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Did you know that in Niche’s annual ranking of schools, HBHA was #1 in private schools and #1 in college preparatory schools in Johnson County? Did you know we also ranked #3 out of 18 in K-12 schools in the Kansas City Metro area, and #5 out of 50 in KC college preparatory schools?

Did you know that HBHA employs four ordained rabbis of different denominations, and we have four employees with PhDs?

Did you know that HBHA has two learning specialists, a program for gifted learners, and a mental health professional on staff?

Did you know that the majority of our graduates from last year went on to study engineering in college?

While these are impressive stats, they remain just statistics. The secret sauce of HBHA is hard to quantify. But one of the things that I think makes HBHA so special is that we have more than one way to measure success.

In most schools, their goals are limited to making sure students are academically prepared for college. Success can be measured by ACT scores and trophies. But at HBHA, we are not only focused on how well our students are doing academically; we are deeply invested in the type of people that come out of our school. As our mission states, “We strive to cultivate a generation of Jewish independent and ethical thinkers, determined to reach their greatest potential and have a positive impact on our people and the world.” In short, we make mensches.

It’s what I would call having a dual bottom line- a phrase I am borrowing from the field of social entrepreneurship. In social entrepreneurship, the businesses still aim to make money, but that is not their only criteria for success. They’re ultimate goal is to make the world a better place at the same time. Making profit at the expense of the good is unacceptable. 

We feel the same way about our students. Our students are academically prepared and have had great success everywhere from Harvard to the Fashion Institute of Technology to Johns Hopkins University to Yeshiva University. We also have students who have taken alternate routes- from joining the Israeli Army to going straight into business. But what they all have in common is that they are proud and knowledgeable Jews that are committed to making the world a better place. They, too, have a dual bottom line: personal success and communal success.

When you send your kids to HBHA, you get a commitment to more. You’ll get the academics and the sports. You’ll get brilliant and devoted teachers. You’ll get the deep and abiding commitment to Jewish life, knowledge and values. But you also get a devotion to your children’s growth and development. Our children are unique. We know that and honor them by helping them find their voice, their vision, and their passion- within a loving, supportive, and rigorous environment.

Niche recognizes that we are great, but they will never quite be able to understand just how great. That’s something you’ll just have to ask our graduates!