The Harker School

From your driver John Reele bus 902 West Valley Trailways
Excellent job!
Everyone involved, can only tell you how much I totally enjoyed
driving you to and from Ashland, OR
Thank you so much for making this one of my most memorize charter.

My son plays for Pop Warner and we had a game located at this school. I didn’t get to see the rest of the school but there was plenty of parking. The football field is very nice and clean. The bleachers are very nice also. Restrooms are very spacious and clean as well. It looks like they offer swimming classes too and the pool area looked pretty nice too.

We are a K-​3 family and could not be more pleased with Harker. The biggest difference we have seen at Harker compared to other top private schools on east coast and bay area is they execute flawlessly. They have a strong vision and execute that vision without hesitation. We have attended other «academic» schools that just did not deliver on their promise. In our opinion, Harker overdelivers on every word on their website and marketing material. This is a school for very bright children that are bored elsewhere. This is probably not the best environment for the average student. I say that not to sound obnoxious but could see where students would begin to suffer and become frustrated if they could not keep up with their peers at this school. Administration is as good as it gets in terms of elementary eductation. My son loves this school so much and is challenged without stress. He thinks if I pick him up at 5 pm from school that is too early because he never wants to leave. The student population is incredibly kind, caring and they all seem truly happy. Many in the community (and across the country now) are aware of Harker academics, but what we are most impressed with since joining the community is how kind and nurturing Harker is. The administration prioritizes social and emotional development/​education. We have seen a spark come alive within our son and are so grateful to have found Harker. After attending prestigious schools elsewhere we can honestly say «Harker is as good as it gets.» Academics are phenomenal, students wonderful, kind and nurturing administration that truly «gets it.» I’m am so happy I followed my instincts and relocated my family to be close to this school. Simply incredible!
As a side, I wish Unilocal would remove reviews from parents that never had a child attend or is only commenting on summer program. The summer program and the school are very different things to be reviewing.

Modern looking campus and modern facilities — obviously money behind the scenes. Just visited to attend a Yale University Forum, so don’t know about the schooling on this campus.

Sent my son to Harker for a summer Geometry class — 2014.
The instructor did not appear to know the material — as she was corrected on her problems continually by the class.
The instructor could not maintain control of the class and at times would leave the kids alone.
An internal Harker student failed one of the tests and cried — a retest was then implemented. If you, your son or daughter are not a student at Harker and don’t show some tears when you fail a test don’t expect a retest.
I ended up hiring a private tutor to teach him the material and the tutor started pointing out where the Harker instructor was marking answers wrong that were correct and vice versa.
Bottom line — do not expect the staff to be educated or on the ball. The main theme there seems to be to be to rush through the material, don’t teach anything, make the tests incredibly hard and those who pass or do well — well they have the money for a tutor ;-)

Harker’s summer enrichment program is horrible. My child attended its Pre-​Algebra class last summer, and the teacher (a very moody Asian female) basically did not teach and just sat there surfing the web and watching Chinese news. The tuition for the summer is not expensive compared to that for the regular school year (not cheap either since the teacher only gave kids some worksheet to do.) It’s frustrating that hen parents and students reported the situation to the Harker middle school principal (summer only), a Japenese guy I believe, his attitude was very cold and asked parents to contact the teacher directly. Well what can I say about this school, good luck to those who want to give it a try this summer. Definitely will not make the same mistake again!

When we were looking at schools, our goal was to find a community that would take a whole child approach to education — nurturing their character and curiosity as well as their intellect. We’re grateful to have found that at Harker.
As parents I believe we all have the same dreams for our children… For them to grow to be creative, independent thinkers who regard learning not only as a core strength but as a life-​long passion. For them to be continually inspired, and in turn, inspire those around them. And most importantly, for our children to be happy and resilient as they grow to pursue their own path.
Every year, we watch our children realize a little more and more of those dreams with a sense of awe and profound gratitude. We are grateful for the teachers who carefully nurture their curiosity and encourage their out-​of-​the-​box questions; the athletic, performing arts, and journalism departments that foster their spirit and sense of team; and their peers group who serve as uniquely caring allies moving through what, anywhere else, would surely be crazy adolescent years.
We have 3 kids with very different personalities and learning styles. One of Harker’s internal mantras is «Challenged, not stressed» and we have found that to be true.

Is it worth spending $ 32,000 on tuition? Will your child attend an elite school (top 25 according to US News)? There is NO Guarantee that, after investing $ 120,000+, your child will be accepted at the elite colleges. The top 20% of Harker’s graduating class has a higher change of getting admitted at the universities with names ending in ‘rd.
However, if the child is not in the the top 20%, and your public school is considered a GOLD or SILVER medalist according to US News, please why waste money? Save it until college, you’ll have PLENTY of expenses. My son attended Harker in middle school, we switched to our public school and he is now attending CAL!

