The harker School Plan:2012 – 2017A Strategic Reflectionon our Four Cornerstones of Success

2020

2020 The harker School ViSion

& STraTegic Plan

A Reflection on our Four Cornerstones

of Success

T h e h a r k e r S c h o o l P l a n

Diana & Howard Nichols, 1995

Foreword No two children are alike, and each needs inspiration and encouragement to flourish. What will your

child become? What is – or will be – his or her passion? Does he love to make forts? Does she love to

write poetry? Will your child be the next Einstein, Rembrandt, Madame Curie or Bill Gates? What does

your child absolutely love to do?

As parents, we all strive to understand each of our children, and discover each one’s true gifts. At Harker,

we share the journey of discovery with you and your children. Our community encourages – and

provides the opportunities for – the pursuit of a wide range of interests to help children discover what

they love, and to flourish in a safe and supportive environment. Our passionate teachers engage students,

inspiring them to reach their intellectual potential. Success brings children joy and confidence. We provide

learning at a pace ideal for each child, so each is inspired, happy and motivated to reach his or her full

potential. Character and integrity are instilled in the Harker culture and permeate everything we do.

A shared commitment to these values creates Harker’s dynamic community. And Harker students are

the true embodiment of these principles.

—Diana Nichols - Chair, Harker Board of Trustees

our commitment to YouIn 1893, The Harker School was founded as Manzanita Hall in Palo Alto, Calif., “in response to a steadily

growing demand for a preparatory school ... which should have for its principle object the preparation

of students for university work,” as described in the school’s early historical documents. In addition to

preparation for college, Manzanita Hall emphasized character and broad programs for its students.

More than a century later, The Harker School sits in the center of Silicon Valley as a preschool through

grade 12, multicampus, coeducational school. Throughout Harker’s history, the school has adapted to

the changing environment in the Valley while remaining committed to the core values of quality academics,

well-rounded programs, character education and community.

While the future will bring changes in how the

school delivers on its promise, our commitment

to the core values upon which the school was

founded in 1893 will remain unshaken.

The harker Plan The current Harker Plan is the result of a community-wide effort to reflect upon the school’s academic

and extracurricular offerings and to contemplate its future direction. This document serves as a frame-

work for our ongoing planning process. The Harker Plan focuses on the four areas that we believe are

the cornerstones for Harker’s success.

Building Upon our Four cornerstones

Students and Family Experience

Students are at the heart of everything we do, and our academic and extracurricular programs are

designed with the goal of bringing out the best in our students across all domains. We are highly moti-

vated to take our students as far as they can go in their academic and personal growth. Studies show

that cognitive development is enhanced when supported by a positive emotional and social environ-

ment. Students learn best when they are in the zone of proximal development, challenged without be-

ing stressed. Student engagement is highest when there is authentic intellectual curiosity, interest and

enjoyment in the learning process. Performance grouping is key to accomplishing this objective, and

continuing parent education about the importance of performance grouping is critical in helping each

student thrive.

Silicon Valley attracts families from all over the

world who value learning, engagement and

innovation. These families find Harker’s pro-

gram to be a stellar match. Into the future,

Harker will continue to seek out well-rounded

students who are intrinsically motivated to

achieve their best and love learning for its own

sake. We will give priority to admitting children who, along with their families, not only value academics,

but also seek nonacademic opportunities for personal growth through varied extracurricular activities.

As the largest independent school in California, Harker places importance on and strives towards at-

tracting a student population that mirrors the demographics of the communities it serves. The school’s

future depends upon attracting a community comprising families of diverse backgrounds, talents and

perspectives who can find common ground among our core values. As the school’s general endowment

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Students and Family Experience

Faculty, Staff and Learning

Curriculum and Programs

Facilities and Infrastructure

A phenomenal learning environment begins with exceptional faculty and staff collaborating with motivated, engaged and hard-working students.

grows, we will continue to enhance our socioeconomic diversity through commitment to financial aid

programs and other forms of outreach.

Given that The Harker School is now a multicampus community serving families from several counties,

the school will continually examine the best ways to foster community and connection among its various

constituents, including students, parents, alumni, faculty and staff. As more and more alumni families

seek admission for their children, and current families seek admission for their sibling children, Harker

will keep its family traditions strong by giving special consideration to current families and alumni

families who:

• havebeenshowntobephilosophicallyinsyncwiththeschool’smission;

• havedemonstratedtheirbeliefintheschool’scorevaluesthroughtheirinteractionswithintheschool

community;

• haveembracedtheschool’scultureandtraditionofphilanthropy.

