Chris Hinchey, Head of School

Since his appointment in 2015, Chris Hinchey has led Heathwood Hall through a period of transformative growth, setting records for total enrollment, admissions applications, and annual retention numbers.

Currently, Chris Hinchey is spearheading a capital campaign to enhance the student experience while directing Heathwood’s $20 million campus improvement plan. As a result of these efforts, the lower and middle school playgrounds were upgraded in the summer of 2023 and the Boyd PEAK Center for outdoor leadership was completed that fall. The expansion and renovations of the indoor and outdoor chapels will be completed by August 2024, while significant upgrades to the Campus Center — performance arts spaces, black box theater, library, and lobby — and athletic facilities — weight room, training room, wrestling room, locker rooms, playing fields, and more — will be completed by the winter of 2025.

As Heathwood’s head of school, Chris has also:

• Increased enrollment by 38 percent from 650 to 895 students.

• Expanded athletics to include 23 programs and 46 teams for middle and upper school students.

• Renovated classroom buildings and led a campuswide beautification initiative.

• Added an early childhood program for 2-year-olds.

• Strengthened winterim, Heathwood’s 30-year-old experiential learning program in which students travel, serve internships, or enroll in weeklong intensive classes.

• Grown student support services through staffing increases in Heathwood’s student counseling, college counseling, health office, athletic training programs, and chaplaincy.

• Established new safety and security protocols.

• Increased annual fund giving and parent participation by more than 50 percent and 70 percent, respectively.

• Served on the SCISA and PAIS executive committees of the board.

Chris began his career at Avon Old Farms in 1991, where he taught geology and coached basketball and baseball. In 1994, he began his 19-year tenure at Salisbury School, where he taught courses in biology, served as the dean of faculty and dean of students, and coached the varsity basketball team, leading two teams to the New England finals.

Chris holds a B.S. in biology from Trinity College, a M.A.L.S. of Science from Wesleyan University, and an M.S. Ed. in educational leadership from the University of Pennsylvania. Chris and his wife, Heather Brown Hinchey, have been married for 24 years. They are the proud parents of three Highlanders — Ryan ’22, Jack ’25, and Will ’27.