Harrisburg Academy is an independent, co-ed, diverse school community that challenges and inspires students from preschool through 12th grade. Harrisburg Academy is the only school in the greater Harrisburg, PA, area to offer an established International Baccalaureate Primary Years, Middle Years, and Diploma Program. The school is accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools and the Pennsylvania Association of Independent Schools, the Academy belongs and ascribes to the policies and best practices of the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS).
The mission of Harrisburg Academy is to offer an academically challenging and globally-minded interdisciplinary education. In its commitment to excellence, the Academy provides tools, develops character, and teaches skills that prepare students to thrive in college and beyond, thereby contributing to the betterment of the global and local communities.
The Foundation Story
Harrisburg Academy, the 17th oldest non-public school in the country, was founded in 1784 by John Harris, Jr. in a room of his mansion (now the Historical Society of Dauphin County on South Front Street in Harrisburg). Harris brought in a schoolmaster from Lancaster to teach his and his neighbors’ children. Soon after, he granted “the rent, issues, and profits of his ferry for the endowment of an Academy where German and English should be taught.” Two years later, with donations and materials from Harris and more than 80 of his neighbors, a log cabin school was built on a knoll 300 yards east of the Susquehanna River, probably behind the Harris mansion near Walnut and Third streets.
On April 4, 1809, the State Legislature officially chartered the Academy under the Law of the Commonwealth as “an academy or public school for the education of youth in useful arts, sciences and literature.” In 1947, under the leadership of Headmaster Raymond Kennedy, Harrisburg Academy merged with The Seiler School for Girls to become a coeducational institution. The Academy opened for classes at its current location in Wormleysburg, Pennsylvania on Sept. 28, 1959.
Today, Harrisburg Academy is an independent, non-sectarian, coeducational day school with a diverse population of students from age 3 to 12th grade. The Academy became one of less than 100 schools in the United States to provide the full continuum (Preschool through grade 12) International Baccalaureate Programme in March 2024.
An Exceptional Learning Experience
The Harrisburg Academy views education as an amazing journey of self-discovery and challenges not only met but surpassed. From dynamic classroom experiences including a curriculum that addresses student interest and skill within small classes and is not bound to teach to the test, hands-on, student-driven learning opportunities through the Centers for Experiential Learning & Innovation, and personal college counseling starting in Middle School; to strong learning outcomes including higher test scores than other area students, the IB Diploma learning experience and its merit for students in 12th grade and in college, and a lasting connection to a community of successful industry leaders and alumni; to the strength of character, preschool through high school students build through being a part of a school committed to personal integrity, Harrisburg Academy education is truly something more and something different. The Academy’s students, from preschool through high school, become well-rounded scholars and artists, talented athletes and musicians, and globally-minded philanthropists. They all benefit from the advantages of a small learning community each and every day, and the advantages are many.
A Seasoned Team of Faculty & Staff Members
The faculty at Harrisburg Academy are a close-knit group of educators, who care deeply about their students. They know them all, not just the ones they have in their own classes. Most of the students have been at the school for more than five years and many much longer. The faculty is well qualified and has been trained to deliver the demanding IB program. This year’s program required them to rewrite the Academy’s entire curriculum. They had to take what the Academy traditionally teaches and repackage it into a more engaging vehicle to present to their students, incorporating big concepts and global perspectives, while looking for opportunities to do transdisciplinary classes.
“We are immensely proud of them because this was a large undertaking, took many hours of time and professional development, and required us as a school to reflect on our teaching and incorporate all the current best educational practices,” shares Adrian Allan, Head of School.
Providing Support to Student Learning and Development
Harrisburg Academy starts by offering its students small classes in which they receive individualized teacher attention. There is a learning specialist to help students who are struggling and to help structure enrichment for gifted students. The school has a no-cut policy for sports and other activities like the musical. Students are actively encouraged to take part in multiple activities, unlike larger schools where one must choose between activities. The school has a very strong music program which starts in preschool, with all elementary students learning to play the violin starting in junior kindergarten. As students progress they are introduced to the Ukulele and the guitar. In middle and high school, there is a string orchestra. Each year, the school puts on an Upper/Middle School musical as well as a Lower School musical.