As a recent alum of the Harker School (and having attended for 7 years, from 5^th to 12^th grade), I’ll try to offer insight that is both considerably unbiased and meaningful.
The Harker School, without a doubt, is an amazing school that follows its mission statement near verbatim:

«Our mission is to educate students for success, 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…»
This school certainly delivers an intensive, enriching academic environment where dedicated students can truly thrive and excel. Many teachers at Harker love and are invested in their jobs — just as the students are invested in their academic performance.
With that said, however, I deliver a caveat: while Harker presents opportunity after opportunity for students to go above and beyond, it is not the following:
— guaranteed admission into an Ivy League university
— guaranteed future academic or financial success
Parents who invest in their children’s education at the Harker School should expect exactly what the mission statement suggests: an academically intensive environment that can spur students to greater heights, if the students take advantage of the opportunities are presented to them.
Students at Harker are trained to be adept organizers and thinkers — who therefore succeed and are able to objectively tackle problems that they may face in the future.
Furthermore, the ramifications of such academic intensity entail a highly stressful, competitive environment and other social challenges that are not necessarily extant at other schools. This has been addressed in other reviews.
Before I continue — I must affirm that many Harker students still excel greatly in a variety of categories.
While many consider the average Harker student to be the rich-​kid or the antisocial nerd, there are plenty of students who do not fit these stereotypes. As Vivian mentioned, a great number of people at Harker are capable of maintaining healthy social lives as well as attaining academic excellence. Achieving this balance is one of the greatest ways to succeed at this school.
Many attending students are, however, further driven by their parents or social pressures, which enforce an excessively rigorous, studious lifestyle outside of school to complement an already challenging academic setting.
The resultant pressures can drive students to emotional and detrimental extremes — and to some may negate the potential benefits that the school has to offer.
The students who come to terms with these pressures and manage to achieve their own, individual successes really get their money’s worth.
TLDR?
In the end, Harker is everything that one makes of it.
The social and academic pressures discussed in other reviews are issues inherent to the nature of such academic intensity.
They do exist — but certainly, they are not all there is.

Our personal experience with Harker school is amazing! Our middle schooler at Harker loves everything about Harker! The faculty and administration are highly qualified and extremely helpful! They have different levels of the courses so the students can be placed at the levels that they are comfortable and challenged at the same time! The teachers are almost like private tutors. My son always gets help whenever he needs it! The rules are in place without having the students feel suffocated. The lunch is amazing! It feels like a five star restaurant! They have a healthy balance of athletic and after school programs. My son would totally be lost at any other school after being at Harker. If you want your child to be challenged without being stressed out, if you want your child to go to top colleges in the nation, if you want your child to receive a well rounded education I recommend you choose Harker.

Hell overall. I attended grades 9 – 12 here a while back.
They used to have a great computer science program but since I’ve graduated 10 years ago, they’ve doubled tuition and I wouldn’t recommend this school personally. Also that great computer science program is gone.
The administrators and some teachers at this place were sadists and not healthy for the minds of growing children. I was definitely left a bit traumatized and my social growth stunted until college fixed me up.
High school sucks in general, so don’t pay more than college costs for it. That’s just ridiculous.
They push you at this school and impose all sorts of stupid rules that both students and parents find frustrating. I tended to be prompt to class in the morning, but I’ve had very bright classmates who’ve had to take on «lunch duty» or get after-​school detention for being late or not having homework done on time. There’s no purpose to all this time wasting.
If you ask me, I found the experience to be kind of barbaric despite some good intentions. And I don’t exactly come from a super wealthy background, so having filthy rich spoiled kids as classmates wasn’t so great.
My contemporaries whom attended public high school got into at least of good of colleges, for what it’s worth.

I attended this school not too long ago, and currently attend a pretty good school. Without a doubt, had it not been for my time here, I would not have been trained so well in all subjects. I would not be motivated, and I would not be the person I am today. I actually owe a lot to Harker.
That said, there are always negatives to the high-​stress, goal-​getting, competitive nature of this school. I know I paid dearly for the added stress and tears when I signed up for this school back in 2006. Sometimes it was overwhelming.
Whether or not this school was worth it depends on who you’re talking to. There are so many kids at Harker who, despite their insane AP load and extracurriculars are the most social people I know. There are incredibly affable and amazing people (hint hint trying to dispel the notion that all Harker kids are anti-​social, misanthropic nerds who can’t fend for themselves). Likewise, others I know hate/​hated the institution, and desperately want to leave. It’s all up to your child’s personality and capabilities.

