Information for our Opening Date at The Hill Pointe School

Dear Parents and Supporters of The Hill Pointe School,

Most of you have seen our announcement of the decision to push our school’s opening to September 2024 via the January newsletter. Also, the Grosse Pointe News covered this news in an article last week. We felt it was critical to get you the announcement as soon as the decision was made because we know you are weighing educational decisions for this fall.

Today we write to provide more detail about why the Founders Board arrived at the decision not to open.  It was necessary to consider several different data sets and deadlines. We made this decision conscientiously. We reached a point where we had exhausted every possible option regarding a suitable facility that would allow us to hit our fall timeline opening.

As you know, The Hill Pointe School has reached critical milestones in the 14 months since the board was formed in late 2021. We have obtained a charter from Central Michigan University and are a Hillsdale K-12 candidate school. In fact, a couple of very good headmaster candidates were waiting in the wings for us to get a building. If we had succeeded, we would have opened.

We have had many conversations with prior and current GPPSS school board members, city officials, and church leadership at potential sites. Currently, there are THREE either vacant or underutilized buildings that would work for our opening and expansion. Unfortunately, the entities which control these buildings cannot see what you see: the great potential of our classical school to be a positive addition to existing educational offerings in Grosse Pointe and the Eastside. The leadership (not all, but some) have noted the “threat” we pose, not the opportunity. They see the 190 children already signed up for Hill Pointe and believe our classical education model will draw students away from them and thereby “hurt” their institutions rather than see how these children may thrive.

 As indicated in the GP News, we underestimated the lengths leaders would go to protect their specific approach and overestimated their interest in advancing educational opportunity.

This letter is intended to articulate very clearly that WE ARE NOT QUITTING! We believe in the classical education model. We believe in the Hillsdale curriculum. We believe in the low-tech approach where the teacher is the center of the classroom, instructing children to think critically by engaging in the Socratic method. Finally, we believe that such an education should be available not only to those who can afford a private or parochial school but to all who desire it.

You are critical in supporting our efforts to open Hill Pointe. As we continue to pursue a suitable school site, we seek more direct involvement from you. Can you volunteer to work on sub-committees focusing on community outreach, facilities/real estate, finance, fundraising, marketing, and Parent Guild topics and activities? We hope that you will join us.

The Founders Board is very disappointed we could not deliver the school this fall. However, we have only lost one battle in this war for educational innovation. With you by our side, we will continue to educate our community on the value of classical education and the importance of educational options.

We thank you for your continued support.

Most sincerely,
The Founders Board

“Duty is ours, results are God’s.” – John Quincy Adams