In addition, Harrisburg Academy has a gym, soccer fields, and tennis courts and takes part in basketball, soccer, tennis, swimming, and cross-country, as well as offering a number of other sports through co-ops such as golf, football, lacrosse, and softball. The school also has after-school clubs at both Lower and Upper School levels. These include Ballet, Taekwondo, art, and foreign language instruction.
Fostering a Supportive & Inclusive Learning Environment
At Harrisburg Academy, the faculty, staff, and leadership team are committed to making sure each student is seen, known, and celebrated. The school has advisory and academic activities and programs that teach students how to work collaboratively and respect each other. The school is a safe haven and a place where students can safely be who they are.
For the 2023-24 school year, 37% of Harrisburg Academy students were Black/African American, Latinx/Hispanic, Asian, Native American, Pacific Islander, Middle Eastern, or two or more races. Given the diversity of its students and families, the Academy students are accustomed to learning about each other’s cultures, religions, beliefs, and traditions. This multicultural education is a normal part of everyday life at the Academy and the students grow and progress in an environment where diversity, acceptance, understanding, and celebrating difference is the norm.
College and Career Readiness
Harrisburg Academy has a college counselor who works with students and parents starting in grade 8 to prepare students for the college application process. The school’s IB Diploma courses are well recognized by colleges not only in the USA but also meet university matriculation requirements for over 160 countries around the world.
The students are taught throughout their whole careers at the Academy how to be inquirers. They know how to research and expect to have to discover things for themselves. They have experience writing about their research. They know how to cite evidence. They know how to transfer what they have learned in one area into another. The IB program includes teaching students ATLs (Approaches to Learning). In this program, students are genuinely taught self-management, research, social, and communication skills (interaction and language skills), and thinking skills (critical thinking, creative thinking, and transfer skills). That is why graduates regularly return to the Harrisburg Academy, reporting how well prepared they were compared to their peers from other schools in handling college work.
The Importance of Community Service
Community service is a large part of the curriculum at Harrisburg Academy. Students in elementary school begin learning concepts of how to better the world around them, even if that world is as small as their own classroom, to plant the seeds of becoming valuable members of their communities. In middle school, the student council has created the concept of “dollar denim days” which allows students, one Wednesday per month, to donate $1 to a designated charity organization and wear non-uniform clothing for that day. The middle school students also have group community service trips four times per year, rotating amongst three locations and providing help with planting community gardens, sorting donation supplies at warehouses, picking up litter, and other projects for local organizations. In high school, students are required to complete a Creativity, Activity, Service (CAS) project in which they identify a specific need in the community, fully design, and implement their own project to address that need.
This year, one senior designed a food drive that included incentives for every student in every grade level to donate specific food items that are most useful to families suffering from food insecurity and created fully bagged meal kits for donation to the Central Pennsylvania Food Bank. The drive produced a donation of over 3,000 items to the Food Bank, the largest donation the organization had received that year.
The Role of Technology in Improving Student Learning Outcomes
Harrisburg Academy uses technology in a variety of ways to enhance learning throughout the curriculum. Throughout Early Childhood and Lower School, Harrisburg Academy uses iPads and Chromebooks in the classrooms. Students in grades 6-12 bring their own devices to school enabling students and teachers access to a variety of tools and sources for use in their projects. In MYP Design, students use online 3D modeling software to create bobbleheads that are then printed on 3D printers; and create logos using digital tools for a business that they invent. Students also get to create a variety of digital assets including a video news show in the upper school.
Notable Achievements & Recognitions
Harrisburg Academy received its authorization to offer the International Baccalaureate Primary Years Programme in June 2021. The Academy had already been authorized to offer the Diploma Programme since 2007. It has received its authorization to offer the International Baccalaureate Middle Years Programme in April 2024. Together with the authorization to offer the Primary Years Programme and Diploma Programme, Harrisburg Academy is now recognized as a full IB Continuum School, one of only three continuum schools in Pennsylvania.
