Dear HillCo Families,

It has been such a delight to have your students back on campus! We also enjoyed seeing many of you at last night’s Elementary Parents’ Open House. From my view, we are off to a fantastic start to the 2026-2027 school year.

One of the highlights of our first week together was our High School Retreat. But you might wonder: Why does an academic institution take three full days away from the classroom for retreat?

It’s a fair question—and one I’m always glad to answer.

The answer is simple: Those three days help set our students up for success throughout the rest of the school year. At Hill Country, we recognize that each of our students is a whole person and that part of our job in educating that whole person is to provide opportunities that challenge, grow, and enable them to flourish. Retreats provide a powerful means to accomplish that goal.

By taking time away from the day-to-day ordinary activities of school, something special happens. We are able to challenge the students spiritually, engage with them relationally, provide opportunities for them to connect socially, all while having a blast together. And this year’s retreat was no exception. Here are just a few highlights:

• Students led. Our S.A.L.T. Team planned the entire retreat! Yes, you heard that right. Our students took active leadership in making the retreat a huge success. Way to go, S.A.L.T. Team!
  
• We worshiped together. We had four sessions of worship where our students gathered as an entire High School community to worship our Savior together led by Isaac Pittman and two fellow musicians from North Carolina who graciously came to usher our students into the presence of God.
  
• We were challenged by God’s Word. We heard biblically grounded, high-school applicable messages from our speaker, JJhon Prado, who challenged our students to not only understand God’s word, but to put it into practice with their classmates, at the retreat, and at our school. As a parent and an adult, I was encouraged to see our students’ hearts open and responsive to God’s Word.
  
• We had a lot of fun. We played lots of games, had lots of contests, ate way too many bags of unhealthy (ok not super bad – just a little unhealthy) snacks.
  
• We grew together as a High School community. Over those three days, we watched students connect, worship, laugh, lead, encourage one another, and grow closer to one another.

I count the retreat as a huge success and was grateful to be a part of it this year.

I also can’t resist sharing one personal retreat victory. On Monday night, I was selected as the designated hider—a role Coach Hudgens held with distinction for many years. My assignment was simple: find a hiding place somewhere on the camp property and avoid being discovered by our students.

I’m happy to report that Coach Hudgens’ legacy remains intact: not a single student found me.

They’ve been trying to pry the location of my secret hiding spot out of me ever since. So far, I’m holding strong.

If you don’t yet have a High School student, fear not, retreats start for students beginning in 6th grade. Their time will come!

Again, we are off to a great start and are so excited to have everyone back on campus here at Hill Country Christian School. Thank you for entrusting your children to our care.

In Christ,

Eric DeVries, Head of School and High School Principal