From its inception, Hillsdale has been committed to providing an environment that welcomes and challenges every person, students and staff alike, to learn and grow.  Hillsdale has undergone major changes over the past several years as its staff strives to increase achievement and equity for all of its students.

With the assistance of a $500,000 Small Learning Community (SLC) implementation grant in 2003 and a second $1.1 million grant in 2007 to further our work, Hillsdale has become a national model for comprehensive high school reform.  Teams of four core academic teachers at the 9th and 10th grades share groups of approximately 100 students and continue teaching and supporting these students for at least their first two years.  Similarly, teams of two to four core teachers share students in the 11th and 12th grades.  Each core teacher also serves as an advisor to approximately 27 of the students enrolled in his or her house. 

Following in the spirit of our ESLRs and the school’s vision of high achievement for all students, rigor and relevance play a key role in the development of curriculum and instruction at Hillsdale.  In 1997, Hillsdale began a Senior Exhibition program that requires all seniors to define an essential question, write a 15+ page thesis, and defend the thesis to a panel of graders.  The Senior Exhibition has been a catalyst for change in other curricular areas, including a junior project, the American Promise, as well as school-wide projects at the 9th and 10th grade levels.  Integrated, differentiated, rubric-based curriculum is the norm in many subject areas.