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It’s hard to believe September is already around the corner–before you know it the first day of school will be here! We want you and your middle schooler to be ready. Here are some tips on how to be prepared for the first day of school from our Head of Middle School Hassan Jones.

 

Hopefully, your family had a restful, fun-filled summer. Now that we’ve entered into August, there are a number of things you will want to consider doing before September to get organized.

 

First and foremost, parents, you will want to make sure all back to school paperwork is completed early. Be sure to review the upcoming school calendar activities and events. We do not want you to miss events such as the modified fall sports start date (8/30), new student orientation, picture day and parent night, just to name a few.

 

Also, it’s a good idea to look over our Middle School handbook and curriculum guide materials. Reviewing these documents will help you better understand the expectations and procedures at school, especially if your children are new to the Middle School.

 

While the business side of back to school is important, other things are just as crucial for a good first day at school. Summer is a time for unstructured schedules and free time. This results in later bedtimes and becoming unaccustomed to more rigid schedules. Dr. Hassan suggests, as a good starting point, opening a dialogue about your school routines with your children, where you discuss expectations for the school. This may be regarding when they pack their backpack, when they will bathe (are your children morning people or evening people?), when and how long they will have for homework each evening, and goals they might have for the coming school year. Once you’ve discussed the best possible routines and expectations for school, begin to reinstitute those morning and evening routines a couple of weeks before school.

 

Starting to discuss expectations now will allow you and your children to slowly reintroduce routine before the first day of school.

 

Some of these may not need to be ongoing dialogues. Hopefully, you and your kids will establish a routine that is best for the family. There are other topics, however, that we hope you develop an open, ongoing dialogue about: social media use and what is happening at school. We strongly encourage that you continue to ask questions about your children’s social media life and have clear expectations about its usage during the school year.

 

Ultimately, we want you to trust your child and help them foster their independence, but verify that they are doing what you expect them to do.

 

As for students, they need to be sure to complete all summer reading and/or summer assignments as early as possible. It will be hard to be ready and organized for the first day of school if they put off their assignments until the night before our first day back. This will also establish a precedent for time-management for the school year. Rather, accomplish assignments early and then begin to check that all required school supplies are purchased. They should also appropriately label their school supplies, which will help them save time later in the year.

 

In addition to some of this preparation, it is important students begin to adjust their sleep routine before the first week of school. It is very hard for our bodies to change our sleep cycles in one day, so they will need to start practicing going to bed earlier and getting up at a consistent time in the morning well before the first day of school. We want our students to learn to feel more in control of knowing what kind of sleep their bodies need. Allowing them the chance to work out the proper sleep schedule for school now is a great way to accomplish this. Starting now also means that they will have their routine established and will be rested for each day.

 

We also want students to take time to establish 2-3 academic and social goals they would like to achieve this year. If your children are not prone to setting goals like this themselves, parents, you can help open up discussions about what they hope to achieve. This may be from getting better at handing in homework to making one new friend this year. Having goals will help your children find motivation and positivity during potential slumps in the academic year.

 

Ideally, we hope students are already tackling their summer assignments, organizing their school supplies, establishing goals and setting up a regular routine independently. They may, however, need your assistance staying on top of all of these tasks! We want our Middle School students to remember—in Dr. Hassan’s words—to think positive, be confident, and do their best. See you in September!

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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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