Community meetings are one of our most treasured traditions. Held weekly for each division, they are anchored by a message that examines an aspect of the School Creed, emphasizing the habits most critical to students’ success. Our meetings also include commendations, where teachers share stories that recognize a student’s demonstrated growth or other action that lived up to our pillars and creed.
Each class hosts Celebrations of Learning throughout the year that serve as a chance for families to join in the joy of learning and academic progress. Celebrations of Learning offer repeated opportunities for students to step out of their comfort zones, make mistakes in a safe environment, and come out having conquered their fears – accomplishing something they maybe didn’t realize they could do.
Harlem Academy students study a different Shakespeare play every year in middle school using a performance-driven curriculum. Students are inspired to engage deeply because they are motivated as actors to read closely and grasp the underlying relationships between characters.
This long-standing partnership between Harlem Academy and the Poetry Society of America brings professional poets of color into sixth and eighth grade classrooms to explore the craft of poetry and guide students through the writing and revision process. As a culmination of the partnership, students take the stage to recite their original pieces before an audience of family and friends.
Seventh grade science focuses on cells and human body systems. It is a chance for students to learn about many of the organ systems and how they work together to help the human body function. Students take part in wet lab dissections and work closely with neuroscientists and cancer biologists from research universities in the New York City area.
The eighth grade year serves as a culmination of our students' journey in science. They connect their knowledge of human biology to the appropriate response to emergency situations in an emergency medicine unit; conduct scientific research and write a formal research paper; connect physics concepts to daily applications during a simple machines unit; and study food science.
Harlem Academy is open from 7:15 a.m. until 6 p.m. Students who arrive early are welcome to have a full breakfast in our cafe, use the play yard, or read quietly. At the end of the day, students have time to complete their homework, participate in our mentoring program, and pursue activities of interest during a choice block for primary and elementary students and an electives block for middle schoolers.
Our goal is to ensure that every student is positioned for continued growth with a placement at a secondary school that will challenge and support them toward the full realization of their potential. The right school will push students with high expectations, provide new opportunities for explanation and learning, and open a door to college.
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.