HKA opened its iconic red doors to just three children back in 2000. A quarter of a century later they remain committed to nurturing the potential within every student. We caught up with Head of School, Kasson Bratton to talk about the year ahead.
Thank you. We’re all very proud and excited to be celebrating 25 years of HKA. Community values and partnership have always been crucial to the success of our school and over the years the mission statement has evolved with a culture of belonging at its core. Brain science tells us that by ensuring that every student feels seen, known and heard we are creating optimal conditions for learning and that is one of the reasons why a culture of belonging is so important.
Absolutely. All celebrations bring people together and of course we have a series of celebrations planned. On the first Saturday back to school we held our opening celebration which was made extra special as we opened Phase 2 of our courtyard garden project. Phase 1 was the installation of a giant Playwave last summer. It’s the only one of its type in Asia and our students love it! Phase 2 was the addition of an outdoor performance and seating area as well as new biodiversity and sensory gardens and a green wall.
That’s a great question. Our key goal for the 25th anniversary is to ‘drive meaningful engagement’ for all community members. For our students that meant that last year we went into the classrooms and asked them what they would like to see happen during the 25th anniversary. There were so many great ideas and to help turn some of those ideas into reality we are now running a year-long project. I am one of the mentors for the group and will be working alongside other faculty and specialist staff to support the students with their plans. There are some exciting ideas in the works but I don't want to give any spoilers just yet!
Another way that students will be involved in school-wide projects this year is through our BEAM+ Existing Schools certification. Our’s is a purpose-built campus which was designed and built to minimise our ecological impact. This ultimately resulted in HKA being the first whole-school campus in Hong Kong to achieve Gold BEAM+ status from the Green Buildings Council of Hong Kong. Working towards Existing Schools certification will help us drive further improvement and enable active participation from students as they partner with our operations and facilities team to review and measure the building's sustainable features and identify our next round of innovation.
We continually look for ways to build a sense of connection throughout our community and this year we have expanded our Community Activities programme to include on and off campus sports and social events for adults. We’re also reaching out to our alumni through revamped newsletters and will host an Alumni meet-up in London in late September. We also have a 1920’s themed party coming up in February, and we’re excited to be hosting hundreds of athletes and coaches for the SCISAC international volleyball tournament in March. It’s all happening at HKA!
HKA is now taking scholarship applications for the 2026-27 school year, learn more or book a school tour at www.hkacademy.edu.hk
Hong Kong Academy
33 Wai Man Road, Sai Kung, New Territories, Hong Kong
Tel: 2655 1111
Email: admissions@hkacademy.edu.hk
Website: www.hkacademy.edu.hk
