Message from the Chief Advancement Officer

Welcome to the 2026 alumni edition of Dragontales! Although it’s only the halfway point of the school year, there’s lots of great news from the global HKIS alumni community in this issue.

The 60th Anniversary of HKIS will take place in 2026-27, an important milestone which we will celebrate with a range of different events. The first event takes place this April, with what we are calling the Alumni and Former Faculty Homecoming Week. Traditionally, Homecoming takes place in the fall, usually in connection with a big football game, but the idea behind is the same: to invite alumni and former faculty to “come home” to help commemorate and celebrate an important milestone. (details about the week)

In the past year, there’s been a strong showing from alumni reengaging with the school. A lot of this is the result of alumni gathering for milestone class reunions, such as the recent Class of 2000 25th reunion, which took place in Hong Kong. We’ve also seen it in the overseas events hosted by the Advancement Office, including events in Seoul and Singapore, and double the number of San Francisco alumni signing up for the January 29 event. Over 4600 alumni regularly open and read the monthly Alumni Newsletter.

Behind much of this work is our long-serving Parent and Alumni Relations Manager, Hillary Sandeen. But she’s not alone. Working alongside her to strategize ways to improve our alumni program is a small working group of dedicated alumni, including Matt Sears ’02 and Liz Liang ’04, as well as parent of alumni Karena Belin. Working with High School Principal Aimmie Kellar and the school leadership, they explore ways to strengthen the connection between the alumni community and current students.

In recent years, leading schools and many universities have adopted the Alumni Engagement Metrics from the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education (CASE). These measures assess alumni engagement in four areas:

Receiving and reading monthly alumni newsletters (email)
Participation in alumni events (both on campus and overseas)
Volunteer roles such as speaking with students, or serving on a school committee
Participating in giving back to the school’s Annual Fund or other fundraising activities

Thanks to the dynamism of our global community, we’re seeing increases across the board.

From Fall 2023 – Spring 2025:

Volunteering increased 15%
Event attendance increased 28%
Alumni making a donation increased 30%

And we’re on track to see double-digit increases again by the end of this school year!

Of course, many alumni heard or read about the recent issues involving the LCMS. While the discussions are ongoing and we hope to reach a resolution, the board, faculty and staff of HKIS are committed to ensuring that learning and student enrichment continue uninterrupted. The school has weathered many difficult moments and challenges over the past six decades, built on the foundation of a meaningful mission and values established in 1966 that continue to drive our commitment today, and well into the future.

One of those values is a commitment to service. Be it volunteering for a local nonprofit or charity, donating time to serve on a board, participating in a beach clean-up or planting trees in your neighborhood, generations of HKIS students carry the value of service forward in their lives. During this special year for our global community, many alumni are joining beloved former Head of School and High School Principal Jim Handrich to grow this legacy. Jim made a special estate gift to support the Service-Learning Endowed Fund, which was created in the early 2000s by two alumni. The James A. Handrich Service-Learning Endowed Fund provides support for up to 30 student-led service projects in or around Hong Kong every year. With Jim’s commitment and many other alumni, we hope to grow that fund so that it can support up to 60 student projects every year.

I hope you enjoy the articles and news in this edition of DragonTales, and that you join me in engaging with other alumni and former employees around the world who share a common bond: being a cherished member of the HKIS community.

Heath K. Hignight, CFRE
Chief Advancement Officer