From the Desk of the Head of School- August 26, 2022

Dear Harding Academy Learning Community,

This week our seventh graders traveled to Camp Kanuga in the mountains of North Carolina. This grade level retreat was an opportunity to engage in experiential learning alongside their classmates and teachers in a beautiful natural setting. This is something our students really look forward to, as it is a shared experience, off campus, where they can go a bit deeper into learning. 

If you remember your seventh grade experience, I bet it is an experience like this which comes to mind. Now if you could design school for your seventh grade self I’m willing to bet it would have more of those experiences loaded into it. Well, over the course of last school year, we investigated just that: how might we offer this kind of experience on a more regular basis? 

The result: The Harding Immersive Series, an experience created especially for our seventh and eighth graders, to take place in an extra long period once per week—a longer block of time that allows for contemplation, investigation, hands-on experience, off-campus exploration, and collaborative, project-based learning. Our courses (one per quarter over the two grades) will focus on eight ideas: Wonder, Creativity, Civic Engagement, Leadership, Inquiry, Wellness, Entrepreneurship, and Design. 

We are spending this school year designing these courses and we want your input. In October we will have a week of Design Days. These collaborative sessions are aimed at identifying opportunities, making new connections, and giving shape to this groundbreaking initiative. Please mark your calendars for the following: 

You can also check out the latest edition of Excellentia for a featured article about the Harding Immersive Series. We look forward to working with you!