Summer Institute for Grades 6-12 Now With P.M. Activities!
Summer is around the corner, and so are some exciting new opportunities for learning and fun at Harker!
The big news is that students entering grades 6-12 can now have it all. That is, they can sign up for a class through the Summer Institute and enroll in the optional afternoon activity program, extending their day to 5:30 p.m.
After class each day, students can participate in a wide variety of structured activities or use the library and other facilities according to their needs and desires. “We’re thinking of it sort of like a cruise ship,” said Kelly Espinosa, director of summer programs. “Each day, there is a menu offering all kinds of activities and you can decide what you feel like doing on the spot.”
Perennial offerings include swimming, library, art room, Ping-Pong, basketball courts and study spaces. The staff will also plan games, sports, contests and more, with weekly specials adding to the fun.
Treehouse construction, campus wide scavenger hunts, kit building/flying, street hockey matches and inner tube water polo are a few examples of what students can look forward to.
Characterizing this new after-class option as “a Harker style of hanging out,” Espinosa said, “We are never just doing nothing. We’re always doing something to learn, grow or make friends.”
Cool Summer Classes
Of course, academics form the heart of the Summer Institute, and this year’s class choices are as exciting and diverse as ever – from rigorous, for-credit high school courses to noncredit opportunities for enrichment and growth in English, science, music, art and more. Each class operates on its own schedule on the Saratoga campus with the high quality, caring instruction one expects from Harker.
Upper school for-credit courses are equivalent to those offered during the academic year and use the same texts and materials. Classes are small to ensure quality instruction and retention of course materials. Popular topics include computer programming, art and math.
Upper school enrichment courses include the ever-popular interdisciplinary research workshop, creative or expository writing, the Forensics Institute and driver’s education. Some students choose to get a jump on their next math or AP science class.
Middle schoolers also have a wide array of interesting choices, including Web Design 2.0, Music Creativity and Improv, Forensic Science, Robotics, Debate Boot Camp, Write it Right and more. Math courses offer the opportunity to practice current skills and glimpse topics that await in the fall.
Summer Camp+ for K-6
School + Camp = One Terrific Summer!
Summer Camp+ offers students entering kindergarten through grade 6 a full day of morning academics and afternoon activities on Harker’s beautiful Bucknall campus.
Families enjoy the flexibility afforded by this program, which allows them to choose their session, including their preferred format for morning academics, as well as the length of their day, with full-day, partial-day and morning-only options available.
Students in grades 1-6 may enroll in one of two formats for morning academics. The formats are similar to those in years past, but the names are new: Core Focus and LOL: Learning Opportunities in Literature. Both programs conclude at 11:30 each morning to make room for the afternoon activity program.
Core Focus is a three- or four-week math and language arts focused program that follows a three-period bell schedule. Every day, students spend one period each in math, language arts and an elective. Instruction is differentiated to make sure each student is appropriately challenged.
LOL, aka Learning Opportunities in Literature, is a two-week integrated curriculum centered around a literary theme. Students remain in the same class for the full morning to examine a topic from the perspective of multiple disciplines, including science, history, the arts and social studies – and, of course, math and language arts. (For details about specific electives offered to Core Focus students and the literary themes for each LOL session, please see www.summer.harker.org.)
KinderCamp offers our youngest students an opportunity to become familiar with the Harker environment. Children remain with the same teacher all morning to learn and practice skills needed for kindergarten, which include social and listening skills in addition to letters and numbers. KinderCampers have their own classrooms, playground, lunch area and afternoon counselors.
All students break for lunch at 11:30 and gear up for Harker’s trademark afternoon activity program. Arts and crafts, computers, dance, climbing wall, and a variety of sports and games are just a few of the fun ways students explore teamwork and social interaction in the second half of the day.
Each session also includes a field trip on one of Harker’s big yellow buses. Popular destinations in past years have included the Hiller Aviation Museum, Natural Bridges State Park and a local ice skating rink.
While many of the same activities are offered annually, each summer is organized around a different theme. Without giving away the plan for 2011, Espinosa hinted, “We’re going to have a super time this year!” Details can be found at www.summer.harker.org.