RG05_Harker Academy, 1972-1992

Harker Academy emerged as the result of the merger of the Harker Day School and the Palo Alto Military Academy when the schools moved to the Saratoga Avenue campus in San Jose in 1972. The Academy was set up as a non-profit organization in April 1973, under the management of the Harker/Academy Foundation, the successor to Palo Alto Private Schools, Inc., which held the Palo Alto schools. The 16-acre San Jose facility was formerly operated as Mother Butler High School, built ca. 1950. The facilities were larger and more modern than the five acres that held the Harker Day School and the Palo Alto Military Academy. Howard Nichols was Headmaster, and Alice Williams, formerly principal of the Harker Day School, became principal at Harker Academy. As Director of Development, Donald Nichols assumed responsibility for generating non-tuition funds for the school.

The move presented many challenges, the first of which was to keep the respective summer school programs operating at the Palo Alto Schools while simultaneously preparing to open the regular academic year on the new campus in San Jose. Another challenge involved converting the convent to a student dorm, and building additional housing for borders. Perhaps the biggest challenge was to retain the day student population, many of whom were Palo Alto residents, as the school moved sixteen miles south. In the early years following the move, the school ran buses from several stops in Palo Alto to the San Jose campus each day. Eventually, the students came from all over the South Bay.

One of the first additions was the Brooks Auditorium/Gymnasium, dedicated on October 20, 1974, built with a $125, 000 gift from Mr. and Mrs. John Brooks, whose sons were Harker students. The Nichols’ also felt that the school needed a swimming pool and recreational facilities. Fundraising efforts of the Mothers’ and Fathers’ Clubs over several years resulted in the new facility, which was dedicated amidst much fanfare, on May 8, 1976.

In Fall 1977 at the annual Open House for parents of current students, Howard Nichols announced “a new era” for Harker.” Nichols noted that the school was now at optimum capacity, and that future planning would be key to the school’s long-term survival. Keeping class sizes small, tuition costs down, and improving academic programs were cited as the three main goals for the new era. After the move to San Jose, the school remained a K-9 program through 1978-79, after which the 9th grade was eliminated. Though the Academy was no longer a military school, an optional cadet program was available to upper grade boys and girls. The program emphasized character, discipline, and leadership over any real military training. Captain Torcellini, P.A.M.A. Commandant, moved with the school to San Jose to lead the cadet program, and retired in 1977. He was succeeded by Robert Martin until the cadet program ended in spring of 1979. In 1979, after Alice Williams retired, the school administration expanded to meet the needs of the students. Peggy Gray became Principal, after one year as Assistant Principal, and Diana Olson became Assistant Principal. In 1988, Diana Olson became Principal and Margaret Conway was Assistant Principal. The programs were later split into the Lower and Upper schools, with Diana Olson as principal of the Upper School (grades 6-8), eventually referred to as the Middle School. Olson later became Diana Nichols, and went on to become Head of The Harker School.

There was also a boarding program, initially under Captain Torcellini’s leadership, on the San Jose campus for grades K-9. Borders lived in the partially renovated convent building, and girls were added to the program beginning in the summer of 1973. Jeff Haugaard directed the program 1976-81, followed by Max Freitas (1983-1895), Gary Saso (1985-1987), and Joe Rosenthal (1988-1992). The program was limited to grades 3-8 in the late seventies. The English as a Second Language (ESL) program was established in the 1980’s to prepare foreign boarders in grades 5-8 to eventually attend secondary schools in the U.S. Students began with only math and P.E., transitioning to the regular Harker curriculum within two years. The program attracted borders from Asia, the Middle East, and Mexico, with a peak enrollment of approximately 120 in the late 1970’s.

Harker Academy joined the California Association of Independent Schools in 1988. It continued to develop a premier academic program, while utilizing its expertise in after-school programming from the Boarding Program to attract two-career families who preferred a full day program for their children. The upper and lower schools had their own administrators, and course offerings expanded, with an increasing emphasis on technology. Advertisements in the 1980’s depict Harker as “Silicon Valley’s School.” The Summer Camp continued in the 1980’s as a six-week program of “academic enrichment, recreation, and sports.” The program served students from 4-14, and boarding was available for 7-14 year-olds. An ESL summer program for foreign students was also available.

In 1992, the name of the school was changed to The Harker School, to shed the last reference to its history as a military academy.