leader in Education

    Hockaday will be the recognized leader in education and a model for how to educate girls – developing creative and divergent thinkers who are prepared to lead lives of purpose and impact in a rapidly changing, complex, and connected world.

    Strategies:
    • Articulate the philosophy of a Hockaday education, including the skills we will deliver to help girls become lifelong learners and confident contributors to their families, communities, and workplaces. • Define excellence to encourage individual and collaborative exploration, courage, creativity, perseverance, risk-taking, failing forward, and the pursuit of purpose through academics, arts, and athletics.
    • Promote a teaching environment that supports faculty excellence and cultivates innovative pedagogies, interdisciplinary learning, effective use of new technologies, integration between curricular and cocurricular learning, collaboration, and professional development. • Expand project-based and experiential learning opportunities through exploring partnerships with non-profit entities, businesses, higher education, and community organizations.
    • Educate and equip Hockaday students with practical tools and knowledge so that they may successfully navigate a complex and connected digital landscape. • Re-examine assessment practices to fully support intellectual risk-taking, collaboration, innovation, and creative exploration.
  • Goal 2: Extraordinary Student Experience

    Hockaday commits to an extraordinary student experience – one that is empowering, joyful, and nurtures the well-being and success of every student both inside and outside the classroom.

    Strategies:
    • Teach and model the Four Cornerstones (Character, Courtesy, Scholarship, and Athletics), recognizing and more strongly connecting the learning and growth that occurs across all facets of the student experience. 
    • Encourage and allow sufficient time for girls to discover and engage their talents and purpose, integrating a rich array of curricular and co-curricular opportunities. 
    • Develop programs to support and enhance each student’s physical, mental, social and emotional well-being, and intentionally address factors (both within the School and in society) that threaten this well-being. 
    • Embrace and support a wide range of student learning profiles. 
    • Strengthen the sense of community, collaboration, pride, and connection to all members of the Hockaday family: day students, residence students, faculty, staff, alumnae, parents, grandparents, and parents of alumnae.
  • Goal 3: Culture of Genuine Inclusion and Belonging

    Hockaday will sustain a culture of genuine inclusion and belonging by embracing diversity, fostering empathy, and establishing a solid foundation of mutual respect and support.
    Strategies
    • Foster a climate where mutual respect catalyzes learning, creativity, and collaboration, building life-long bonds. 
    • Recruit, develop, and support excellent faculty and staff while enhancing faculty diversity of perspectives, background, and teaching styles as defined by the Tenets of Faculty Excellence. 
    • Retain excellent faculty and staff by attending to their mental and physical wellbeing. 
    • Attract, enroll, and support best-matched students who enhance and embrace diverse perspectives, talents, backgrounds, and learning profiles. 
    • Incorporate diverse perspectives and cross-cultural skills into Hockaday’s curriculum and culture to equip all students for living in a complex and increasingly diverse world. 
    • Extend opportunities for innovative, multicultural learning through travel and exchange programs, community engagement and service learning, online instruction, and other opportunities to enrich students’ experiences and perspectives.
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  • Goal 4: Long-Term Financial Sustainability

    Hockaday will ensure its long-term financial sustainability, enhance affordability and access, and grow and diversify its sources of support.
    Strategies: 
    • Assess the competitive landscape and market pressures to more effectively define and communicate the “value proposition” of a Hockaday education. 
    • Maximize the use of Hockaday’s resources to sustain academic and co-curricular excellence, enhance affordability and access, and achieve School goals and facility needs. 
    • Challenge our operational model and adapt decision-making to innovate without adding. 
    • Evaluate opportunities to grow and diversify revenue streams to support Hockaday’s mission. 
    • Build support among all our constituencies by cultivating connections and engagement, with a goal of increasing participation in our fundraising efforts. 
    • Sustain and grow loyalty by telling Hockaday’s story through the generational voices of its alumnae, faculty, students, and families.
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Take The Next Step

Just as we encourage our girls to be curious and engage in the process of discovery, we encourage and invite you to visit our campus and experience a day at Hockaday.
Within the private school community, The Hockaday School is an independent college-preparatory day school for girls from grades PK–12 located in Dallas, Texas. Students realize their limitless potential through challenging academic curricula, arts, athletics, and extracurricular programs so that they are inspired to lead lives of purpose and impact.