Harker School
| The Harker School | |
| Established | 1893 |
| School type | Private |
| Head of school | Christopher Nikoloff |
| Location | San Jose, California |
| School Web site | http://www.harker.org |
| School colors | Green and white (black and blue are also used) |
| Mascot | Eagle |
The Harker School is a private, co-educational, not-for-profit K-12 college preparatory educational institution located in San Jose, California.
Founded in 1893 as Manzanita Hall, Harker has three campuses, informally called Bucknall, Blackford, and Saratoga for the streets on which they lie. Bucknall is the Lower School campus, educating kindergarten through grade 5. The Middle School, grades 6 to 8, is on the Blackford campus, and the Upper School, grades 9 to 12, is on the Saratoga campus.
The current administration is led by Christopher Nikoloff, who succeeded Howard and Diana Nichols following their retirement after the 2004-2005 academic year. Howard Nichols is the son of Donald Nichols, who created the present day Harker School by merging the Palo Alto Military Academy in Palo Alto (as Manzanita Hall was then called) with Harker Day School in 1972 and moving to the Saratoga campus.
Components
Upper School
The Upper School houses the high school, and is located on the Saratoga campus, the original San Jose campus, where Harker has been located since 1972. The upper school was first opened in 1998, with the first graduating class leaving in 2002. Current, there are about 600 students in the upper school.
Academics
Harker is best known for its rigorous academic environment, boasting one of the best in the country. Students are accepted into highly selective college programs throughout the country, in huge quantities - many going onto schools such as UC Berkeley, MIT, Harvard, and Yale. Harker students are selected largely based on their academic aptitude. They regularly boast very high SAT scores. In 2005, they were nationally acclaimed for Advanced Placement test scores for AP Computer Science and AP Chemistry, having the best overall program for small schools in the nation. In 2006, they were again given two top AP program awards, this time in AP Calculus AB and again in AP Chemistry.
Athletics
While Harker offers a large sports program, consisting of football, volleyball, soccer, track and field, basketball, baseball, softball, lacrosse, cross country running, swimming and diving, and wrestling. The school is in the Central Coast Section of the California Interscholastic Federation, and is classified as Division IV.
Performing Arts
Harker has developed a reputation as having a strong performing arts program. Its conservatory program allows students to major in various artistic specializations, requiring them to take certain classes and participate in various events in order to graduate. Groups include the a cappela Guys' Gig, the classical and all-female Cantilena, the jazz-focused Downbeat, and the choir, Bel Canto. Students of the Harker Conservatory have been accepted into various acclaimed universities throughout the country for their artistic skills, including New York University and Carnegie Mellon University.
The most recent musical theatre production, Guys and Dolls, has been nominated for many awards at AMTSJ, with all of the leads having been nominated for Best Actor and Actress positions, and three students having been nominated for Best Supporting Actor. Harker has won many awards in the past, including a special award created for a student in 2005, based on his dancing in 42nd Street.
Middle School
The middle school is located on the Blackford campus, the former site of Blackford High School. The site was rented starting in the 2005-2006 school year. Before 1998, the eighth grade was the final year at Harker; however, middle school graduates now have the opportunity to choose between matriculating to the upper school or continuing their education at another high school. Uniforms are required in the middle school, which include heavy amounts of blue.
Many components aid in the shift from the Lower School to the Upper School, including various athletic and artistic programs. Of acclaim is the highly selective performing group Harmonics, which performs at various malls and events in the area, as well as presents an annual musical.
Lower School
The elementary school is located on the Bucknall campus, the former site of Bucknall Elementary School. The campus was sold to Harker by the Moreland School District, and first used by the former in the 1998-99 school year [1]. Uniforms based around the color green are required in the lower school.
Tuition
Harker's tuition is quite high compared to other schools in the Bay Area: a student in Kindergarten will have to pay just over $20,000 for one year, while a high school student will pay $27,865. [2]