List of 10 frequently asked questions.

• Q. What is the "Be Your Best" Capital Campaign for Hillbrook?

  We have already made great strides in our “Be Your Best” Campaign, having raised $7 M toward this project, funding and building programs and spaces that have had an incredible impact on our community. These include:

  • The renovated Science Center
  • The centrally-located Amphitheater
  • The Junior Kindergarten-2nd Grade Playground
  • The Scott Center for Social Entrepreneurship
  • A $1M Flexible Tuition Endowment
  • The Hub - The final project of the campaign

  The "Be Your Best" Campaign aims to bring new resources and enhancements to our school, enhancing the extraordinary educational experience for each of our students.

   

• Q. Why are we having a capital campaign now? How has Hillbrook arrived at this project?

  As we work toward achieving the auspicious goals of Vision 2020, we look forward to further transforming and strengthening the individual student learning experience.
  
  Hillbrook’s flexible spaces - including the MakerSpace and dynamic classroom setups, have transformed student learning over the past five years. We continue to implement leading-edge teaching techniques and spacial design. As we strive to fulfill the goals of Vision 2020, the next addition to our flexible learning spaces is our our Hub. The Hub will be an expansive workshop and learning space where we combined our STEAM spaces into one central location, furthering opening up opportunities for student growth, exploration, and collaboration in science, arts, and making.

• Q. What is the purpose of The Hub project?

  While we are limited by the ways in which we can develop upon our historic blueprint, we can find better ways to utilize spaces and enhance learning opportunities for our students. In the years leading up to imagining this final project, our community has been asking questions, starting to explore new ways to enhance student engagement through our dedicated research on flexible learning. The deep collaboration of our faculty and staff with leadership and our team of builders have led to the conceptualization of this final project which will further strengthen the extraordinary educational experience of each of our students.

  
  

  The Hub will combine our multipurpose spaces, art, and making in a way that increases collaboration and iteration of projects, ideas, and learning experiences for our learners.

   

• Q. How much will the construction of the Hub and improvements cost? How does the school intend to pay for this?

  In May 2017, our Board of Trustees voted on and approved a $5.3M budget for new construction and upgrade projects. The initiative will be funded through community philanthropy at Hillbrook. The more we raise toward our goal, the less the school will shoulder in financing, further guaranteeing the long-term strength of our school.
  
  

• Q. What is the Endowment and are we raising funds towards it?

  As we transform our campus, we will also continue the vital work of building our endowment to support students, families, teachers, and programs at Hillbrook School every day. Our Endowment is our Fund For the Future, and each year it generates reliable funding for that needed support.
  
  We have been fortunate during this campaign to establish both the Endowment to support The Scott Center for Social Entrepreneurship and the $1M Flexible Tuition Endowment. 
  

• Q. When will construction start and how long will it last?

  We began the permitting process for the Hub in June 2017, after the Board gave the Campus Plan Committee approved embarking on this important step in May 2017. The current schedule has the Hub building opening in January 2020. 
  

  
  

  Please visit Construction Updates to see our progress. 

   

• Q. How will students be impacted during construction?

  Our goal is to minimize the impact on the students during active construction times. The classrooms in the academic wings will be deeply affected by construction. We have been incredibly successful in being flexible while building our JK-2 playground and Amphitheater.

• Q. Is the project incorporating green design and other sustainable features?*

  Hillbrook is working with MKThink to implement green and sustainable design features into the Hub.

• Q. What is the difference between the Annual Fund and the Capital Campaign?

  The Annual Fund and the Capital Campaign support distinct, but equally important, purposes that enable Hillbrook School to fulfill its mission.

  
  

  The Annual Fund provides money that covers the difference in cost between the rate of full-price tuition and the cost of educating a Hillbrook student. The Annual Fund pays for over 9% of the essential day-to-day operating expenditures of the school each year.

  
  

  The Capital Campaign is an intensive, multi-year fundraising effort to secure gifts and pledges to support campus facilities, programmatic initiatives, technological improvements, and long-term growth through the endowment that enable us to grow our strong curriculum and community.
  
  

  The principal amount of the endowment gift is never touched and only the interest is used to support tuition, professional development, etc. The Capital Campaign began in the 2014-15 school year and essentially ended with the 2018-19 school year. All funds will benefit identified capital projects and the Endowment. 

• Q. What was the impact of the last campaign?

  The last campaign, which raised nearly $2 million, concluded in September 2009 and provided a portion of the funding to build the  Commons Building, currently home to the Multipurpose Room (MPR), library, main kitchen, three art classrooms, the library classroom, and bathrooms. This building has meaningfully impacted our students’ everyday educational experience at Hillbrook. Gatherings from faculty collaboration, to HSPC meetings, to beloved campus events take place in the MPR.