We close the school's 21st year with immense pride in the students from the Class of 2025, who celebrated their graduation yesterday. They have been outstanding role models for younger students and lived the School Creed in inspiring ways. I have no doubt that they will take all they’ve learned to succeed at the top secondary schools they have chosen to attend.
Ask Riverdale senior Micaela Gonzalez '21 what is most important to her, and she’ll say service. “I’ve always had a passion for giving back to my community.” It’s the reason she will study nursing when she heads to University of Pennsylvania this fall.
Eighth grader Rabi ’25 was on his way to school when he found out that he’d been accepted to Deerfield Academy. He immediately called his mother to tell her the good news.
Earlier this year, we held an event to help guide young alumni on their career paths. On Monday, we had the pleasure of turning the tables and welcoming a panel of alumni to share their wisdom with current students and their families.
Our alumni venture all over the country for college. They head north to Dartmouth, south to Morehouse and Spelman, and west to Northwestern and even Stanford. However, no one has set their sights so far east that they crossed the Atlantic until Lisa Lushtak '20 enrolled at University College London (UCL) this past fall.
MisaLove Smith ’17, a senior at Purchase College who is pursuing a bachelor of fine arts in acting, discovered her love of the craft at Harlem Academy – and it all started with Shakespeare and a love of reading. “I would read three books at a time,” she recalls. Teachers pushed MisaLove and her classmates to delve into texts, dissect authors' choices, interpret meanings, and back up their analyses. A class discussion of A Midsummer Night's Dream in sixth grade lit a spark. “It made me want to master Shakespeare.”
Recently, we shared news about where our older alumni are headed to college and Drew's journey to Spelman, the #1 HBCU in the country! Today, we want to highlight the high school selections of our newest class of graduates and share a window into another thoughtful approach to a key transition moment.
When Drew Roberts ’20 applied to several historically black colleges and universities, Spelman was at the top of her list. “I’m beyond excited that I was accepted,” she says. “Spelman is one of the top HBCUs. It’s very competitive and the students are extremely hardworking women.” U.S. News & World report agrees, ranking Spelman College as the No. 1 HBCU in the nation.
As an avid photographer, Marianna “Mari” Lee ’20, a senior at Miss Porter’s, was thrilled when she received a Hill Arts Foundation fellowship last summer.
Harlem Academy is an independent school (grades K-8) that drives equity of opportunity for promising students, guiding them to thrive at the highest academic levels and one day make a mark on the world.