Welcome
Welcome to Harbor Country Day School!
HCDS is the quintessential country day school, where learning and growing involves work and play in our idyllic, historical setting at the Head of the Harbor. The smiles on the following web pages, and our motto, Sine labore nihil, which translates into nothing without work, attests to this statement. The Harbor extended school family, building friendships, and the future of our students are our priorities. We are able to connect with students and their family daily due to the size of our School; only one of Harbor’s unique strengths. You will glean from the web site that Harbor Country Day School is a vibrant, intellectual community with a strong value system. Our talented faculty and students love teaching and learning at Harbor Country Day, where teachers know their students exceptionally well, expectations are clear, and confident, inquisitive learners thrive. Relating to our students and their families well allows us to seize the teachable moments throughout the day and utilize our model of differentiated teaching and learning adeptly.
As educators, we know that confidence, identifying and developing strengths and self-discipline lead to achievement, and we take pride in teaching educational fundamentals at developmentally appropriate ages through an integrated, innovative and challenging curriculum. HCDS’s mission is to cherish childhood, cultivate wonder and inspire confident learners and leaders. Our School is mission-driven, which means that every decision we make at Harbor is based upon our mission; the what, why and how we offer a broad spectrum of opportunities for Harbor students that is concurrently traditional and contemporary. Instruction is driven by continuous assessment of students, and programs. At Harbor, we are passionate about educating the whole child to create the overall wellness of mind, body and spirit. We believe that children are innately creative thinkers and learn best by doing; thus, experiential learning takes place in and out of the classroom, including curriculum related field trips and community service. Through small classes, innovative teaching styles, mentoring and advising programs, and our differentiated teaching and learning program, we can teach to every child at Harbor while supporting earnest effort, delivering academic excellence and inspiring our students to become good citizens of their community who value and respect one another. Our civility mantra is simple: be respectful, be kind. We work toward building the self-confidence in our students that is necessary for self-expression through speech, writing, the arts, social interaction and physical activity. Harbor encourages every student to explore, discover and develop their intelligence, along with the abilities they bring to our community that are consistent with their potential. Our web site reflects that we value individual and community team work, as well as character development, to promote personal and academic growth that distinguishes our students as they prepare for success beyond Harbor. By the time a student graduates from Harbor, they will have a solid foundation in reading, writing, speaking, problem solving, creative thinking, technology and moral development, with an emphasis on respect and responsibility, that will pave the way for increased critical, lateral and creative thinking, deductive reasoning, quantitative analysis, and the ability to become actively-engaged future citizens and leaders in a global world.
While this web site can give you specific information, it cannot fully capture the history and the spirit of Harbor Country Day. We invite you to visit us at Tulip Knoll, the estate so named by Alice Throckmorton McLean, the late philanthropist and founder of the American Voluntary Services, whose efforts would inspire any educational community. You will see this beautiful campus for yourself, and feel the happy, productive pulse of daily interaction all the while discovering more about our comprehensive, child-centered program where children develop a love of learning. You will discover why families choose Harbor.
I look forward to welcoming you to campus!
James J. Young III
Head of School