Furthermore, Harrisburg Academy has been named a top 3 private K-12 school in Central Pennsylvania by the Central Penn Business Journal every year for the last five consecutive years (2019-2023). It has been named the #1 private K-12 school in Central Pennsylvania in 2023. Its annual week-long STEM camp for students in K-6, Camp Invention, was named the Best Summer Camp in the Harrisburg Area in 2023 by SummerCamps.com. Likewise, ABC27 News named Harrisburg Academy its “Hometown Hero” for collecting and packaging over 3,000 diapers for donation to a local charity organization “Healthy Steps Diaper Bank,” assisting low-income families. ABC27 News also named Harrisburg Academy its “Hometown Hero” for collecting and donating over 3,000 food items for the Central Pennsylvania Food Bank, a regional non-profit assisting individuals experiencing food insecurity.
This is not all. Two Harrisburg Academy students received nominations for the Hershey Apollo Awards for their “outstanding achievement by local high school students in their musical and play productions.” Yamaha Music recognized Harrisburg Academy MYP/DP Music Teacher Michael Gamon for the “Creative Arts 40” most innovative, creative, and impactful music educators under the age of 40 who exemplify the highest level of music education in the United States.
In addition, the 20 students in the Class of 2023 were admitted to 70 different colleges and universities, both domestic and international. Comparing the last five years of matriculations at Harrisburg Academy, compared with the Top 150 colleges and universities on the Forbes 2023 list of “America’s Top Colleges,” Harrisburg Academy students were accepted to 26 of those top colleges during those five years. Harrisburg Academy Head of School Adrian Allan and Lindsay Bowman, Head of Middle and Upper Schools, accepted invitations to speak at the 2023 Principals’ International Symposium at the Beijing Institute of Technology (BIT).
Testimonials
Mason Richwine from the class of 2024 said, “The small student body at Harrisburg Academy has let me shine in a way I don’t think I could at another school. I’m not a star athlete, but I’ve had the opportunity to play three sports and start on every team. I’ve been the lead in a lot of the musicals we’ve done since middle school even though I’m not looking to major in theater in the future; it’s an interest of mine and because of our small school community, I’ve been able to get involved with and excel in so many different things because I didn’t have to worry about not making the cut for a team or an activity.”
Similarly, Melissa Swauger (parent of 6th grader Connor K.) shared, “The program at Harrisburg Academy has given our child the independence and agency to explore his passions and his scholastic abilities together because it incorporates students’ passions into learning. He doesn’t feel like he’s learning; he’s enjoying every lesson and he’s doing so well in middle school. The closeness to his teachers and the enjoyment he gets from the program inspires him to want to do better, so it drives him to keep setting higher goals. He’s a critical thinker and he can easily and comfortably have a mature conversation with an adult about his interests; it’s amazing to see your child accomplishing this so early in middle school. I’m excited to keep following his journey and the milestones coming through MYP, like the Personal Project.”
New and Exciting Projects
The Middle Years Programme Personal Project is an opportunity for 10th-grade students to pursue a passion project, creating their own learning and product goals. They document their journey, telling the story and what they learned along the way. This milestone allows students to apply critical thinking, research, and testing of hypotheses to a passion or interest that is personal to them, maximizing their engagement with and enjoyment of the learning process. Harrisburg Academy will hold an open exhibition, inviting other students, faculty, and families to attend and ask questions about the process.
Additionally, Harrisburg Academy’s College Counselor organized the first annual Harrisburg Academy Career Day this May. Over 30 area business leaders and professionals in various fields and industries attended and held panel discussions with Upper School students about their various professions, how they decided on the right career path, what college courses or activities helped shape their careers or provide the base needed to embark on a particular field, and the day-to-day experiences of working in their chosen professions.
For More Info: https://www.harrisburgacademy.org/