Member Spotlight: Melissa Curtis, the Hockaday School

For four years, Melissa Curtis, the Director of Auxiliary Programs at the Hockaday School in Dallas, Texas, has worked remotely. After the first seven years of building the program's foundation with team building, continuous revenue growth, and increased enrollment, she felt she'd earned it. Now she works from home, except for the seven weeks of the summer program, when she resides on campus.

"I love what I do," Curtis says. "The kids are having fun, we're all happy to be there and happy to see them, making those personal connections."

As the only full-time auxiliary employee at Hockaday, Curtis works with two part-time staff members during the summer and is negotiating for a second full-time team member. It's clear that the summer program, which hosts kids in third through eighth grade and 180 counselors, requires tremendous dedication, adaptability, and innovation. Curtis finds it all worthwhile. "I think it's in the way that a parent and a child feels when they're on our campus and in our program. That they feel it's a joyful environment."

The experience of joy and personal connection drives the core ideals in Curtis' program. Originally a music teacher, Curtis made the switch to auxiliary work at Ohio's Laurel School in 2007, then transferred to the larger program at Hockaday. While completing an MBA at Southern New Hampshire University, she led the summer program to greatly increased revenue, hitting $1,000,000 after the first seven years, and nearly doubling that number since. Enrollment is way up; of a total enrollment of 3000, 35% come from Hockaday and the rest from surrounding communities. Curtis credits creating a vibrant, joyful campus atmosphere and emphasizing customer service for much of this success.

The summer program is a business, however, and that's how Curtis runs it. In addition to designing a fun and fulfilling seven weeks, she spends time on team-building exercises, building up new talent, strengthening relationships, and creating a culture of passion within Hockaday's auxiliary team. Her approach transformed the program into a revenue generator for the school, making good use of her MBA and years of experience. 

Curtis has a few tactics in her arsenal to sustain the program's success. Summer registration begins every year on February 1, "no matter what," and they take registrations all summer to catch any last-minute sign-ups. The fee is $650-$800 per week. Hockaday is an all-girls, boarding-optional school, but they accept boys in the summer. Although her team makes limited use of marketing--word-of-mouth seems to be effective after years of success--on opening day in 2023, the team sold an impressive $1,000,000 in registrations.

In twelve years, Melissa Curtis has turned Hockaday's summer program into a major revenue generator for the school and she does it with an emphasis on joy, passion, and strong team-building and relationships. By putting people first, she has piloted the program into unprecedented financial success and a high-quality student experience. 

Melissa Curtis is the Director of Auxiliary Programs at the Hockaday School in Dallas, Texas.

Every month, SPARC shines a spotlight on a member who is making a significant impact on the auxiliary world. If you know someone who is revolutionizing their field and deserves recognition, we want to hear from you. Please reach out to us at nat@sparcnational.com. We’re eager to celebrate and share these inspiring success stories with our community.