The Harker School

The Harker School
Established	1893
School type	Private
Head of school	Christopher Nikoloff
Location	San Jose, California
School Web site	http://www.harker.org
School colors	Green and white (Middle School wears blue, and Harker Academy colors were yellow and black)

The Harker School is a private, co-educational, non-profit college preparatory school in San Jose, California, United States.

Founded in 1893 as Manzanita Hall, Harker has three campuses, called Bucknall, Blackford, and Saratoga for the streets on which they lie. Bucknall is the Lower School campus, educating kindergarten through grade 5. The Middle School, grades 6 to 8, is on the Blackford campus, and the Upper School, grades 9 to 12, is on the Saratoga campus.

The current administration is led by Christopher Nikoloff, who succeeded Howard and Diana Nichols following their retirement after the 2004-2005 academic year. Howard Nichols is the son of Donald Nichols, who created the present day Harker School by merging the Palo Alto Military Academy in Palo Alto (as Manzanita Hall was then called) with Harker Day School in 1972 and moving to the Saratoga campus. [http://www.harker.org/page.cfm?p=95] The Upper Division is led by Samuel "Butch" Keller, the Middle Division by Cindy Kerr Ellis, the Elementary Division by Kristin Giammona, and the Primary Division by Sarah Leonard.

Components

Upper School

The Upper School houses grades 9-12, and is located on the Saratoga campus, the original San Jose campus, where Harker has been located since 1972. [http://www.harker.org/page.cfm?p=95] The upper school was first opened in 1998, with the first class graduating in 2002. Currently, there are about 700 students in the upper school. Harker recently completed the largest capital expansion project in its history by completing a new athletic field in September 2008, a new aquatic center in April 2008, and a LEED-certified (pending) Science and Technology center - Nichols Hall - in time for the start of the 2008-09 academic year.

A/B Lunch Assignments

"A" lunch is for classes in English, Math, Computer Science, Languages, and Performing Arts: lunch first on Mondays and Thursdays, class first on Tuesdays and Fridays."B" lunch is for classes in Visual Arts, Science, Communications, and History: class first on Mondays and Thursdays, lunch first on Tuesdays and Fridays.

Academics

Harker is best known for its rigorous academic environment, boasting one of the best academic programs in the country. Fact|date=June 2007 In academics, students are regularly accepted into highly selective college programs throughout the country, many going onto very prestigious universities.Fact|date=August 2008 Harker students are selected largely based on their academic aptitude.Fact|date=August 2008 They regularly achieve very high SAT scores. In 2005, they were nationally acclaimed for Advanced Placement test scores for AP Computer Science and AP Chemistry.Fact|date=August 2008 Harker students also are involved in scientific research, supported by new sponsorship from Harker's science department. Student Yi Sun (class of 2006) won the $75,000 second place award in the renowned Intel Science Talent Search in 2006. In both the 2006-2007 and the 2007-2008 Siemens Competition, Harker produced four national semifinalists. Similarly, in each of the 2006-2007 and the 2007-2008 Intel Science Talent Search, three Harker students were named national semifinalists, three being the largest number of semifinalists produced by any school west of the Mississippi that year. [http://www.mercurynews.com/traffic/ci_7995408] .

In 2007, a team of Harker students won the national "J8 Competition," which is a nationwide contest sponsored annually by UNICEF and Morgan Stanley to select one youth team to represent the United States. The Harker team traveled to Germany, attend the G8 Summit of world leaders and collaborated with teams from around the world to recommend solutions to global issues.

In addition, in 2008 Senior class president and graduating senior Senan Ebrahim was named as one of two California Presidential Scholars, joining the ranks of other scholars - one man and one woman from each state, selected for the honor.

Athletics

Harker offers a subordinate sports program, consisting of football, volleyball, soccer, track and field, basketball, baseball, tennis, golf, softball, lacrosse, cross country running, swimming and diving, water polo, cheerleading, wrestling, and dance. Unlike many other schools, Harker lets the students participate in sports from 4th grade onward. Some sports such as lacrosse, diving, tennis, track and field, and tennis are only offered in middle school and high school. Most sports are separate for girls and boys but some are co-ed. The school is in the Central Coast Section of the California Interscholastic Federation and is classified as Division IV.

The Harker Girls Varsity Volleyball Team won the 2007 Northern California Division IV Finals, becoming the first Harker team to advance to state finals in any sport.

Performing Arts

Harker has developed a reputation as having a strong K-12 performing arts program. There are six disciplines in the upper school with a faculty member corresponding to each.
*Director of Performing Arts: Laura Lang-Ree
*Vocal Music: Susan Nace
*Instrumental Music: Christopher Florio
*Theatre: Jeffrey Draper
*Musical Theatre: Catherine Snider
*Technical Theatre: Brian Larsen
*Dance: Laura Rae

Its conservatory program allows high school students to "major" in several disciplines within the performing arts, requiring them to take specialized classes and participate in performances in order to graduate. At the end of their senior year, there is a senior showcase where candidates perform and then receive their certificate at the end of the show. The Harker Conservatory was invited to perform at the 2007 Fringe Festival in August of that year, taking that year's spring show, "" to Edinburgh, Scotland.

