News
At Harley, joy in learning permeates everything we do. Enjoy our latest news and stories about what is going on at our School.
All News Posts
Alumni Community News: Passing of former physical education teacher Eloise Nielsen
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...
Alumni College Day 2021
Nowadays, having a virtual event is pretty common and this year’s Alumni College Day was no exception. The format moved from in-person to virtual, and this year we broke our day up into two separate...
Book Recommendations from Grade 5
Middle School students in Grade 5 completed reading and book reviews during community time this year.
Alumni News: Kristina Benjamin ’15
For over a year Kristina Benjamin ’15 was the Deputy Campaign Manager for newly elected State Senator Samra Brouk and was recently hired to continue her work with Samra in her Senate office as a...
Alumni News: Exchange student Chris Dwyer ’93
Chris Dwyer ’93 was a 17-year-old student living in a small English town and a member of the debate team at Colchester Royal Grammar School when he was introduced to the English-Speaking Union, an...
A Newly Decorated Space: Harley Inspired from Start to Finish
Back in 2017, Mary Critikos ’54 was visiting Harley and noticed a group of students sitting on the floor, among backpacks and jackets, at the top of the stairs outside the doorway that leads to the...
Alumni News: Cliff Costello ’07
Dr. Cliff Costello ’07 didn’t always want to be a doctor, but he was always interested in science. At Harley, he, along with four other determined, science-minded classmates Alex Duckles, Mac...
Alumni News: Exchange student Simon Williams ’88
Simon Williams '88 says when he set off for his year abroad at Harley in the late 1980s “Travel was expensive, phone calls were expensive, there was no internet—America was still a long way away.”...
Alumni News: Talethea Best ’82
Talethea Best ’82 joined Harley in Grade 7. Although she and her sister Nicolle were doing fine at the public city school in their 19th Ward neighborhood, her parents were very education-minded...
In Memoriam: Joseph Curtis Briggs ’48
Joseph Curtis Briggs ’48 passed away on January 22, 2021, at the age of 90. Joe attended The Harley School until 1945 and was considered a member of the Class of 1948. He was one of a long line of...
Alumni News: Charly Carter ’82
Charly Carter ’82 says her work as founder and executive director of Step Up Maryland is a culmination of her 30 year career in politics. While she has never run for office (yet!), she has helped to...
Alumni News: Leslie Knox ’97
Leslie Knox ’97 seems to always follow her heart and is ready to jump at the next opportunity to better the world around her. I asked her why she joined The Harley School in 10th grade and she said,...
Another Wilcox in the House: Betsy Wilcox ’01
Although it seems like Betsy Wilcox '01 has always been here, she officially joined the lower school faculty at Harley this past September. Betsy is connected to Harley in so many ways. She is an...
Entrepreneur: Edwin Dorsey ’16
Edwin Dorsey '16 has always been a self-starter and a motivated individual, so it's not surprising that as a graduate right out of Stanford University where he majored in economics, he moved to New...
Support to Youth in Crisis: Jordyn Gualdani ’14
For many, college life is the first taste of real freedom. Students work hard and play hard and the long winter break is like a beacon. But for Jordyn Gualdani '14 (formerly Alyssa Gualdani), a...
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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.
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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