2022-23 Annual Report

Families of students with learning differences and attention challenges face unique challenges. In all that we do, Hill strives to provide families with a community of support and to make Hill programs as accessible and welcoming as possible.

In 2022-23, Hill continued offering a free, public Community Education Series to provide families and educators with practical resources and information grounded in research about learning and attention challenges. For Hill School families, we also strengthened connections and support through a Welcoming Committee, a Fall Family Social, parent coffees with a range of topics and formats, a monthly counseling newsletter, and the first in-person Grandfriends Day since 2019. Additionally, we redesigned our progress reports to be more family-friendly and prepared to implement new benchmark assessments that will provide families with greater clarity and insight into their children’s progress.

Philanthropy enabled Hill to host community-building events for school families, reach 2,100 people worldwide through our Community Education Series, and begin developing a new family-friendly course on understanding learning differences.

All educators – Hill’s teachers and tutors and those beyond our walls – deserve access to research-based tools and training. Gifts to Hill sent our faculty and staff to attend and present at national conferences, engaged content experts in Hill professional learning, supported improved data collection and analysis, deepened collaboration with school districts, and ensured teachers within and beyond Hill received individualized coaching and mentorship.

In 2022-23, 950 teachers participated in Hill trainings in reading, writing, executive function, and math, while more than 4,250 educators worldwide enrolled in our self-paced, online Science of Reading Short Course. Our team also led Science of Reading Professional Learning Communities for educators in partner schools and programs – communities facilitated by reading experts to help participants reflect on and apply the content in their own classrooms.

We trained 353 new teachers in the Hill Reading Achievement Program (HillRAP) and supported HillRAP implementation across 534 schools in 37 NC counties and 8 states – ensuring this proven reading intervention reached thousands of students who need it.

Thanks to our donors, teachers participating in Hill’s programs receive high-quality, research-based training and support that helps them best serve students at Hill and in classrooms around the country.

Hill was able to invest in our people, complete important system upgrades, and plan for our future from a position of strength thanks to a combination of earned revenue and the incredible generosity of our donors.

Your gifts to Hill collectively raised nearly $1.8 million in annual and multi-year contributions and commitments for general operations, expanding partnerships, furthering access and financial aid, and endowments.  

Donor support helped us recruit and retain amazing faculty and staff, including by investing in increased compensation and creating a new Director of Diversity, Equity & Engagement position.

We worked hard to upgrade our systems and spaces to best meet student, family, and educator needs, including by migrating to a more family-friendly financial aid system and converting a workroom into a classroom to create additional learning space.

HillRAP’s sale generated invaluable financial resources while ensuring Hill’s ability to benefit from future improvements. Hill’s Board has dedicated the proceeds to cover outstanding bond debt and fund essential capital reserves for an aging facility as well as critical financial aid reserves as we grow our financial aid budget.

Philanthropy has helped build our strong foundation and fuel the heart of Hill and will play a critical role in charting our path forward to deeper local impact and continued expanded access for students, families, and educators.