Hunter College Elementary School (HCES) is a publicly-funded (tuition-free) school that serves a diverse population of children who have been identified as intellectually talented. Hunter College Elementary School is one of the oldest schools for intellectually-gifted students in the country. Our curriculum is characterized by high expectations and designed to facilitate the development of students’ creative and critical-thinking skills. The individual interests of Hunter students are what define curriculum development and implementation. The program at HCES enables students to examine topics in great depth, to accelerate their learning when appropriate, and to strive for a high standard of processing and articulating ideas.
In addition to developing their capabilities, HCES’s mission is to nurture the social and emotional development of our students by encouraging them to be caring, compassionate, and responsible citizens. We prepare our students to be life-long learners, leaders, and thinkers. Positive relationships that are formed between children and teachers are fundamental and grow in an environment that celebrates the cultural, ethnic, and socioeconomic diversity of its unique educational community. We take great pride in the warm family environment that characterizes our school, comprised of caring faculty, dynamic students, and committed parents.