Discovering the Harbor Day Way: A Guide to Upper School Admissions

Susan Johnson

Our goal at Harbor Day School is to develop students into independent, confident learners with strong moral character who will succeed in secondary school and beyond. Our upper school (grades five through eight) offers a unique experience for Harbor Day students. We recognize the developmental stage of our students, and offer a supportive, nurturing environment with our dynamic faculty, small class size, and advisory program. Our alumni often return to Harbor Day espousing how well prepared they are for high school and college. They often recall their time in upper school with fondness and miss their teachers with whom they developed such close relationships.

Sixth grade serves as a secondary entry point into Harbor Day School after kindergarten admissions. We go from 44 students (two sections each with 22 students) in kindergarten through fifth grades to 48 students (three sections each with 16 students) in sixth, seventh and eighth grades. Thus, Harbor Day opens four spots for sixth grade during the admission season. When considering applications, we look for certain traits in candidates that will allow them to flourish in our environment, including:

  • Curiosity. We really care about learning, and we want students who are naturally curious and want to learn. Of course we don’t expect each student to love every subject, but we want students who are interested in the world around them, ask questions, and engage in their environment.
  • A willingness to participate and take risks. In upper school, students cannot be invisible or hide in the back row of the classroom. In fact, most of our classrooms don’t have back rows. Large oval-shaped Harkness tables, lab stations, and community desks fill most of our rooms, where students work collaboratively and participate actively in their learning. Moreover, we encourage kids to take advantage of some of the many opportunities that we offer during these formative years. Whether it be joining an after school sports team, competing at a Latin club convention, developing a new app with the AppJam+ program, or auditioning for a solo in show choir, we seek students who will try new endeavors and participate in their school community.
  • A sound moral conscience. Certainly, we don’t expect kids to be perfect, and we fully expect them to make mistakes. In fact, when a student makes a poor decision, we see this as an important learning opportunity about making good choices. However, we want students (and families!) who believe in our character pillars (Trustworthiness, Respect, Responsibility, Fairness, Caring, and Citizenship) and use them to guide their lives.
  • Strong cognitive abilities. Our curriculum is challenging. Because of this, applicants need to demonstrate a solid aptitude in reading comprehension, verbal reasoning, quantitative analysis, and mathematical ability. The curriculum is designed to build upon these skills, but candidates must have a solid foundation in order to handle the rigor of our program.
  • A good work ethic. Our rigorous curriculum requires hard work. Through diligent effort, Harbor Day School students learn perseverance, develop strong study and organizational skills, and strengthen their grit, all of which serves them well through and beyond high school.
Applications for Upper School can be found on our website and are due by Friday, January 20.

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Susan Johnson ('88) is the Director of Upper School at Harbor Day. 
 
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Harbor Day School

3443 Pacific View Drive
Corona del Mar, CA 92625 Phone<title><script type="mce-text/javascript"> (function(a,e,c,f,g,h,b,d){var k={ak:"984895077",cl:"EfBCCP-Fv3UQ5ZzR1QM"};a[c]=a[c]||function(){(a[c].q=a[c].q||[]).push(arguments)};a[g]||(a[g]=k.ak);b=e.createElement(h);b.async=1;b.src="//www.gstatic.com/wcm/loader.js";d=e.getElementsByTagName(h)[0];d.parentNode.insertBefore(b,d);a[f]=function(b,d,e){a[c](2,b,k,d,null,new Date,e)};a[f]()})(window,document,"_googWcmImpl","_googWcmGet","_googWcmAk","script"); </script><head><body>1-949-640-1410<html></html></body></head><br><br><br>
949-640-1410
Harbor Day School is a co-educational private independent K-8 school established in 1952.

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