Superintendent's Message

Welcome! My name is Melody Hackney, and I am beginning my eighth year as the Hopewell City Public Schools Superintendent.  What an amazing journey these past seven years have been! I remain humbled and honored to serve in this capacity, and am incredibly proud of our work to date.  

Over the past few years we have done some absolutely transformational work in our school district!  We have updated our vision for our organization, embraced project-based deeper learning in all of our classrooms, converted to a balanced, year-round calendar, elevated student and teacher voice, put a food bus on our roads, transitioned to and from a virtual learning platform, enhanced our school safety and security, developed a wonderful after-school option for our children at “The ‘Well,” AND survived an international pandemic!  Where do we go from here?

Well friends, in spite of all of our innovation and progress, as we all know, Covid-19 came with many difficult consequences still facing us today.  This was a very hard two years!  And while our teachers and staff have worked diligently to support our children through all of it, it has not been without learning losses and challenges for our students.

Since our return to in-person learning, we have made a concerted effort to ensure that every single child entrusted to our care feels seen, heard and loved.  Nothing, absolutely nothing, is more important than this…and it will always be our “main thing.”

Speaking of our revised vision, it reads:

1. Every child in our care deserves to feel seen, heard and loved.
2. Every child deserves to do work that matters to them-work that is beautiful, builds on their inherent gifts and contributes to our community.
3. Every adult in our district deserves to feel loved, encouraged and supported, not just by leadership, but by one another, as adults in this community charged with the sacred purpose of caring for, nurturing and developing our youth. 

Our “laser focus” this year is on instructional improvement and student growth.  We take our responsibility to this very seriously and are motivated and equipped to get our children where they need to be after all they have endured these past two years.  We want our babies to love learning, have fun while learning, connect their learning to real world experiences and find meaning, relevance and a personal contribution to applying their learning to improve their lives, community and world.  

I remain extremely blessed to serve Hopewell City Public Schools. We are grateful to our parents and community partners for the privilege of growing Hopewell’s next generation and most precious resource.  I look forward to continuing my service to our families by always putting our students’ needs first. We are seeking out the best in the business of education as well as through community partners to enhance their experience both in and out of the classroom. We are so grateful for your support.  

Since joining the HCPS family, my motto has been, “Unwavering HOPE until all the children are WELL!” I am committed to this mission and am happy to work with a team of administrators, staff and teachers, also dedicated to this philosophy. I still find joy in this work every single day and consider it a calling. Thank you for your confidence and trust.  Be safe and blessed!

Dr. Melody Hackney