The Hiatt Center isn’t a physical center; it’s a program fully integrated within Beaver’s curriculum that gives our students the resources needed to lead and effect change.
In 2005, the family of Beaver alumna Anne Hiatt ’47 made a generous donation to Beaver Country Day School to create the Hiatt Center. At the core, the Hiatt Center cultivates and leverages Beaver’s approach to creativity and design for social change through student programming and curricular connections. This work is integrated fully within Beaver’s educational strategy; the Center’s program areas of leadership, civic engagement, and social justice intersect with the school’s emphasis on technology, coding, creativity, entrepreneurship, and race and equity work. Every student has the opportunity to experience our programming—in the classroom and beyond.
Students view the Hiatt Center as a resource to inspire, deepen, & discover meaningful work they are invested in; teachers partner with the Hiatt Center to enrich their coursework with real-world examples & experiences.
This is what sets us apart from other schools.
What we do
Our approach focuses on quality, not quantity. We measure success in terms of the transformation of the student and the community rather than hours served. To do this, we build community partnerships that are mutually beneficial, long-term, multi-faceted, connected to curriculum, and an extension of the school’s values.
We believe this approach will move us from a mindset of traditional service to a mindset of strengths-based empowerment.
How we do it
We accomplish this through:
- Student Programming: We design and facilitate 6-12 programming where students develop leadership skills, access civic engagement opportunities, and elevate actions and conversation around social justice topics.
- Curricular Connections: We partner with faculty to build community engagement opportunities into the curriculum that lead to deeper learning, authentic connections and projects, and meaningful community change.
The Hiatt Center Team
