Founded in 1876, Hathaway Brown is an all-girls' K-12 and co-ed Early Childhood independent day school that prepares students to rise boldly to the challenges of our times.
Non Scholae Sed Vitae Discimus:
We Learn Not For School, But For Life
Hathaway Brown School is more than a school for girls. It’s a school for scientists and writers and artists and budding entrepreneurs. It’s a training ground for athletes and dancers and musicians and actresses. It’s a place where young people are empowered to ask questions, challenge conventions and explore opportunities.
And everything we do is guided by the motto above.
Since 1876, HB has given students the tools they need to confidently embrace all the possibilities that exist for them beyond our Shaker Heights campus. The faculty’s dedication to hands-on experiential learning at all levels can be observed every day in the classrooms, libraries, science labs, theatres, dance studios and art rooms, as well as on the athletic fields.
In addition to the superior academic preparation they receive, at every turn HB students are inspired to become the best people they can be. We encourage girls of all ages and boys in our Early Childhood program to take chances, stretch their minds, work together, and pick themselves up and start over when they need to.
The results of this philosophical approach are both astounding and humbling. Through the years, we’ve amassed more than our fair share of awards and accolades in every discipline you can imagine. Students continually perform with notable distinction on high-level tests and in the rate at which they’re accepted to their first-choice, top-tier colleges and universities. In fact, from 2009-2011, HB produced more National Merit Finalists than any other girls’ school in the country.
But no matter how well they fare by these measures, all of our students are able to apply what they’ve learned in the classroom to their lives. They know how to test theories, hold authority accountable, find beauty in overlooked places, implement creative solutions, and lend a hand where it’s needed.
Wherever they go from here, HB graduates bring strong character, unparalleled intelligence, unbridled enthusiasm, and an unquenchable thirst for knowledge along with them.
Hathaway Brown School is dedicated to excellence in the education of girls. For us, educational excellence includes, but reaches well beyond, superb preparation for college. The true mission of the School, as reflected in our motto "Non scholae sed vitae discimus," is preparation for life.
We strive to foster in the minds of our students an abiding passion for learning, and in their hearts a constant devotion to strong character and public service. At this moment in history there is a great need for women of vision and courage who are empowered for leadership in a multicultural and globalized society. We seek to answer that need by inspiring our students to achieve their utmost potential, and rise boldly to the challenges of their times.
While transforming the lives of girls in our care is our primary calling, Hathaway Brown embraces broader aspirations as well: to help catalyze a new future for women; to stand among the country's leading schools in educational innovation; and to be such a force for the common good in our local community that we are cherished as a civic treasure.
Since its beginning as "afternoon classes for young ladies" at the all-boys' private Brooks Military School in downtown Cleveland, Hathaway Brown has been helping students find and pursue opportunities, maximize their own potential, and make a difference in the world. The school moved to its current location in Shaker Heights in 1927 and it is now home to 830 students in preschool through twelfth grade, 29 percent of whom are students of color. Twenty-seven percent of students received financial aid awards in 2011-2012. The school maintains small class sizes in all divisions, and the student:faculty ratio is 8:1.
