From the Desk of the Head of School- February 3, 2023

Dear Harding Academy Learning Community,

Over the course of the last few years, as we have been navigating uncharted waters and giving ourselves permission to adapt and change in ways we never thought possible, I’ve been struck by how powerful authentic curiosity can be in moving our learning community forward. 

From our youngest learners and their Cooperation March to our oldest students and their fierce inquiry into the merits of the trial of Sacco and Vanzetti, curiosity is at the core of great learning. In our unique and powerful PreK through 8th grade model, we are able to cultivate experiences that foster this curiosity in a community which balances support and challenge across the whole child experience. 

Even our athletics program develops curiosity in our students - a curiosity about how deep their competitive reservoir truly is. I would say that our Boys Varsity Basketball team found out a lot about themselves as teammates and competitors a couple of weeks ago. After a lopsided loss to FRA two days earlier, the boys matched up against MBA and showed the hearts of champions in their thrilling victory. 

Curiosity and creativity are two sides of the same coin and nowhere is that more apparent than in our theater program. At the end of this month, Dr. Bell, Mrs. Wilkinson, and Ms. Stumpf will lead our Harding Academy Players in offering performances of the musical, Mary Poppins. Our first grade actors look to our 7th and 8th grade leaders to model the hard work it takes to make a great performance look so effortless. 

What I hope you are seeing is that curiosity is one of the not-so-secrets of our whole child approach to the ten most formative learning years of a child’s life. At Harding Academy, we love creating educational experiences which feed this curiosity and develop lifelong learners. 

Have a great weekend.