When we received the news from Don Nielsen ’75 that his mother, Eloise Nielsen P ’73, ’75, ’76 (Physical Education, 1966-1982), passed away, there had been several very tragic days close together at Harley; with news of the losses of Dick Chapman (Physical Education 1958-1966 and 1967-1982) and Joy Moss (Lower School Library, 1969-2015 earlier that weekend. He commented it was “fitting” that she and Dick died one day apart, having worked together for so many years. Eloise lived out in California and the folks at Harley communicated with her annually, sending her updates on the recipients of the Christiaan Nielsen ’76 Scholarship, an award created by Chris’ classmates after his untimely death. She always enjoyed reading updates from Harley’s Becoming Magazine.
Here are messages from former students and alumni in remembrance of Eloise:
Pam Stoffel (English, 1973-82, Drama, 1989-1996): Thank you, Karen, for passing along this news. Eloise, Dick, and Joy were such pillars of the Harley community during their tenures. In my mind’s eye I still see them and hear them walking the halls they loved so dearly. They will be missed by all who knew them.
Scott Reisinger (History 1980-87, Director of Admissions, 1983-1987): What a terrible week. All three of these wonderful folks were on the Harley faculty when I was there in the 1980s, and I remember them so well. I am very sorry for Harley’s loss…the world does not replace Dick, Joy, or Eloise easily….
John Vaughan ’69: Thank you for the news, however sad, about the deaths of Coaches Chapman and Nielsen. They were both at Harley during my years there in the 1960s, and I remember them well. I also note the remarkable coincidence(s) that they both left Harley in 1982 after many years at the school, and that they died on almost the same date in 2021.
Jonathan Cherr ’80: Thanks for letting us know about Eloise and Dick Chapman, Karen. Sad news indeed.
Lydia Zartman: I am so sorry to hear this—I knew Mrs. Nielsen first at Brick Presbyterian and then at Harley. She was always so kind.
Jan Costello ’68: I remember Mrs Nielsen very well from my Harley years (1965-68). She was unfailingly kind and encouraging to me—an unathletic, asthmatic girl who just barely passed the minimum physical education requirements established by President Kennedy!
Amanda Morrice McBride ’87: Mrs. Nielsen was well liked! Amazing that we lost three wonderful educators from Harley this past weekend. May they all Rest In Peace.
Gale Fox ’76: A very kind lady.
Maura Allen, Lower School Art 1981-1999: She was also the mom of student and grad Chris Nielsen ’76. Same honoree of the Nielsen award. My son Jevon Allen ’92 won the award in its first year of its inception. The award was sponsored by his Harley classmates.
Eloise’s obituary:
Eloise Hatch Nielsen, of Sacramento, California, aged 92, died in her sleep on Saturday, March 13, 2021. Eloise was born July 29, 1928, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the daughter of Charles and Elise (Turpyn) Hatch. Eloise grew up in Massachusetts and Illinois and graduated from Wellesley College in 1949. She earned her M.A. in Biblical Studies from Columbia University in New York City, where she met her late husband Charles M. Nielsen at Union Theological Seminary. In Rochester, N.Y., where she and Charles lived for 25 years and raised three children, she worked in Christian Education at Brick Presbyterian Church, and taught and coached at the Harley School for many years. Retiring with Charles to Sacramento, she threw herself into volunteer activities with the Red Cross, church, including Pioneer Congregational Church, and other organizations. Eloise was preceded in death by her husband and her youngest child, Chris. She is survived by her daughter, Fay, her son, Donald and his wife, Patricia, three grandchildren, Nicholas Nielsen, Catherine Scheller, and Alice Nielsen; and six great-grandchildren, Hannah, Charlotte and Claire Nielsen, and Avery, Beckett, and Taylor Scheller.
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