THE HARKER SCHOOL San Jose, California
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THE HARKER SCHOOL San Jose, California ASSISTANT HEAD OF SCHOOL FOR STUDENT AFFAIRS Start Date: July 2021 harker.org Mission Our mission is to educate students for success at college and beyond, and to foster kindness, respect, and integrity within a safe and nurturing environment. We achieve academic excellence through the development of intellectual curiosity, personal accountability, and love of learning. Our comprehensive program and exceptional faculty and staff help students discover, develop, and enjoy their unique talents. We honor individuality, embrace diversity, and promote leadership and service, preparing students to take their place as global citizens. OVERVIEW The Harker School is a private, non-sectarian, coeducational day school in Silicon Valley for students in kindergarten through grade 12 that has earned international recognition for its top level academics, quality teachers, outstanding facilities, and student achievements. Educating 1,976 students, Harker is the largest independent school of its kind in California, located on beautiful campuses just minutes apart. Kindness, respect, honesty, integrity, and personal accountability have been at the heart of a Harker education since the school’s founding in 1893. Demand by motivated and capable students in the Silicon Valley and beyond is very high. Harker students receive a well-rounded education grounded in academics, enriching extracurricular activities and clubs, team-building athletics, a multitude of arts offerings, and an unwavering emphasis on character development. And, most importantly, students develop a lifelong passion for learning. Harker is a supportive, safe, fun, and nurturing place where students make friends for life with their peers, their teachers, and with staff. Harker seeks an Assistant Head of School for Student Affairs effective July 2021. The primary goal of the position is to provide leadership that optimizes the school’s overall educational outcomes, especially those of a non-academic nature, in line with the goals articulated in its mission. The Assistant Head is responsible for supervising and operating several essential programs on each campus and serves as the link between the Head of School, departments, and programs on each campus. The Assistant Head also fulfills other duties as assigned in a variety of non-academic areas. As a senior leadership position, the Assistant Head supervises athletic directors, the Transportation Manager, Director of Health Services, and an administrative assistant. CARNEYSANDOE.COM 2 Fast Facts Founded: 1893 Total students: 1,976 TK-12 Students of color: 83.88% TK-12 Total faculty: 219 TK-12 Faculty with advanced degrees: US 76%, MS 46%, LS 55% Student/teacher ratio: 10:1 Financial aid awarded: $3.9M plus $5 tuition reduction Students receiving aid: 7.6% SCHOOL HISTORY In the late 1880s, the town of Palo Alto had only about 1,400 residents. It would be nearly another 100 years before the term “Silicon Valley” was coined and the area became known as an innovation hub. However, the need for students who were well prepared to go on to top universities, including nearby Stanford University, was evident. So, in 1893 at the behest of Stanford’s first president, The Harker School was founded by Frank Cramer as Manzanita Hall, a college preparatory school for boys. Miss Harker’s School for Girls, founded by Catherine Harker, followed soon after in 1902. Students in those early days studied a college preparatory curriculum, participated in co-curricular activities, and developed high moral character all while living under the care of teachers and administrators who had their best interests at heart. Over the years, Harker evolved from a military academy for boys and a unique college preparatory school for girls, to a prestigious coeducational institution for children from kindergarten through high school. Throughout its history, Harker has prepared students to lead lives of service and integrity by offering a rigorous academic program and topnotch opportunities for personal development and participation in extracurricular activities. Harker celebrated its 125th anniversary during the 2018-19 school year. Even though much has changed for Harker since its founding, much has stayed the same. The Harker School retains the core philosophy of its original incarnations as Manzanita Hall and Miss Harker’s School: to provide students with the knowledge, insight, skills, and experience they need to succeed at the nation’s best colleges and universities and become leaders for the common good. CARNEYSANDOE.COM 3 THE SCHOOL At Harker, success is something more than just outstanding academic achievement. The school believes in providing a world-class educational experience that both inspires and empowers students to explore, try new things, and discover their unique talents and passions. High-quality academics, broad class offerings, robust extracurricular programs and electives, and outstanding teachers and facilities all define a Harker education. The teaching team at Harker comprises people who are passionate about their subject areas and dedicated to working with their chosen age groups. All teachers hold bachelor’s degrees and many have advanced degrees, and they are always enriching their skill sets with ongoing professional development. Others find time to actively contribute in their professional fields by publishing literary works or academic papers, performing on stage, or receiving artwork commissions. Outside of the classroom, teachers are mentors, role models, club leaders, and students’ biggest fans – cheering them on at sports games, checking out their latest art installation, and giving them high fives for jobs well done. In June 2016, Harker became certified as a Bay Area Green Business by the county of Santa Clara. This honor is a culmination of decades of environmental awareness and a continuing effort to bring sustainability to all aspects of the school. Harker’s Green Mission is “Modeling and teaching a sustainable relationship with the environment.” Harker takes being green very seriously, in both big and small ways. The school observes Earth Day every day through sustainability education, green initiatives, special student clubs, and a reduced-waste food program. CARNEYSANDOE.COM 4 ACADEMICS Harker’s lower school is one of the Bay Area’s top schools for giving elementary students a well- rounded, top-notch education. The lower school, located at the beautiful Bucknall Avenue campus, serves students in kindergarten through grade 5. The goal of lower school is to provide each child with a nurturing and supportive environment in which to grow and thrive. Children enjoy an inspiring learning environment, dedicated teachers, supportive staff, and ample opportunities to discover passions and strengths. Academic subjects are introduced early on to motivate students as they begin their educational journeys. Starting in kindergarten, students dive into topics such as math, language arts, social studies, and science, and grade 1 students start to explore Spanish language and culture. Dedicated character development classwork also starts in kindergarten, infusing social and emotional learning into everything done in the lower school. With the support of subject specialists, teachers design classroom experiences that capture students’ interests, encourage critical thinking, and inspire a lifelong love of learning. Led by outstanding teachers with extensive experience, Harker’s middle school program for grades 6-8 offers students an innovative and challenging curriculum, enriching extracurricular programs and electives, and impressive access to leading-edge technologies and facilities, all in a supportive and nurturing environment. The middle school, currently located at the Blackford Avenue campus and moving to a new campus on Union Avenue in August 2021, creates powerful learning opportunities combining an integrated curriculum and creative teaching techniques with rich, extracurricular activities. The curriculum emphasizes real-world learning experiences through classroom discussions, extended science labs, problem-solving opportunities, daily foreign language lessons, and global learning experiences. Students learn to think creatively and critically, work collaboratively, and learn deeply in rich, academic subjects that include math, science, English, social studies, foreign language (Spanish, French, Mandarin, Japanese, or Latin), computer science, visual and performing arts, communication studies, and physical education. Many subjects offer honors courses. With a 1:1 laptop program, technology integration in the classroom, and extensive library resources, students experience an intellectually rich academic environment at Harker. CARNEYSANDOE.COM 5 College Placement Graduates from the classes of 2018- 2020 matriculated to the following colleges and universities, among others: Amherst College Boston University Brown University California Institute of Technology Carnegie Mellon University Chapman University Claremont McKenna College Columbia University Cornell University Dartmouth College Duke University Georgetown University Georgia Institute of Technology Harvard University Harvey Mudd College Loyola Marymount University Massachusetts Institute of Technology At Harker’s upper school, located at the Saratoga Avenue New York University campus, an expert team of teachers offers students a world- Northeastern University class and well-rounded education. The upper school gives Northwestern University