This «school» is so terrible and scarring that I have had multiple dreams of blowing it to pieces.
I went here from 1^st until 7^th grade. Eighth grade was paid for, but it was so bad that my parents pulled me out anyways. And if I had stayed any longer than I did, I probably wouldn’t be here on this planet today. I picked it based on a clown fish hanging from the ceiling in the science room and if that fish hadn’t been there, maybe I would be a sane and normally functioning person.
Do you want a child who could get into any university and who is academically prepared for anything? Send them to Harker.
That is the typical reason for paying a university tuition in elementary school. But it is not the only result of going here.
Do you want a child who knows no social skills and no prosocial values?
Do you want a child who can get away with bullying and have the victim be blamed for the consequences?
Do you want a child who thinks that it is okay to put down others and that their feelings are the only ones that matter?
Do you want a child who has no childhood memories except for those of studying and doing homework?
Do you want a child who grows up to take pleasure in absolutely nothing because they had no opportunity to play?
The answer to all of the above questions is yes. This scar is over eight years old for me and I am still dealing with the consequences, which will most likely stay with me for the rest of my life. I have many stories to share — if you wish to hear them, you are welcome to message me.

Harker is a wonderful place. Both of my kids attended K-​12. It is what you make of it. Both of my kids thrived at Harker and loved it. Is it perfect? Probably not. But, considering the options we have in the Bay Area, I don’t think you can do better. It can be stressful. You have to be careful that your kids don’t become too stressed out. I don’t think it is the teachers or the administrators that put the stress on the kids. I think it is the parents. Are the teachers perfect? No, but the majority of them were wonderful. Very small class sizes with lots of personal attention and help. The English department is insanely good. Both of my kids graduated from Harker with better writing skills than almost any college graduate that I’ve ever worked with. Kids are competitive with each other, but that will happen at ANY top-​notch public or private school. But, in senior year, when they were all applying to college, they were peer-​editing each others essays and HELPING each other. Socially, I’ve never seen a more inclusive community. I’ve never seen such HEALTHY boy/​girl relationships. The dating scene is very mild compared to other schools. It seems the kids have a ton of respect for themselves and each other. It is refreshing to see the way they behave at football games and other school events. If you are wondering whether or not to send your child to Harker, attend a football game and observe the kids. That will tell you all you need to know about what kind of community Harker is. Go Eagles!

Totally visited this school and was blown away.
As a New Yorker, this campus is more gorgeous than my college campus.
Granted, I am only reviewing based on what I have seen– the faculty are awesome and the facilites are amazing.
Each teacher has their own classroom which is unheard of in New York High Schools.
And the cafeteria pretty much carries anything your heart can desire… carving station? Sushi? Pizza?
Sign. Me. Up.
I’d be remiss to mention that lunch in NYC High Schools include a «cheeseburger» (gray filler meat with plastic cheese) and some other random hot dish (like «fish sticks» or something else that falls under the «heat and serve» category) to choose from on a daily basis.
I would go to school all over again for a good lunch.
Doing homework laying in the halls with natural lighting? Yes please! I had access to sleeping on the hallway floors in high school but never with sunlight… New York Kids are deprived of sunlight (it shows… just hop on the subway between 2pm and 4pm)
I would go through puberty again in order to go to this school… that says a lot because puberty SUCKED.

Great school. It has everything you could possibly want (at a price.) But if you can afford it, it’s the best you could get your child.

hell.

This is a very good school if your child wants to be challenged. Good after school activities. Sports and arts classes are part of the curriculum, too. Teachers are all very good and caring. Would not recommend this school unless student is able to work significantly ahead of his or her peers as it might be too stressful. This school is more expensive than many other private schools in the area, but definitely worth it. Financial aid is available.

We didn’t end up sending our kid here. They definitely do push the kids. But their response to «how about stress» is «we don’t encourage stress, and the kids will deal with it.» Also, they’re big into worksheets and homework. And kids are in school for 7 hours, starting in Kindergarden. If your dream is to push your child as hard as you can, and you think this is the path to success Harker may be the school for you. If you prefer to let your child have a childhood, spend time with friends, unstructured playtime, Harker is not a good place for your kid.
Edited to add: Oh, and it costs about the same as a private university. It’s $ 20,674 for Kindergarden and $ 29,894 by 9^th grade. Just to keep it in perspective, Stanford Law School is $ 20,440.
And in spite of this, there is 1 teacher and 1 teacher’s aide per classroom.

What NO reviews? Simply put, this is the best experience your child can get. Best education, many after school activities, and caring teachers. If you want your child to be successful, Harker is the place to send your child. ALL kids go on to 4 year colleges and become doctors, dentists, lawyers, etc.
It’s absolutely amazing to see my classmates and sister’s classmates so accomplished years later. Very expensive, but well worth the education.
Saw other posting and would agree that Kindergartner’s do NOT need to be pushed, however I started Harker in the 5^th grade along with my sister. When you want you child to become SERIOUS about their academics, there is no better place than Harker. I wish that I could give you the list of names of classmates, but believe me, ALL of them are successful in careers AND life.