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Beyond STEM

Ready for a New World

Why Go Beyond STEM?

The nature  of work is evolving exponentially fast—and what it will mean to have a successful career “STEM” is already moving beyond core STEM skills. Google’s study of its own best employees demonstrated that STEM skills are not enough: the future of work will focus not just on technology and its capabilities, but also on human needs and how they can be met. 

People who will succeed, and be sought after, will have attributes including: leadership, critical thinking, design thinking/problem solving skills, empathy, and the ability to collaborate in multi-disciplinary groups and to be a leader through the influence of others. Beyond STEM. 

This is why, at Harley, we don’t use the label STEM to define the way we teach science or technology, engineering or math. Our goal is to empower students to approach questions in a rigorous, holistic way, to take human factors into account and then to use the right skills and tools to innovate answers. We aim to move students’ thinking far beyond what you can find in a prescribed kit with set directions to follow.

Grade 5: Wolf Tank Project

Wolf Tank is much like “Shark Tank,” a popular TV show that gives entreprenuers the opportunity to pitch their ideas to a panel of business people and investors. Middle School students in Grade 5 were given the opportunity to develop their own inventions—from prototype to pitch.

Starting with the Question

When disciplines converge, amazing things happen. When students have learned how to question, imagine, prototype, and problem-solve, they can literally better the world around them.

Here is just one example of a Capstone project:

The student-driven question: How could our solar chimneys be used to their potential?

The Problem:

Harley’s solar chimneys opened and closed with a manual system that could only be enabled by a person going to each floor and guessing at how much to open or close them in order to heat or cool the rooms comfortably.

The Idea:

Automating the solar chimneys based on real-time data interpretation would be more accurate and wouldn’t depend on a person to make the adjustments.

The Solution:

  • Researched programmable solutions that could be built within the span of a year
  • Used Arduino (small, programmable computers) microcontrollers to create a data-logging device to record temperature, humidity, and light intensity.
  • Built circuits to control the solar chimney vents via relays using the Arduino.
  • Installed the temperature collection systems in each classroom and ran all the wire for them throughout the building.

Team Building:

The student recruited these people to assist and consult as an ad hoc team along the way.

  • A faculty advisor
  • A U of R graduate student
  • A U of R professor
  • The building’s architect
  • Another student with construction knowledge to build a user-friendly control panel

Learnings:

  • How to develop and test a hypothesis
  • How to adapt and modify original ideas
  • How to be willing to try something new
  • How to write and communicate about the work
  • How to manage a team of people
  • How to present ideas to an audience
  • How to persevere

Harley Makerspace Featured in TIME for Kids

With over 2 million readers, TIME for Kids magazine engages students with authentic journalism, inspires them to join the national discourse on current topics.

Harley was highlighted in the article, “Maker Moment” about schools with makerspaces and how the students learn from and use them.

Link to the full article: “Maker Moment”

 

Our approach yields impressive results

How do our students perform on apples-to-apples comparisons? Here are our science and math AP exam results for last year:

EXAM

# TAKEN

HARLEY 

AVG.

NATIONAL AVG.

DELTA

Biology

8

4.50

2.92

+1.58

Calculus AB

16

4.44

2.97

+1.47

Calculus BC

5

5.00

3.80

+1.20

Chemistry

7

3.57

2.74

+0.83

Environmental Science

5

4.60

2.68

+1.92

Physics 1

15

3.67

2.51

+1.16

Statistics

14

4.50

2.86

+1.64

44% of Harley alumni since 2007 are working in STEM fields at Google, Lockheed Martin, the Jet Propulsion Lab (JPL), Apple, Harris, and Tesla.

If you are a family that prioritizes great STEM results for your children’s education, Harley School has the best results in Upstate New York. Our students are ready to lead the teams, frame the problems and innovate to solve them. We think putting this knowledge to use is the best tribute to the disciplines of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

Our approach yields impressive results

How do our students perform on apples-to-apples comparisons? Here are our science and math AP exam results for last year:

EXAM

# TAKEN

HARLEY

AVG.

Biology

8

4.50

Calculus AB

16

4.44

Calculus BC

5

5.00

Chemistry

7

3.57

Environmental Science

5

4.60

Physics 1

15

3.67

Statistics

14

4.50

EXAM

U.S. AVG.

DELTA

Biology

2.92

+1.58

Calculus AB

2.97

+1.47

Calculus BC

3.80

+1.20

Chemistry

2.74

+0.83

Environmental Science

2.68

+1.92

Physics 1

2.51

+1.16

Statistics

2.86

+1.64

44% of Harley alumni since 2007 are working in STEM fields at Google, Lockheed Martin, the Jet Propulsion Lab (JPL), Apple, Harris, and Tesla.

