A century and a quarter of The Hotchkiss School

Stepping into the role of The Hotchkiss School’s 15th head of school just as the school celebrates a momentous milestone, Craig Bradley has accepted a unique assignment: 125 years since Edward Coy served as the first head of school, Bradley has not only inherited the rural campus’ long history of scholastic and academic excellence, he is positioned to shape the start of its next era. 

The Yale connection

Sitting down for an interview in Bradley’s office (where the forward-thinker works, naturally, at a standing desk), he discussed his own past and the future he hopes to shape for Hotchkiss. He has spent the last decade working for the Aga Kahn Foundation in France. 

“The Aga Kahn’s commitment is to serve the poorest countries in the world where he has strong relationships with political leadership,” Bradley explained. “We were working in places where we had been invited by the president of that country to do a project. Often the country gave us the land, or, in the case of India, the state of Andhra Pradesh gave us 100 hundred acres to design and build a school.” 

The goal for these International Baccalaureate (IB) schools, was to create academic programs that would be challenging but accessible to students all over the world.

The Hotchkiss School, of course, was built on its own uniquely American academic tradition. “We were really modeled after Andover. The first leadership of the faculty came from Andover, and the first chair of the board, Timothy Dwight, came from Yale. Andover itself had been a feeder to Yale, so we essentially became a cousin school through that influence.” 

With Yale remaining the single largest collegiate destination for graduating students, Bradley said, “It’s a relationship that remains important to us historically and currently. And it works both ways. We have international students here, for example, whom the Yale admissions office might have judged to be really, really talented students and who they would love to come to Yale but who might need another year of preparation; so they’ll get in touch with us about the possibility of a PG, or post-graduate, year. There’s a lot of mutual respect and goodwill between Hotchkiss and Yale.”

Creating a new future

After a decade with the Aga Kahn Foundation, Bradley said, he could certainly see himself spending a decade at Hotchkiss. He’s not only planting roots, but also laying the foundation for what he wants to build next. 

“It takes time to create something worthy of effort. It’s not something you do quickly or superficially. It takes time to create a deep and enduring impact. That’s what interests me and motivates me. Building on the strengths that are here, and imagining what the next chapter for Hotchkiss looks like, doing that in a collective and communal way, gathering the best ideas and moving forward — that takes time.” 

Of course, the landscape and the history and tradition of the region add to the appeal. 

“I am besotted with Lakeville,” he said. “It’s a sincere statement. I think it’s a wonderful, kind of magical place. 

Bradley’s view of Hotchkiss’ future may be bright, but he acknowledges that he is sending young minds out into a very uncertain world. 

“We’re preparing students for further education, to enter into society. And because they have good minds and the benefit of a good education, we can expect them to assert leadership in one sphere or another.” 

Asking the right questions

With Bradley citing 84 percent of the student body as American, and a good percentage of the international students planning to pursue professional lives in the United States, the unknowable future of the country’s political climate is present in his mind. 

“Our country is becoming much, much more diverse. It’s also growing further apart in terms of wealth. That’s something we need to worry about. Our society is pulling apart in a certain way, and I worry about that. I want our students to be well prepared to think about these issues. I don’t want to tell them how to think about it; I just want them to have an awareness — of equity and inclusion — and to be prepared to ask the right questions.”