Superintendent's Message

Welcome! My name is Melody Hackney, and I am beginning my twelfth year as the
Hopewell City Public Schools’ Superintendent.  What an amazing journey these past
eleven 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, designed an amazingly successful
alternative education program, 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 with support from our
City Council, started an in-depth study of our capital improvement/building needs. It’s
been a great ride and I am going to miss this special district more than words can
describe.

In February of this year, I announced my plan to retire soon. And while I could see
myself working here forever, two precious little grandsons have entered our lives over
the past three years and have changed everything for me. It is with a heavy heart and
mixed emotions that I will make this transition at some point during this school year. I
have promised the school board that I will remain in place until they have completed
their search for a new superintendent and it looks like the timeline for this is around late
winter/early spring. It has been my joy to serve this community for the past eleven
years and I look forward to doing all that I can to ensure a smooth transition of
leadership.

I will leave this place a better leader and person because of all of you. I will cherish the
many relationships we have established and the blessed gift of loving this city’s
beautiful children. I intend to continue to live here, so I will only be a phone call away for
so many of you I now am privileged to call friends. Thank you for your partnership and
trust.

In the meantime, our laser focus again this year will be on instructional improvement
and student growth. We will maintain our commitment to getting our children where
they need to be, while instilling in them a love of learning, the JOY of learning, the FUN
in learning and the real-world relevance of learning at a deeper level of understanding.
We will work hard every day to find the absolute best teachers and staff our children
deserve. We are so blessed to have so many great adults called to this work and this
place. And above all else, we will continue to ensure every child feels seen, heard and
loved. I will forever be changed by this place and by all of you and I will never give up
on our mantra of Unwavering HOPE ‘til all of our children are WELL! God’s blessing on
each of you!

Dr. Melody Hackney