If you are a family that prioritizes great STEM results for your children’s education, Harley School has the best results in Upstate New York. Our students are ready to lead the teams, frame the problems and innovate to solve them. We think putting this knowledge to use is the best tribute to the disciplines of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

Design and Innovation Lab

Design and Innovation Lab is an entry-level engineering and innovation class that exposes students to the basic elements of the design process (Empathize, Define, Ideate, Prototype, Test) and then supports them through a series of increasingly difficult design challenges.

Through this hands-on, Makerspace-based class, students work with core engineering and design concepts and collaborate to solve various problems. Materials and the related tools the students will utilize include cardboard, wood, metal, electronics, digital logic and programming, biology and plants, and more. 

Additionally, students learn the basic knowledge, skills, and attitudes needed to operate a baseline set of tools in the Makerspace safely and effectively.

Examples of recent projects:

  • Proposal for making bathrooms handicap accessible
  • Design-build new and improved scratch surface for cats
  • Improve switch for miter saw extension 
  • Coding for bedside lamp

Capstones

Robotics education

This Grade 12 Capstone student organized a Robotics scrimmage between the Harley robotics team and Penfield at Harley on a Friday night. The purpose was to expose the community to robotics. He also taught a handful of flex time sessions about robotics.

Using Python to Simulate NFL Results

This Grade 12 Capstone student gathered results from a year of NFL games and then wrote a code in Python for calculating the likelihood of a team making the playoffs the following year based on predicting wins and losses in each scheduled game.

He applied what he had learned in his computer science course to research already existing code and then revise it to meet his goals.

Apprenticeship with a Master Builder

This Grade 12 Capstone student worked with the maker educator to learn the basics of the makerspace; and created an entrance to the nursery playgorund and signage to mark the area as an official outdoor classroom. 

Biomimicry education

This Grade 12 student created a collection of lesson plans designed to teach the basic concepts and techniques of biomimicry to older elementary school and middle school students. Her curriculum included: team activities, games, instruction on how to use biomimicry resources, and a guided design project. 

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College Counseling

Harley’s Approach to College Counseling is highly individualized and student-centered. Students have direct access to college counselors throughout their Upper School experience, but really, each student is part of a team including faculty, administration, and staff. It’s our job to support each student and we want nothing more than to send students on to the next step of their journey at a right fit school for them. The student centered and driven process is wrapped in care, expertise, and professionalism.

We host college reps during times students are available (no need to miss a class) so they can make connections and learn more about potential schools. We also arrange campus visits for classes as field trips, host an alumni college day (where recent Upper School graduates return to share advice and answer questions), and help connect students with our international alumni network. In fact, representatives from schools all over the world actively seek opportunities to come to Harley and meet with our students!

Our college counselors are accredited and are part of national/global conversations on admission trends. They also attend and present at conferences across the country.

Beginning with our Grade 11 parent night, we offer informational sessions for parents, including one devoted just to financial aid. Our partnership with families is critical, as the college admissions world changes very quickly and having an expert to guide students and families through the process is essential.

View the downloadable College Counseling Guide

Clubs

“Club Rush” is an afternoon every fall in the Upper School when students have the chance to sign up for clubs for the year, and each year it is very different because new clubs are created based on student initiative and enthusiasm.

A few of this year’s choices: Sports Media, Social Action Club, Journalism Club, Feminism Club, Student of Color & Allies (SOCA), Gay-Straight Alliance, Tri M (music honor society), E-Sports Club, Euchre, Key Club (service), Animation Club, Dungeons & Dragons, Sustainability Club, Jewish Cultural Club, Astronomy Club, Biomimicry, and Beyond Soup (social justice/service).

Athletics

​Each and every year, students at The Harley School participate in HAC Athletics, and their success continues to be impressive, both as students and athletes. Our athletic program is an integral part of Harley, teaching student-athletes invaluable lessons about teamwork, time management, persistence, and competition.  Our program allows them to develop physically, mentally, socially, and emotionally as they represent their school on and off the field. They grow, mature, and work hard to be the best teammate they can, while creating lifelong memories with teammates who often remain friends for life. 

Helping our athletes to reach their potential are some of HAC’s best assets: our coaches. More often than not, they are drawn from the ranks of our faculty and  have a deep understanding of the personalities and abilities of the student-athletes on their teams.  

We strive to find the right balance of academics, exercise, and personal growth for everyone.  By offering a variety of sports at many different levels, all student-athletes find a sport they can be successful in. It is with great pride and pleasure that my team and I work to enrich the athletic lives of all our HAC student-athletes. Go Wolves! 