Vocal groups include the jazz-focused Downbeat!, the a cappella Guys' Gig, the classical and all-female Cantilena, and the choir Bel Canto [http://www.harker.org/arts/vocal.htm] . In addition, Harker has a play each fall, a musical each spring, and a student-directed showcase each winter. This opportunity allows selected seniors (all certificate students) a chance at directing. It is similar to a graduate directing class and is a semester-long process which culminates in a performance. Harker's instrumental music program includes an orchestra and a jazz band. The winter break of 2006, The Harker Upper School was asked to perform in Paris, France for a prestigious parade festival. [http://www.parisparade.com/] The dance program at Harker focuses many different styles of dance and also allows Upper School students to choreograph many of the numbers in the annual Dance Production.

Harker Upper School ASB

The student representatives of the Harker Upper School:

2008-2009:
President- Winny Huang
Vice President- Andy Fang
Secretary- Eugene Huang
Treasurer- Jackie Ho
2007-2008:
President- Neil Shah
Vice President- Jonathan Wang
Secretary- Robyn Chan
Treasurer- Vikram Reddy
2006-2007:
President- Rupan Bose
Vice President- Adam Creasman
Secretary- Simren Kohli
Treasurer- Adnan Haque

2005-2006:
President- Amit Mukherjee
Vice President- Sriram Prakash
Treasurer- Rupan Bose
Secretary- Casey Near

2004-2005:
President- Anshu Das
Vice President- Amira Valliani
Secretary- Najm Haque
Treasurer- Sahil Patel

2003-2004:
President- Maya Hey
Vice President- Anshu Das
Secretary- Anita Gupta
Treasurer- Sahil Patel

Upper School Clubs

Clubs can be started in the upper school by any faculty member or student who has enough interested students (usually around 6) and fills out a form that is turned into the administration. There are almost 50 in all. These are some of them:
*HEART (Harker's Environmental and Animal Rights Team)- devoted to helping the environment.
*Robotics - an afterschool club
*Junior Statesmen of America(JSA) - a political activism club.
*Key Club - a large community service body.
*National Honor Society - a large community service body, with selective membership based on scholarship, leadership, community service and character.
*Junior Classical League — a Latin (language) club, in which members prepare for upcoming events, mainly by playing certamen, a Latin Quiz Bowl game
*HELM (Harker's Eclectic Literary Magazine)- A year-long project focusing on collecting and producing different works of artistic material, including poems, short stories, and photography. These projects are then organized into a "collage" in magazine form.
*The Harker Improv Troupe - Improvisational comedy performing arts club. They perform most often at Coffeehouses which they run, doing an hour of improvisational sketch comedy followed by an hour of open mic.
*SPA - Harker Society for the Performing Arts, a student-organized coalition of the different departments of the Conservatory.
*MOPS - Music Outreach Programs Society
*Gay Straight Alliance (GSA)
*Mathematics Club - which is a club for students who want to learn more about math.
*DECA - a hands-on business club that allows students to compete in events throughout the year
*Chemistry Club - a club based on chemistry.
*Yearbook - Members of this club are members of the school yearbook staff, serving as photographers and editors.
*Future Problem Solvers- a club that allows students to find the underlying problem in, and solve a futuristic situation.
*FBLA (Future Business Leaders of America) - a club that prepares students for the business world
*eCybermission - a club that does many science and/or math projects and competitions revolving around computers.
*World Awareness Committee
*Spirit Club - a club to organize school spirit building activities for all the students.
*Golf Club - a club to recognize Harker's boys golf team
*Winged Post - the journalism club that publishes the Upper School Newspaper known as the Winged Post [http://wingedpost.harker.org]
*French Club- A new club designed to promote French culture and learning.

Middle School

The middle school is located on the Blackford campus, the former site of Blackford High School. The site was rented starting in the 2005-2006 school year. [http://www.svcn.com/archives/campbellreporter/20031217/ca-news8.shtml] Before 1998, the eighth grade was the final year at Harker; however, middle school graduates now have the opportunity to choose between matriculating to the upper school or continuing their education at another high school. Uniforms, which are navy blue, are required in the middle school. There is a school meeting every Monday at the end of the school day. Announcements are made, and the student council will address any school issues to the students or teachers. Free dress days occur ever other Fridays with the exception of photography days and certain rehearsals. 8th graders get an extra free dress day every month. Full uniform days (also known as assembly uniform) occur every Monday. Many components aid in the shift from the Lower School to the Middle School, including various athletic and artistic programs. There is also a performing arts requirement: students in 7th and 8th grade must take at least one arts class or participate in one arts event in order to graduate, although 6th graders are encouraged to do so as well. The classes that can be taken are Technical Theater, Art, Harmonics, Choir, Dance, Orchestra, and Acting.

