On Wednesday, April 6, Head of School Lee Hark delivered the fourth annual State of the School speech.

“Greenhill is poised for an era of unprecedented growth and opportunity for all of us,” Hark said.

During his four-year-long tenure, Hark has overseen large institutional transformations amid a pandemic. Throughout the past year, Greenhill has changed its vision statement, updated its core values and amended its statement on diversity, equity and inclusion.

Hark began his speech by discussing coming together as a community alongside an in-person return to school.

“This group [of faculty and staff] has overcome extraordinary obstacles and challenges,” Hark said.

Hark says Greenhill is primarily focused on growing the student body. There were over 1,100 applications for just about 200 available spots. Applications were managed by Director of Admission Sarah Markhovsky.

“The demand for admission into Greenhill is at an all-time high, in part due to the explosive growth of the Metroplex, but also due to the outstanding reputation we have built over the past 70 + years,” Hark said.

Hark also shared parts of the Growing Stronger Together plan. The new, five-year-long, $71 million campaign has recently topped $46 million in funding.

The center of the project is a new science building, dubbed the Valdes STEM + Innovation Center. Hark says it will be a place of student-faculty engagement across disciplines and grade levels with state-of-the-art science, technology, engineering, math and robotics facilities.

The campaign includes a new High-Performance Center as well. Plans include a new stadium complex, locker rooms and a covered practice facility. As a result, Hark said this will provide much-needed space for the athletics team and Physical Education programs, boosting student retention and health.

“I want to share my profound gratitude for this community and the strength it showed as we weathered the past two years,” Hark said.