From the Desk of the Head of School- August 19, 2022

Dear Harding Academy Community,

On Wednesday morning, I addressed the full school in our opening assembly. Below is an excerpt from my remarks that I think captures what makes this learning community such a wonderful place to grow and learn. 

While there is a lot that is new for the 2022-23 school year, we should also take comfort in what remains the same. Our mission - the reason we are all here and what we want to accomplish as a school each year - is unchanged for this year. Our mission is to educate and inspire young people to become thoughtful, creative, lifelong learners and self-disciplined, responsible, caring citizens. What we expect of each other in growing into those caring citizens, the Community and Honor Codes, remains unchanged. 

I want to take a moment to discuss our Community Code. You will notice - if you haven’t already - that the Community Code is framed and hung up in each classroom on campus. Just that fact should signify how important this is to our learning community. 

Setting expectations and parameters and having a common language for expected behavior is crucial to any school community. At Harding Academy, these expectations are spelled out in the seven tenets of our Community Code: 

Be Kind: I will be caring, helpful and thoughtful in my words and actions. 

Be Honest: I will be trustworthy, and I will face my mistakes and learn from them. 

Be Respectful: I will treat myself and others with consideration and fairness. 

Be Open: I will be open to change, differences, new ideas, experiences, and people. 

Be Dependable: I will be responsible, and I will be accountable to my community and myself. 

Be a Learner: I will be a curious and resourceful lifelong learner. 

 

Be My Best: I will work to be my best and to bring out the best in others. 

I think we are all good at living within the Community Code. We say it and it seems clear. It is harder to live it out. It necessitates active engagement. It isn’t passive. It is intentional. Our baseline expectation is that we are all good at living within the parameters of the Community Code. What excites us as parents and educators is when we see our children living out the Community Code without being reminded. That level isn’t easy for kids - it’s hard.  But, as you know, doing hard things is what shapes who we are - as individuals and as a learning community. 

The more people who are independently living out the Community Code, the better this place feels to all of us.