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Upper School

Grades 9, 10, 11, 12

Our Approach

In Upper School, Harley students learn how to advocate, both for themselves and for others. 

Our small class sizes (7:1 student-to-faculty ratio) build the foundation for this work where students routinely participate in round-table discussions, debates, and hands-on workshops. They grow comfortable asking questions, sharing their views, and listening to perspectives different from their own. 

During Upper School, students have many leadership opportunities, such as working with Rochester City School District students through our Horizons at Harley program, presenting through the Commons Capstone program, and caring for Hospice patients. Our student council organizes many aspects of Upper School student life from new student orientation to elf day. The Upper School experience is uniquely tailored to each student’s goals and interests.

When they leave Harley, our students go into the world as confident thinkers, speakers, and writers—young adults able to articulate positions and defend them. They are ready for college—and the next chapters of their lives.

Loads of Dynamic Opportunities

Upper School Highlights

Capstone/Independent Studies

Hospice

Social Justice

Student Leadership

Food & Farm

Athletics

Clubs

College Counseling

Our Approach to College Counseling

College Matriculation

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Academics and Outcomes

With 18 APs and plenty of other offerings, including over fifty electives each year, student inquiry and interests are spurred by topics such as: Computer Science, Economics, Food & Farm, Multimedia Journalism, Net Zero Energy, Philosophy & Ethics, and Hospice.

We are, at heart, a college preparatory school and we have the SAT/ACT scores, National Merit Finalists, college merit awards and acceptances to prove it. However, we are not interested in graduating students who learn to be outstanding test-takers but aren’t inclined to explore big questions and the larger world around them. As global life becomes more complex, each student needs to be ready to think critically and commit themselves to pursuing lifelong learning as active members of a healthy, thriving society. 

Our whole person approach doesn’t force students onto one track or another. At Harley, students can participate in sports, performing and visual arts, clubs, and social activities in addition to academic pursuits. This vibrancy creates a close community, and friendships that last for decades.

STEM AP Scores--Harley vs. National Mean, 2018-2022

Subject
Biology
Calculus AB
Calculus BC
Chemistry
Computer Science A
Environmental Science
Physics 1
Statistics
Total Exams
27
60
16
50
29
36
51
56
National Mean
2.97
3
3.79
2.72
3.2
2.69
2.48
2.87
Harley Mean
4.26
4.63
4.94
3.92
3.45
3.72
3.63
4.22

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Acorn Grants Are Now Available!

Interested in learning how to make a Harley education possible for your child? Acorn Grants are smaller grants awarded to families who may not be eligible for need-based financial aid.  It is a grant of up to $5,000 intended to put the Harley education within reach for your family. The Acorn Grant stays with your child until graduation. 

Come for a Visit

Learn more about what makes The Harley School experience unique.

The Harley School

1981 Clover Street
Rochester, NY 14618
(585) 442-1770

©2023 The Harley School

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

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.

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. 

About

Academics

Key Programming

Enrollment

Letter from the Head of School

Letter from the Editor

Features

Central Work that Matters: DEI

Harley Black Alumni Network

Climate Crisis Curriculum

Citizen Scientists

Joy Moss: Storytelling Roots

In Every Issue

Class Notes

Diane Donniger Award

By the Numbers

From the Archives

What’s (Who’s) New at Harley

Divisional Highlights

Alumni Profile: Vandebroek

Alumni Profiles: Keller

HAC Athletics

2021 Lives of Great Purpose Awards

1000 Words

Commencement 2022

Reunion 2022

In Memoriam

Retirements and Fond Farewells

Letter from the Head of School

Letter from the Editor

Features

Central Work that Matters

Affinity Group Forms

Climate Crisis Curriculum

Citizen Scientists

Joy Moss: Storytelling Roots

In Every Issue

Class Notes

Diane Donniger Award

By the Numbers

From the Archives

What’s (Who’s) New at Harley

Divisional Highlights

Alumni Profile: Vandebroek

Alumni Profiles: Keller

HAC Athletics

2021 Lives of Great Purpose Awards

1000 Words

Commencement 2022

Reunion 2022

In Memoriam

Retirements and Fond Farewells