To learn more check out our athletics page.

Student Leadership

Our Upper School is filled with formal and informal opportunities for students to take on leadership roles. Whether following passions or learning new skills, student-driven opportunities take many shapes.

– Independent study: one trimester, full year, and multi-year projects have included automating our solar chimneys, coding handmade musical instruments, or developing a class on financial literacy for underserved high school students.

– Serving on student council

– STEM: Climate curriculum program, biomimicry program, NASA Hunch program

Clubs

“Club Rush” is an afternoon every fall in the Upper School when students have the chance to sign up for clubs for the year, and each year it is very different because new clubs are created based on student initiative and enthusiasm.

A few of this year’s choices: Sports Media, Social Action Club, Journalism Club, Feminism Club, Student of Color & Allies (SOCA), Gay-Straight Alliance, Tri M (music honor society), E-Sports Club, Euchre, Key Club (service), Animation Club, Dungeons & Dragons, Sustainability Club, Jewish Cultural Club, Astronomy Club, Biomimicry, and Beyond Soup (social justice/service).

Hospice

Unlike this class, death is not an elective. Although it is one of two universal human experiences, our culture often ignores, denies, or misconstrues the true nature of death and dying. What happens when we bear witness to this natural process in the cycle of life and develop our ability to be fully present with others when they need us more than ever? It has the potential to change us deeply and fundamentally while shining a brilliant light on the path of our own lives.

With the support of their classmates, teacher, and comfort care home communities, senior students are offered the chance to care for others who truly need their purposeful, non-judgmental attention. In the home-like setting of a comfort care home, opportunities for learning extend beyond a traditional classroom rubric and conventional methods of evaluation. In this course, students will certainly find tangible “learning outcomes” by studying the medical/physical processes associated with dying and the basic nursing assistant skills of comfort care. The ultimate goal, however, will always be rooted in true relationships and connection, which occurs only through empathy and compassion.

Learn more about the Hospice Program at Harley HERE.

Capstone/Independent Studies

This program utilizes environmentally-focused approaches to education and hands-on learning in order to foster the next generation of leaders through a lens of sustainability and problem-solving.

Food & Farm: These year-long and trimester-long classes are held outside as much as possible, allowing students to become leaders in our various growing spaces. They cover environmental justice issues as well as hands-on work such as planning and overseeing planting, harvesting, and preparation of the gardens.

Past year-long focus projects have included: Creating a native plant shade garden in the Wild Wood area, redesigning our hydroponic system, overhauling Harley’s high tunnel, and improving the irrigation system for the MicroFarm.

Culinary Arts: These classes have a two-fold purpose: to give students practical skills in cooking and the science behind different techniques in the kitchen, learning about food justice, food sourcing, labor topics, and sustainability.

Past topics have included: Examining a plant-based diet, looking at the carbon footprint of different meals and food preparation methods, proposing a low carbon footprint menu to the dining hall, links between food labeling and environmental issues of food production.

Beekeeping: This one trimester class provides hands-on training in beekeeping, how to be a beekeeper, and safety and other techniques for working with bees. Once trained students help with all aspects of Harley beekeeping such as hive inspections, honey collection and extraction, and teaching students in Lower School about our hives.

Students pick a research topic addressing honeybee health and the larger environmental picture.

Social Justice

At Harley, our students learn how to evaluate social systems in order to identify complex problems in society through a lens of social justice. They take a hands-on approach to working for a fair, equitable society by researching, exploring and evaluating different perspectives, and offering solutions—both theoretical and practical.

Our faculty integrate social justice into our broader curriculum to assist students in gaining a foundational knowledge about what makes a democracy function. By gaining skills in ideating supportive pathways they become more exposed and experienced to how communities can undergo healing and restorative actions.

 

Capstone/Independent Studies

Students may create independent studies with supervising teachers throughout their Upper School experience or, during Grade 12, they can design Capstone projects—intensive collaborations with Harley faculty and off-campus mentors—involving rigorous academic study and culminating in public presentations. They are empowered to create their own curriculum, set goals, and work on time management skills in order to accomplish their objectives.

Independent Studies run the gamut from The Psychology of Sports to Furniture Design to The Neuroimaging of Alzheimer’s Disease. Capstones, meanwhile, are as diverse as the students who pursue them: Fictional Rochester, Autobiographical Art, Biomimicry Education, Organic Fuel, and Rochester Refugees. 

Indicative of Upper School curiosity and creativity, pursuits such as these distinguish our graduates in college. Through deep dives of this sort, Harley students master more than speaking, writing, and computing: they learn to communicate, advocate, collaborate, organize, listen, and empathize. 

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1000 Words

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