Middle School Clubs

Harker is offering a large variety of clubs to students in the Middle School. Clubs can be started by any teacher, assuming the administration agrees to them. These clubs take place primarily in Tuesday and Thursday's second Extra Help period, excluding some clubs that also take place on weekends. Currently, there are 22 clubs in all:

*ACE Club
*Art Club
*Book Club
*Chess Club
*Craft Club
*Creative Writing Club
*Conquer Club [http://www.conquerclub.com/]
*eCybermission
*enlight'ning 2008
*Future Problem Solvers
*Club Japan
*Junior Classical League (JCL)
*Math Club (for 6th graders only)
*Rocket Club
*Science Bowl Club
*Service Club
*Spanish Club
*Spirit Club
*Tech Angels
*Tech Theater Club
*Yearbook Club
*Ultimate Frisbee Club

Field Trips

Harker offers many field trips to lower school. Students visit factories, museums, parks, and historical sites. All are geared towards learning. Starting in 4th grade, students take an extended field trip. These will last from 3 days to a week, and are related to subjects the students have studied. In 7th and 8th grade, students go to out-of-state trips, where they are required to fly. These are the trips students make during their school year:
*4th - Coloma (3 days)
*5th - Marin Headlands (3 days)
*6th - Yosemite National Park (5 days)
*7th - National Parks (Grand Canyon, Bryce Canyon, Zion, Navajo Nation, etc.) (6 days)
*8th - Washington D.C.(7 days, including flying)
*9th - Great America (Day Trip for Physics)
*10th - Ropes Course (Day Trip)
*11th - Sailing Trip (Day Trip)
*12th - Senior Trip (Laguna Beach)

There are also exchange programs offered: in 6th grade with the Tamagawa school in Tokyo, Japan; in 8th grade with the World Foreign Language Middle School in Shanghai, China; and in Upper School, there are exchange programs with Switzerland and Japan. Middle school students interested in the Japan and China exchange programs apply for them and are chosen based on academic performance and citizenship grades, along with teacher recommendations.

Middle School Magazine

The official Harker Middle School arts magazine is called "enlight'ning." Any student can submit their works to Ms. Newman, the English department chair at the Middle School, and it is published around the third quarter. The magazine has recently won the Gold Crown Award at the Columbia Scholastic Press Associtaiton conference.This is actually the first Gold Crown awarded in the last two years.

Lower School

The elementary school is located on the Bucknall campus, the former site of Bucknall Elementary School. The campus was sold to Harker by the Moreland School District, and was first used by the former in the 1998-99 school year [http://www.bizjournals.com/sanjose/stories/1998/02/09/story5.html] . Uniforms based around the color green and the blackwatch plaid print, are required in the lower school. Free dress days occur every other Wednesday with the exception of photography days and certain rehearsals. Full uniform days occur every Friday, and there usually is a special assembly every Friday.

Tuition

Harker's tuition is expensive compared to other schools in the Bay Area: a student in kindergarten will have to pay $21,910 plus fees, books, and uniforms for one year, while a high school education costs $32,250 plus fees per year. [http://www.harker.org/page.cfm?p=112] . Tuition for Gr. 6-12 includes the lunch program, which offers vegan and vegetarian options. K-Gr. 8 tuition includes extensive after-school offerings by Harker's B.E.S.T. Program (Bucknall or Blackford Enrichment and Supervision Team). In the Upper School, dozens of clubs and a full athletic program extend the day and contribute to the school's sense of community.

As an independent school without an endowment, annual tuition and annual giving cover the operating expenses of the school. The tuition increases by about 7-10% each year. Capital campaign projects expand the school's offerings, including the recent expansion completed with the opening of Nichols Hall in August 2008.

Food

A full-time professional chef manages Harker's food service program that includes daily vegetarian and vegan options, as well as optional before-school and after-school snack bars. School lunch is included in the grades 6 through 12 tuition. In 2007-2008 a nutritionist was hired to help the school improve the healthiness of the menu.

Annual Giving

The Harker School has an annual giving fundraising session used to pay for the 30% of the school's expenses that the tuition does not pay for. This includes the performing arts and PE department. Currently a 2 million goal is aimed for, a bulk of which is contributed by companies, individual beneficiaries, and parents of seniors who graduate. As a senior, one can purchase a brick to be laid within a walkway with a cost corresponding to the graduation year (eg. Class of 2008 = $2008).

Use of Technology

The Harker school uses technology extensively. It maintains two learning forums Athena [http://athena.harker.org] and Global [http://global.harker.org] . Also, they have a Homework Management System known as the HHMS [http://homework.harker.org] . They maintain a web filtering server known as Zeus [http://zeus.harker.org] and a database access server known as Horatio [http://horatio.harker.org] . The Upper School requires a laptop computer that meets the certain standards [http://www.harker.org/page.cfm?p=803] . The Middle School also has a 1:1 Laptop Program for the 7th and 8th graders, and in fall of 2008 will be for 6th as well.

External links

* [http://www.harker.org/ Harker's Home Page]
* [http://www.harker.org/page.cfm?p=95 The History of Harker (from its webpage)]