Emotional Development
Students Journey to New Understanding
Students traverse emotional waters throughout the duration of the course, learning how to cope and deal with difficult things such as death and loss. Many students express fears and anxieties at the beginning of the course, but by the end of the year have an improved sense of confidence and self-esteem in their ability to care for others, physically and emotionally. The experiences they have are life changing, and won’t be forgotten any time soon.
Some students will go on to practice what they’ve learned in their pursuit of careers in the world of medicine, and some will continue to volunteer at hospice homes, but all will enact what they’ve learned dealing with the ups and downs in their daily lives. Students change in unforeseen ways, and many form deep emotional bonds with residents that they never anticipated. Students face the possibility of messing up, the finality of death, but are ultimately inspired by what they’ve seen and learned and take those lessons a step further by emboldening others to follow in their footsteps.
Hospice Menu
Comfort Care Homes (External Links)
In Their Own Words
Yesterday I didn’t have a shift but I drove out just to say hi to her and see how her week was going.
Joyce, Kai & Athena
Athena Baronos and Kai DeJesus visiting with a resident at the Advent House, Joyce. Photos by Amelia Hamilton
Wanda & Coco
Coco Cai, one the Hospice students, had a strong connection with one of the residents she worked with, Wanda. Here is a letter Coco had written about her time with Wanda.
Hi Cyndi,
When I saw the preview of your email yesterday morning, I was already afraid. I opened the email and could not believe it has already happened. It’s too soon. Even though my teacher, Sybil Prince, has prepared us well on how to deal with a resident’s pass-away, it was still hard, it still is. Wanda was the first and only resident that I’ve really connected with since I started volunteering at Benincasa. All I could think about all day was Wanda’s smile and the way she waved to me when she saw me coming in for my shift. I remember last Wednesday, she said to her sister and sister-in-law after seeing me first stepped in “this is Coco!” I was more than surprised seeing her remembering my name and introducing me to her family. Later on during that shift, she kept offering me pie and cookies, like what she always did. Another volunteer made signs that say “Wanda’s Bakery” and “Sold Out” etc. When Wanda saw these signs, she laughed “the business is going to be closed soon”. We told her, we will be sad then, because we love her. She responded “I love you, you , and you! (pointing fingers at us) I love all of you. You are all good people.” And then she joked about how she should pass the business onto me so there will be no taxes. How smart! This was just one of the many cute stories with our angel, Wanda. I loved her sincerely, and I still do. I am SO glad and feel more than privileged to get to know such a beautiful and amazing lady like her. Her words and spirit will keep inspiring me to become an even better person and to live my own life to the fullest.
Love,
Coco
Student Anecdotes about Residents
©2023 The Harley School
Community Programs
Community Programs
Summer Programs
Driver Education
Afterschool
Extended Day
Adult Programs
Rentals
Key Programming
Science and Math Integration
Beyond STEM
Sustainability
Biomimicry
Maker Education
Project-Based Learning
Whole Learners
Social Emotional Learning
Civic Engagement
Mindfulness
Hospice
Arts
Visual Arts
Performing Arts
Giving
Supporting Harley
2023 Events
2021-22 Sustainability Challenge
Harley Fund
Planned Giving
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.
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.
About
About Harley
Fast Facts
Our Faculty & Staff
History
Horizons at Harley
Dining Services
Key Programming
Science and Math Integration
Beyond STEM
Sustainability
Biomimicry
Maker Education
Project-Based Learning
Whole Learners
Social Emotional Learning
Civic Engagement
Mindfulness
Hospice
Arts
Visual Arts
Performing Arts
Main Menu
About
Academics
Key Programming
Enrollment
Community Programming
Alumni
Athletics
News
Giving
My.Harley
Enrollment
Enrollment at Harley
Enrollment Events
Virtual Tour
How to Apply
Affording Harley
Transferring to Harley
Refer a Students
Academics
Divisions
Academics at Harley
Nursery
Nursery 3
Nursery 4
Lower
Middle
Upper
College Counseling
Visiting Reps
Student Counseling
Library