Welcome From Our Head of School - Hillbrook School
Source: https://www.hillbrook.org/about/welcome
Archived: 2026-04-23 17:30
Welcome From Our Head of School - Hillbrook School
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Welcome
from the Head of School
Dear Families,
Since our founding in 1935, Hillbrook School has been committed to a simple and compelling vision - to inspire students to achieve their dreams and reach beyond themselves to make a difference in the world.
At the center of our Los Gatos Campus lies the Village of Friendly Relations, a set of small buildings designed and built by our earliest students back in the late 1930s. School founder Mary Orem imagined that this small working village, which included a bank, general store, and a newspaper, would help children learn how to collaborate and co-exist and provide the children the skills they would need to help ensure a more peaceful and just world. Innovative and inspiring, the Village of Friendly Relations was highlighted in Sunset Magazine in the late 1930s.
Today, we are two campuses strong and continuing our journey to becoming a JK-12. Our Upper School is located in Downtown San José, in two lovingly restored historic spaces that have been part of the fabric of the city for almost a century each. Our San José campus, like our Los Gatos campus, serves as an inspiring space for students to learn and grow, and we are excited to see how “the city as classroom” continues to create a challenging and dynamic learning experience for our oldest students.
Almost 90 years after our founding, we remain a school that is at the leading edge of education. Our innovative program provides the just right challenge for each student, balancing skill development with integrated project-based learning, and includes dedicated time each week for students to reach beyond and make a difference in the world. We are also home to the
Scott Center for Social Entrepreneurship
, one of the only JK-12 centers dedicated to social impact education in the world, and the Hub, a state-of-the-art makerspace on the Los Gatos Campus that serves as our epicenter for design, science, art, and engineering (the Upper School campus will have its own state-of-the-art design and engineering space too!) We are deeply committed to diversity, equity, inclusion, justice and action, knowing that the best schools and the strongest academic programs are also intentionally diverse communities. At every step of the way, our school is connected by a close-knit, welcoming, generous community, whose support helps make a campus like ours possible.
We encourage you to step foot on one of our two campuses and enter spaces where students are known and valued as learners, where exceptional educators co-design learning experiences each day that challenge students to reach their highest potential, and where laughter, friendship, and joy are an integral part of our community.
Hillbrook is an extraordinary place to be a student. We hope you will visit soon.
Warmly,
Click here to read Mark Silver's biography.
Mark Silver is the Head of School at Hillbrook School, a JK-12 independent school located in Silicon Valley. Since his arrival at Hillbrook in 2009, Mark has deepened the school’s connections to its historical roots as a leader in innovation and best practices in education. As part of the school’s ambitious strategic plans, Visions 2015 and 2020, Hillbrook has launched the Center for Teaching Excellence and the Scott Center for Social Entrepreneurship, established itself as a leader in the use of technology, earning designation since 2012-13 as an Apple Distinguished School, and placed itself at the forefront of conversations about the Maker’s movement, social entrepreneurship, learning spaces, and co-teaching. Today, the school is embarking on its most ambitious undertaking ever - expanding from a JK-8 into a two campus JK-12 with a new Upper School campus in downtown San Jose.
Prior to his arrival at Hillbrook, Mark spent a number of years as an administrator, teacher, and coach in independent schools, including Holland Hall School in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Crystal Springs Uplands School in Hillsborough, California, and Francis Parker School in San Diego, California. Mark graduated Phi Beta Kappa and summa cum laude from Amherst College with a degree in American Studies, and later earned an M.A. in American History at Stanford University and a Ph.D in Leadership Studies at the University of San Diego. Mark was a fellow at the Heads of School program at the Klingenstein Center at Teacher’s College Columbia University, and also is a certified Executive Coach through the Berkeley Executive Coaching Institute. He has served on many Boards, including the California Association of Independent Schools, the Elementary School Heads Association, Crystal Springs Upland Schools, and, currently, the Girls Middle School in Palo Alto.
Mark has three children and his wife, Carla, is the Executive Director of Leadership & Design, a non-profit organization that “designs experiences for the people who design the future of education.” Outside of work life, you can find him walking his beloved dogs (Duke and Izzy), hiking and running, reading, watching sports (especially English Premier League), and beekeeping.
Recommended Reading from Mark Silver
Imaginable
, Jane McGonigal
Thinking in Bets
, Annie Duke
Thinking, Fast and Slow
, Daniel Khaneman
How to Raise an Adult
, Julie Lythcott Haims
Apeirogon
, Colum McCann
More from Mark:
ReMarks & Reflections: Mark's Blog
Follow ReMarks & Reflections, the Blog of Hillbrook's Head of School.