Faculty, Staff and Learning

The Harker School believes that a phenomenal learning environment begins with exceptional faculty

and staff collaborating with motivated, engaged and hard-working students. While many attributes are

necessary to be successful in an educational setting, the school searches worldwide for professionals

who excel in their subjects and who understand how best to work with children. This combination

helps bring out the best in students and supports them in reaching their full potentials.

Of critical importance to the school’s future will be to continue attracting faculty who are not only experts

in their fields, but are also eager to con-

tribute to the entire school community.

The most important determinant of ex-

cellence within a school is an inspirational

faculty and staff who understand that a

comprehensive approach to schooling

ensures the success of the students.

In its effort to attract and retain the best

faculty and staff, the school will ensure the quality and diversity of our student population and will strive

to provide world-class facilities to support our exceptional curriculum. We will also support our faculty

and staff by promoting wellness initiatives, offering a variety of professional development opportunities,

and providing competitive salary and benefits packages. Our tuition remission benefit has been among

the most successful programs in attracting and retaining experienced faculty and staff and fully engaging

them into our community.

Strong emphasis on promoting a culture of reflective pedagogy will allow the most effective teaching

methods to flourish. This includes thorough study of what constitutes deep and enduring learning and

student engagement as well as what constitutes effective pedagogy. Our process shall include the

evaluation of our own and others’ models.

The most valuable aspects of a Harker education include teaching students how to learn, how to be

T h e h a r k e r S c h o o l P l a n

The most important determinant of excellence within a school is an inspirational faculty and staff who understand that a compre-hensive approach to schooling ensures the success of the students.

adaptable and globally minded, how to develop the skills necessary to identify problems, how to ac-

cess resources and gather data, and how to work both individually and collaboratively to develop and

share solutions. Students now have unprecedented access to information, and due to the accelerating

rate of change in our society, we are preparing our students for jobs that do not yet exist today. We as

educators must continually reflect and evaluate how optimal learning is attained in a rapidly changing

landscape. We must provide an overall experience that will best prepare our students to be the well-

rounded, resilient learners who are most likely to find success in the 21st century.

In 2013, Harker faculty and staff across departments and campuses gathered to simplify the articula-

tion of our century-old core values. These five values influence the way all constituents of Harker go

about their day, and they are prominently displayed for faculty and staff to reference. As members of

the Harker community, we are proud to: greet cheerfully, seek to understand, lean in, discover daily,

and make a difference, all with honor and integrity.

Curriculum and Programs

We live in an extraordinary time for independent education. While the public schools in California con-

tinue to struggle with funding for essential programs, alternative models of education abound. Charter

schools, online schools, for-profit schools and various other models have rushed to fill the gap created

by the challenged public sector. Given the wealth of information and instruction available online, some

question the value and future of location-based, brick-and-mortar schools.

We believe that the total school experience is more valuable than the simple transfer of knowledge.

We focus on the experience of students learning from each other and their teachers in a community

setting. Also, while the school believes that it is important for students to pursue a passion and have

a purpose, having a broad, diverse education will serve our children best for the unpredictable future.

We use technology as a means to enhance our students’ learning experience, and we monitor

changes in educational technology closely. Though future developments in online learning, learning

management systems, streaming video, electronic readers, tablets and more may shape learning in

unforeseen ways, Harker’s focus will remain on the learning itself.

To better serve the busy lives of our

families, the school will continue to

deepen and broaden its offerings both

during the school day and after school.

As no one can predict what specific

skills or knowledge will be most valu-

able in the future, we are dedicated to

emphasizing deep learning across a

variety of domains and providing many

options for our students to pursue.

Pressures on the modern student from

a variety of societal and global sources make it imperative that schools continuously review what is best

for optimal learning and student engagement. Challenge Success, a program developed by Stanford’s

Graduate School of Education, provides families and schools with the practical, research-based tools

they need to raise healthy, motivated kids. Harker’s involvement in Stanford’s Challenge Success pro-

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Challenge Success, a program based out of Stanford’s Graduate School of Education, provides families and schools with the practical, research-based tools they need to raise healthy, motivated kids.

gram and the time management tools adopted by the school will aid students in their success while

mitigating the stress that high performing students may experience when they choose to take a rigorous

schedule. The school’s overall wellness program is vital to helping our students thrive. While known for

its strong academics, The Harker School believes in all aspects of its mission as the fullest expression

of a complete education.

Facilities and Infrastructure

Excellent programs are at the heart of The Harker School, and over the past decade our programs

have been greatly enhanced by the addition of quality facilities and infrastructure to support them.

