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Dear Hotchkiss Community,
This morning at our Tuesday All-School meeting, I shared the news that I will be retiring as Head of School at the end of the 2025-26 academic year. This will mark my tenth year at the School. I reached this decision after a great deal of thought and discussion with my family more than a year ago, and I communicated it to the co-Presidents of the Board of Trustees, Elizabeth G. Hines '93, P'27 and Robert R. Gould '77, at that time. They have been actively engaged in planning for a leadership transition ever since.
First and foremost, I would like to assure you that this transition will be carefully and smoothly executed. You will find a letter from Liz and Bob below that provides information on the search process and timeline for selecting Hotchkiss’s next Head of School. For the next year and a half, as that process progresses, I will remain at the helm. I look forward to our continued work together and all that we will accomplish.
During our time at Hotchkiss, Elizabeth and I have come to love this great school. We love its mission, the learning and growth that students achieve under the mentorship of truly excellent teachers, and the joy of the place. We love the 827 acres of woodland, fields, Fairfield Farm, and lakes where students live and learn; we have walked and canoed on nearly all of them. We love the beauty of the campus—Hotchkiss is one of the jewels of American campus architecture—sustained by our collective commitment to environmental stewardship, and we love the School’s rich history and traditions.
The aspect of Hotchkiss that has been the most rewarding to us has been the community: the students, faculty, staff, trustees, alumni, parents, grandparents, and friends of the School from across all generations. We are inspired by your excellence and uplifted by the unyielding love and loyalty that you feel for your School. We love witnessing and cheering on students’ passionate engagement in learning and leading in all aspects of School life. We find it deeply meaningful to support members of the faculty and staff as they strive to do their best work, day-in and day-out. As a constant, the dedication of alumni and parents shows in your philanthropy, volunteerism, attendance at reunions, enrolling your children, generous word of mouth, and not infrequently, constructive feedback and counsel. We are truly humbled by all that you feel and do for Hotchkiss.
When we arrived on campus in the summer of 2016, Hotchkiss was a storied place with which we were familiar. When we leave in the summer of 2026, Hotchkiss will be part of us.
It has been a special privilege to lead this wonderful community, and I look forward to continuing this good work with exceptional colleagues and trustees for the next 18 months. I hope to speak and correspond with many of you during that time. For now, I look forward to the semester ahead, including celebrating the great Class of 2025.
Sincerely,
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Craig W. Bradley
Head of School
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Dear Hotchkiss Community,
It has been more than a year since Craig Bradley approached us to express his intention to retire as Hotchkiss’s Head of School at the end of the 2025-26 academic year. At that time, he will have served our community with care, compassion, and wisdom for a full 10 years.
Craig’s decade of work on behalf of Hotchkiss has been nothing short of extraordinary; his efforts to ensure that all community members feel a deep sense of belonging on our campus have been tireless. He has led the School through historic and difficult times while remaining laser-focused on elevating the quality of the student experience and raising the caliber of our academic program. And in the process, he has taught all of us connected to this vibrant, high-achieving community that excellence and joy need not be seen as antithetical to one another—in fact, together they are the ingredients that lead to the most profound learning outcomes. As anyone who has spent time on campus over the past decade can attest, Hotchkiss students of today are finding both excellence and joy in abundance—thanks in large part to Craig’s steady and inspired leadership.
Though there will be time in the future for a full celebration of Craig’s achievements, it feels important to highlight some of the essential contributions Craig has made as Head of School:
- Driving academic excellence: Hotchkiss has established signature academic programs in partnership with Ivy League universities, including the MacLeish and Hersey Scholars Programs; built the Hotchkiss Philharmonic; opened the doors of the Class of 2017 Engineering, Fabrication, and Exploration (EFX) Lab; launched the MacArthur International Fellowship Program for recent graduates; and partnered with the University of Chicago to embed the ideals of open discourse in educational spaces.
- Ensuring an equitable and inclusive community: During Craig’s tenure, the diversity of the student body, faculty, and staff has increased significantly. From the creation of the Walter J. Crain Fellowship program to a substantial increase in the percentage of families—from a broad spectrum of financial means—who receive financial support, Craig and his team have worked diligently to make Hotchkiss a place where every community member can thrive and belong.
- Protecting student safety: The physical and emotional safety of students has remained paramount and has been supported by extensive training, robust communication, and a culture of trust. As Hotchkiss has continued to reckon with its decades-old history of sexual misconduct, the School’s response has prioritized the survivor community, including partnering with a group of dedicated alumni to create Courage Garden, a stunning and profoundly meaningful addition to campus that honors the experiences of survivors.
- Achieving record-setting results in admissions and excellent college outcomes: Hotchkiss continues to experience the most selective years in School history in terms of the volume of new student applications and our yield on admitted students. As graduating seniors complete their Hotchkiss journeys, the college choices available to each class continue to be outstanding.
- Inspiring philanthropic support: From fiscal year 2017 to fiscal year 2024, donor giving at Hotchkiss rose by more than 250%. This giving supports all aspects of academic and community life, including renovations to dormitories, learning spaces, and athletic and arts facilities. The largest of these capital projects is the new Dining Commons, scheduled to open in December of 2025. Meanwhile, during the eight years ending October 31, 2024, the School’s endowment increased by 48%.
As we highlight these achievements, we know that Craig will be the first to emphasize that none of these are his accomplishments alone. This work, he will say, has been achieved thanks to the deep generosity of Hotchkiss donors and the leadership and tireless commitment of many outstanding faculty and staff colleagues and Board members. On this point, he is, of course, correct.
Nevertheless, now is our time to thank Craig, specifically, for all that he has helped Hotchkiss achieve. To say that our School has thrived under Craig Bradley’s leadership hardly captures the magnitude of his impact on this institution. The Board of Trustees could not be more grateful to Craig and Elizabeth for all that they have given to Hotchkiss during this time, and to Craig, in particular, for his partnership and vision on issues both big and small. Hotchkiss’s future is bright, and there is no doubt we have Craig to thank for making it so.
Looking forward
As we look to the future and the next generation of leadership at Hotchkiss, we believe we are in a position to attract exceptional candidates to fill Craig’s role. Because of Craig’s transparency and early notice, the Board of Trustees has already had the opportunity to commence succession planning. To that end, we have engaged the national executive search firm Isaacson, Miller to support the search for our next Head of School. Trustee Tim Sullivan ’81, P’13,’16 will lead the search committee, which will comprise members of the Board, faculty, and staff. The Board will communicate the process for determining committee membership shortly.
In February, representatives from Isaacson, Miller will visit campus to meet with faculty, staff, and students. Their fact-finding work will also include listening sessions with trustees, alumni, and current parents, all in the service of developing a deep understanding of the future needs and priorities of the School. We expect to name the next head of School during the fall of 2025 for a July 2026 start. Throughout this process, Tim will provide regular updates about the search timeline and the search committee’s work.
The last 10 years have been a time of tremendous forward progress for Hotchkiss, and we are entirely confident that this will continue unabated. We thank every member of this community for your support of the School, and we hope you will join us in looking forward to the next chapter of Hotchkiss leadership with anticipation and excitement.
Sincerely,
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