From the Desk of the Head of School- May 13, 2022

Dear Harding Learning Community,

With the end of year in sight, and with the past few years being so different from a traditional school year, I thought it would be helpful to outline some of the Harding traditions that take place before we let out for summer.

Winter/Spring Athletic Awards will be held Thursday, May 19, 2022 at 6:30 PM. The award ceremony is to recognize student athletes who participated in winter and spring sports. 

Field Day will be held on Friday, May 20th. 

Pre-K through 5 graders will enjoy a morning of games and competition hosted by the PE Department, followed by a noon dismissal.

6th-8th graders will enjoy an afternoon of games and competition hosted by the PE Department with a regular dismissal.

Retirement Party honoring Kent Ballow, Ray Berry, Rebecca Igleheart and Carolee Kazmerowski will be held on Monday, May 23rd at 3:30 PM in the Henderson Theater. All families and students are invited to wish our beloved faculty and staff members well in retirement. 

K-4 Awards Ceremony will be held on Tuesday, May 24th at 9:00 AM. The award ceremony is to recognize students for extraordinary achievement. Parents of students receiving awards will be notified by email ahead of time so they can attend the awards ceremony. 

5th Grade Moving Up Ceremony will be held on Wednesday, May 25th at 2:30 PM.

The fifth grade class will ‘Walk the Halls’ of the lower school building one last time as Laura Underwood leads them to the Middle School Courtyard to Jay Codispoti for a brief celebration where they will be given their Middle School t-shirt. Parents are invited to meet the students in the Middle School courtyard to celebrate. Shhhh! It’s a surprise! 

Pursuit Water Day will be held on Wednesday, May 25th from 3:15 PM to 4:45 PM at Kever Park. All students attending Pursuit are asked to bring their swimsuits and towels for an end of the year water day celebration. Pre-Registration is REQUIRED. Please click HERE to register. 

5-8 Awards Ceremony will be held on Thursday, May 26th at 10:00 AM. The award ceremony is to recognize students for extraordinary achievement. Parents of students receiving awards will be notified by email ahead of time so they can attend the awards ceremony. 

Rose Ceremony will be held on Thursday, May 26th at 10:30 AM. The rose ceremony is a long standing Harding tradition where the Kindergarteners give a rose to their 8th grade buddy during the ceremony. Kindergarten and 8th grade families are invited. The rose ceremony will be held on Thursday, May 26th at the end of the 5th through 8th grade awards ceremony. If your child is not receiving an award that day, then you can arrive at 10:30 AM.

Last Day of School Hook Up - Thursday, May 26th at Noon.  It is tradition at Harding Academy for families to decorate their cars for the last hook up of the year to celebrate the beginning of summer break.

Faculty/Staff Year End Gifts - Deadline is Wednesday, May 25. Several years ago we found that parents were being asked on several different fronts to contribute to gifts for coaches or teachers with the best intentions, but in a way that left them pulled in different directions financially. In the interest of equity, and in an effort to recognize everyone at Harding that gives so much of themselves to our children, we invite all parents to participate in a voluntary, monetary contribution for year-end gifts. The money collected is divided equally among all members of Harding’s faculty and staff.  We will be sending out more communications with ways to support this fund in the coming days.

It is an exciting time of year and we are thrilled to be able to host so many wonderful Harding traditions over the next two weeks.

Have a great weekend!