Affiliation Levels

Leading Schools to Excellence with Tiered Support

Through the K-12 Education Office, Hillsdale College extends its teaching role to boards, leaders, and teachers of K-12 schools across the country. The Hillsdale College K-12 Office provides curriculum, training, and consulting to private and public schools. School support varies depending on the level of affiliation.

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Hillsdale College Member Schools

A select number of Hillsdale College Member Schools work closely with the College and serve as examples of excellence to K-12 schools nationwide. Member Schools receive Hillsdale’s K-12 curriculum, a growing library of resources, consultation, and training from the K-12 Education team.

Hillsdale College Member Schools are committed to excellence as they follow Hillsdale’s best practices in school leadership, curriculum, classroom instruction, school culture, and board governance, which we see as necessary ingredients for a successful school.

The Hillsdale K-12 Education Office serves as an advisor to Member Schools in the form of:

Onsite trainings and classroom observations
Conferences on Hillsdale’s campus
Focus groups, and personal interaction with our team and cohort of master teachers.

All supports provided to Member Schools are provided free of charge. Hillsdale does not own, govern, or manage any K-12 schools, with the exception of Hillsdale Academy.

For information about how to start a new school in collaboration with Hillsdale, email us at [email protected].

Hillsdale College Candidate Member Schools

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Hillsdale College Candidate Member Schools” are schools that have been selected by the Hillsdale K-12 Education Office to work toward Member School status. They are most frequently schools in the startup phase, usually from the pre-operational year through the first year of operations, but they can also be existing schools that are receiving our support towards becoming a Hillsdale Member School.

New schools generally transition to Member School status after their first year of operation. Existing schools that are accepted as Candidate Member Schools will remain Candidate Schools for at least two years before reaching Member School status.

Hillsdale College Curriculum Schools

The curriculum designed for use in Hillsdale College Member Schools is made more widely available under a licensing agreement to schools that share our objective of leading students toward intellectual, moral, and civic virtue in a traditional education setting. These Hillsdale College Curriculum Schools are licensed users of the Hillsdale K-12 curriculum. Hillsdale College Curriculum Schools receive some exclusive access to our resources, but without the full suite of support offered to Member and Candidate Member Schools.

Curriculum Schools have significant leeway in utilizing our curriculum, with some using it in full and others only using specific elements. Curriculum Schools receive the license for our Hillsdale K-12 Program Guide free of charge. The Hillsdale College K-12 Education Office grants Curriculum School licenses to both new and existing schools by way of a monthly application process. For more details, email us at [email protected].

Existing schools wishing to receive the supports of a Hillsdale Member School should begin by becoming a Hillsdale College Curriculum School.

Publicly Available Resources

The Hillsdale College K-12 Education Office makes some of its key resources available to any interested school or educator. See the resources available to all K-12 Educators here.

Applying for Hillsdale’s K-12 Support

New founding groups or existing schools that would like to apply to be a Hillsdale College Candidate School or Curriculum School are encouraged reach out to the K-12 Education Office at [email protected].

Message the K-12 Office

Support for Schools