There are now 23 Hillsdale-affiliated schools after the K-12 education office accepted three new schools to the program. 

The new member schools are located in Fargo, North Dakota; Jacksonville, Florida; and Cincinnati, Ohio. Capstone Classical Academy, located in Fargo, is the first private school to be Hillsdale-affiliated aside from Hillsdale Academy, said Jordan Adams, director of curriculum at K-12.

“All three of these schools serve different communities but they are all serving the same mission and teaching the same academic program,” said Becky Lincoln, director of teacher support at K-12. 

According to Kathleen O’Toole, assistant provost for K-12 education, the K-12 office takes on three to five new member schools each year. The K-12 office works closely with them for a full year before the affiliation becomes official. 

“The curriculum is really important in a K-12 school, but also having the right people in the classroom is equally important,” O’Toole said. “We take some of the things we teach in the education department here and we provide lessons for schools across the country.”

Most of the member schools start out no bigger than kindergarten through 6th grade, but a grade is added every year until they become a K-12 school, Adams said. 

“The goal is for them to start small, so you can build a culture and foundational knowledge over time,” Adams said. 

The member schools use the K-12 Program Guide, a 700-page sequence for every grade and every subject K-12, according to O’Toole. The K-12 office also sends teachers to member schools to provide pedagogical training. 

“Our team is traveling across the country visiting our schools to do teacher training and observations,” O’Toole said. “We’re consistently working with the principals and headmasters by helping them think through things and giving them guidance and advice.” 

Adams said there are almost 50 non-member schools in the country using the K-12 curriculum, even though they don’t get ongoing pedagogical support. 

As new member schools grow, they can continue to seek help from the K-12 office, Adams said.

“We’ve added a number of people to the office, including a new school project manager to develop and manage the starting of all our new schools,” Adams said. 

Lincoln said their office is available anytime through email, phone, or Zoom for any questions or support needed by teachers or administrators of the member schools.

“We’re seeing an incredible amount of demand and working hard to keep up with it,” O’Toole said