Consider the benefits that the two-story classroom building, pool, gym and additional kitchen brought

to the Bucknall campus. Imagine the Saratoga campus still housing grades 7-12 without the additions

of Shah Hall, Nichols Hall, Davis Field, Singh Aquatics Center, our library or our college counseling

center. The impact of these facilities on the experience of our students and the entire community has

been astounding.

The Saratoga campus served as the home for the school’s K-8 program from the time Harker relocated

to San Jose from Palo Alto in 1972 until we began our upper school in 1998. Now serving as the upper

school campus, the Saratoga facility is in need of a few final upgrades to complete the current master

plan and better serve our upper school students, families and programs. Great strides have been made,

but the campus still lacks a theater, regulation-size gymnasium, and student center to complete its

transformation into a world-class upper school facility.

In order to be financially sustainable for the 21st century, the school will be focusing on a few key infra-

structure areas, including efforts to increase the endowment, strengthening our culture of philanthropy,

controlling costs, pursuing alternative sources of revenue, and lessening our environmental impact. Your

support will have a major, positive impact on tomorrow’s great leaders by exponentially increasing our

ability to meet the needs of our students today.

harker’s Four Strategic Financial PrioritiesSustaining Harker’s core values will require prudent use of the school’s resources. During our recent

comprehensive self-study, as a part of the school’s successful reaccreditation by the Western Asso-

ciation of Schools and Colleges and the California Association of Independent Schools, four strategic

financial priorities were identified and serve as the foundation of Harker’s strategic planning process and

the school’s “Case for Charitable Support”:

1) Ongoing program excellence

The school’s annual giving program provides financial support to help make our programs excellent. The

annual gifts provide the Margin of Excellence to our programs, which helps engage our students and

foster their enjoyment in the learning process. The Margin of Excellence represents those programs and

program enhancements that round out the students’ educational experience, such as the library, arts,

athletics, technology, and much more.

T h e h a r k e r S c h o o l P l a n

2) Purchasing a third campus

In 2013, Harker successfully acquired a third campus on Union Avenue in San Jose, which will eventu-

ally become the home of our K-5 students. In the meantime, we have added a preschool and transitional

kindergarten program on that campus. The current plan is to move the lower school students to the

Union campus and move the preschool to one or more strategically placed locations.

3) Building out the master site plan

The school currently leases the middle school campus on Blackford Avenue. While this has proven

to be an excellent facility for our needs, we have always desired the permanency and security of

owning all of our campuses. With the purchase of Union, we are now primed to unwind from the

leased campus.

In order for us to move from the Blackford Avenue campus, we must replace some of the facilities we

have relied upon at that location. Therefore, our next goal is to build an events center on the upper

school campus, which will afford us the ability to let Blackford go. It is most economical to use our re-

sources to enhance facilities that we own, not lease.

In preparation for the repurposing of the Bucknall campus, we will need to renovate the science labs to

accommodate our middle school students.

Finally, the Union campus would benefit from the addition of a multipurpose building along with a pool

to properly meet the needs of the lower school students.

4) Increasing our endowment and reserves

We are at a point in the school’s history when we require a strong endowment to control tuition growth,

sustain trademark programs, and enhance diversity within the school community. In order to achieve the

financial security that comes along with having endowed funds supporting these initiatives in perpetuity,

we must build the general endowment and continue to establish restricted endowments.

All student programs, both inside and outside the classroom, are affected by the breadth and depth of

philanthropic support from the community’s constituents. Philanthropic support has a major, positive

impact on our students and their families and enables our proven whole-mission approach.

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Your support will have a major, positive impact on tomorrow’s great leaders by exponentially increasing our ability to meet the needs of our students today.

The Harker School | San Jose, CA | K-12 I Preschool | Summer | www.harker.org

Dear Friends of Harker,We are pleased that we are so close to accomplishing the next crucial

phase in our strategic site plan, thus allowing our students to be the

primary beneficiaries of extraordinary programmatic benefits.It is therefore imperative that we unwind from the Blackford campus as

soon as possible so that we can sublet it and redirect millions in planned

leased payments to other priorities in our strategic plan.We are proud to have accomplished the purchase of the Union campus.

Now, completing our fundraising campaign and building an events center

on the Saratoga campus is next.Then our lower school students can move to the Union campus, the middle

school can move to Bucknall, and Harker will ultimately have full ownership

of all its campuses. I hope this brochure was helpful in illustrating how we

plan to take our whole mission well into the future for our students.Sincerely,

Christopher Nikoloff

OofC: 4/14 (BHDG-JQ 500)