Listen to Mark's regular podcast: The JAM: Just a Moment with Mark Silver!
All Episodes
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Skip To Main Content
There are no resources or collections to display
Welcome
from the Head of School
Dear Families,
Since our founding in 1935, Hillbrook School has been committed to a simple and compelling vision - to inspire students to achieve their dreams and reach beyond themselves to make a difference in the world.
At the center of our Los Gatos Campus lies the Village of Friendly Relations, a set of small buildings designed and built by our earliest students back in the late 1930s. School founder Mary Orem imagined that this small working village, which included a bank, general store, and a newspaper, would help children learn how to collaborate and co-exist and provide the children the skills they would need to help ensure a more peaceful and just world. Innovative and inspiring, the Village of Friendly Relations was highlighted in Sunset Magazine in the late 1930s.
Today, we are two campuses strong and continuing our journey to becoming a JK-12. Our Upper School is located in Downtown San José, in two lovingly restored historic spaces that have been part of the fabric of the city for almost a century each. Our San José campus, like our Los Gatos campus, serves as an inspiring space for students to learn and grow, and we are excited to see how “the city as classroom” continues to create a challenging and dynamic learning experience for our oldest students.
Almost 90 years after our founding, we remain a school that is at the leading edge of education. Our innovative program provides the just right challenge for each student, balancing skill development with integrated project-based learning, and includes dedicated time each week for students to reach beyond and make a difference in the world. We are also home to the
Scott Center for Social Entrepreneurship
, one of the only JK-12 centers dedicated to social impact education in the world, and the Hub, a state-of-the-art makerspace on the Los Gatos Campus that serves as our epicenter for design, science, art, and engineering (the Upper School campus will have its own state-of-the-art design and engineering space too!) We are deeply committed to diversity, equity, inclusion, justice and action, knowing that the best schools and the strongest academic programs are also intentionally diverse communities. At every step of the way, our school is connected by a close-knit, welcoming, generous community, whose support helps make a campus like ours possible.
We encourage you to step foot on one of our two campuses and enter spaces where students are known and valued as learners, where exceptional educators co-design learning experiences each day that challenge students to reach their highest potential, and where laughter, friendship, and joy are an integral part of our community.
Hillbrook is an extraordinary place to be a student. We hope you will visit soon.
Warmly,
Click here to read Mark Silver's biography.
Mark Silver is the Head of School at Hillbrook School, a JK-12 independent school located in Silicon Valley. Since his arrival at Hillbrook in 2009, Mark has deepened the school’s connections to its historical roots as a leader in innovation and best practices in education. As part of the school’s ambitious strategic plans, Visions 2015 and 2020, Hillbrook has launched the Center for Teaching Excellence and the Scott Center for Social Entrepreneurship, established itself as a leader in the use of technology, earning designation since 2012-13 as an Apple Distinguished School, and placed itself at the forefront of conversations about the Maker’s movement, social entrepreneurship, learning spaces, and co-teaching. Today, the school is embarking on its most ambitious undertaking ever - expanding from a JK-8 into a two campus JK-12 with a new Upper School campus in downtown San Jose.
Prior to his arrival at Hillbrook, Mark spent a number of years as an administrator, teacher, and coach in independent schools, including Holland Hall School in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Crystal Springs Uplands School in Hillsborough, California, and Francis Parker School in San Diego, California. Mark graduated Phi Beta Kappa and summa cum laude from Amherst College with a degree in American Studies, and later earned an M.A. in American History at Stanford University and a Ph.D in Leadership Studies at the University of San Diego. Mark was a fellow at the Heads of School program at the Klingenstein Center at Teacher’s College Columbia University, and also is a certified Executive Coach through the Berkeley Executive Coaching Institute. He has served on many Boards, including the California Association of Independent Schools, the Elementary School Heads Association, Crystal Springs Upland Schools, and, currently, the Girls Middle School in Palo Alto.
Mark has three children and his wife, Carla, is the Executive Director of Leadership & Design, a non-profit organization that “designs experiences for the people who design the future of education.” Outside of work life, you can find him walking his beloved dogs (Duke and Izzy), hiking and running, reading, watching sports (especially English Premier League), and beekeeping.
Recommended Reading from Mark Silver
Imaginable
, Jane McGonigal
Thinking in Bets
, Annie Duke
Thinking, Fast and Slow
, Daniel Khaneman
How to Raise an Adult
, Julie Lythcott Haims
Apeirogon
, Colum McCann
More from Mark:
ReMarks & Reflections: Mark's Blog
Follow ReMarks & Reflections, the Blog of Hillbrook's Head of School.
Listen to Mark's regular podcast: The JAM: Just a Moment with Mark Silver!
All Episodes
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