The Community Meeting is among Harlem Academy’s most cherished traditions. Held weekly in both the lower school and middle school, the meeting begins with a teacher’s greeting and the recitation of the School Thanksgiving:
We are thankful for friendship and good health,
For our school and our teachers,
And for the families who have given us our homes.
We are thankful for the differences that help us learn,
And the common purposes that bring us together.
We are thankful for our city, our country, and the world around us,
For a hope to be shared with all people,
And the trials which help us to know ourselves.
(Adapted from Camp Timanous, Raymond, ME)
The meeting continues with teachers formally commending the positive contributions of students who exhibited exemplary behavior or growth. A weekly message then examines an aspect of the school creed, emphasizing the habits most critical to students’ success. To close the meeting, community members shake hands, recite the creed, and share a quiet moment for reflection before a silent recessional.
Each fourth and eighth-grade student has a chance to lead a community meeting where they share a message about how the pillars and creed can be put into action in our daily lives.