My review is based on 15-year recent experience with Harker where my two children attended kindergarten through high school.
Like many Harker parents, my wife and I selected Harker carefully. For both our children, my wife and I researched and visited all the good private schools in the Bay Area, talked to multiple parents, compared many factors, and considered our public schools, which are ranked among the best in the Bay Area. After comprehensive evaluation, we chose Harker despite the long drive. Both our children and their friends are in excellent colleges. Looking back, I would choose Harker again for my children.
What makes Harker are its people. Harker's leadership is visionary, intent on building a long-lasting educational institution and one of the top-ten schools in the nation. Administration is outstanding. Academic counselors are exemplary. College counselors are extraordinary. Support staff is fantastic. Just observe the lady who directs traffic in the campus every morning, and you will be impressed. Most of the teachers are very good, and many are exceptional. I can name countless outstanding, caring teachers who taught my children. For example, all my children's high-school English teachers were outstanding. My second child's math teacher in junior year was not only a superb teacher but also a remarkable human being. My child will never forget his kindness and support beyond his being a great teacher. Most students are very smart and hardworking, setting role models for each other. Most parents are very committed to their children's education. Contrary to some reviewers' uninformed comments, most Harker parents are not "filthy rich." There are a few very wealthy parents at Harker, but that is true at many Bay Area public and private schools. Typical Harker parents are middle-class, educated professionals dedicated to their children's education. Additionally, Harker is a relatively small school, which makes it feel like a community, although many students and parents do not realize it until after graduating.
Harker has a refined system and process for almost everything. Things run very smoothly. Class size is very small. Excellence is practiced from the highest- to lowest-level detail.
Harker's education is academic, extracurricular, and social. Harker is not only superior academically but also has an extensive and wide variety of non-academic activities, functions, and clubs, such as speech & debate, sports, performing arts, music, visual arts, Latin, etc. Harker has outstanding science, engineering, and computer science activities, functions, and clubs, such as programming and robotics. The computer science program is undoubtedly the best in the Bay Area. Contrary to another reviewer's uninformed remarks, the computer science program is amazing and thrives more every year. Harker is not only outstanding in math and science but also in humanities and languages. For example, Harker has multiple humanities research scholarships every year with impressive results. Harker graduates go to top science and engineering schools, such as MIT and Cal Tech, and to top humanities schools, such as Harvard and Yale.
Harker develops social skills in their students, instilling respect, self-discipline, courtesy, and civility. Harker encourages and fosters community service and social responsibility. The Harker system, administration, and counselors coach and develop students' leadership skills. Academic and extracurricular accomplishments and hard work are recognized and celebrated. Rudeness, bullying, plagiarism, and egregious behavior are absolutely not tolerated. Outrageous infractions can lead to expulsion, regardless of who the student and parents are, resulting in a safe, organized, professional environment.
Harker's tuition is not cheap but comparable to other Bay Area non-religious private schools. The superb education and lifelong skills are definitely worth the investment. Beyond the education and skills, many Harker graduates will land top positions in the nation in the near future, and the connections Harker students make among themselves are priceless. Most parents see the tuition as a worthwhile investment and understand the long-term value of their investment. No one is forced to enroll. Harker turns away many qualified applicants every year. Harker does not compete on price. Harker competes on quality.
Harker is undoubtedly the best school in the Bay Area and is one of the best schools in the nation. On a percentage of number-of-students basis, year after year, Harker beats all other public and private schools in college admissions results. Out of about 176 graduating high-school students, about half go to top-25 colleges. Of those, about half go to Ivies, Stanford, and MIT, a feat few schools can tout. Every academic achievement metric is stunning.
Harker is an investment toward academic, extracurricular, and social excellence and toward admission in top colleges. read more