RG08_The Harker School (PS-12), 2013 - 2021
Scope and Contents
These records document the operation, organization, and institutional history of The Harker School, from 2013-2021. The original material in this collection is the product of several accessions from August 2002 - 2004. The collection is organized by Lower, Middle, and Upper Schools beginning with 1998, the first year that the school included a high school. Prior to 1998, the records are organized like those of the other record groups; by originating department, leader, student, parent, or alumnae. After 1998 and as the school grew, primary categorical series further sorted by division. The collection includes advertisements, newspaper clippings, ephemera, brochures, rosters, photos, memorabilia, yearbooks and media describing the activities of the leaders, students, parents and alumni during this period. There are no financial records, other than some pertaining to Development activities, and no executive meeting minutes.
Dates
- Majority of material found within 2013 - 2021
Conditions Governing Access
The collection is open for research.
Administrative History
This record group was created to reflect the opening of a new preschool program which began in fall of 2013. This was a transitional plan to make use of the newly purchased Union campus until it could be transitioned to a middle school. The preschool served ages 3 through (young, not eligible for kindergarten) 5-year-olds and opened with 48 students, and the capacity to grow up to 120 students. Kelly Espinosa, Summer Director, administered the program, with Andrea Hart as Director, from April 2013 to June 2016. Harker had previously operated a junior kindergarten program until the late 1990s when it was closed to make room on the Saratoga Campus for the new Upper School. In a July, 2012 press release, Head of School Chris Nikoloff said “A preschool [will] effectively allow Harker to provide another important enrollment window in the primary grades, extend its mission to an additional age group, and respond to a growing need for a quality preschool in Silicon Valley.”
The Middle School Campus continued to operate on the leased Blackford Ave. campus, under Cindy Ellis. Ellis retired at the end of the 2017-18, after forty years at Harker. Evan Barth succeeded her as MS Head, facilitating the summer 2021 move to the Union Campus once upgrades were made to specifically meet the needs of grades 6-8, including the addition of a classroom building and co-curricular spaces, as well as other major renovations to both indoor and outdoor spaces.
WASC visiting Committee visit in March, 2019. The School earned a 7-year re-accreditation after 2-year process of self study.
Raju and Bala Vegesna Foundation funds annual Teacher Excellence Program grants, beginning in 2015. Parents of Ramanand and Srivani (both 2021) fund seminars, study abroad programs and other educational opportunities to individual faculty and to groups, to enhance professional development in ways that have a direct and demonstrable impact on student learning.
Administrative changes: Brian Yager took over as Head of School in July 2017, following the departure of former Head Chris Nikoloff. Former Administrator and Board Chair, Diana Nichols, passed away in September 2018. Cindy Ellis retired at the end of 2017-18, after 40 years at Harker. Ellis was a house parent for the boarding program, followed by teaching algebra and pre-algebra at the middle school, also serving as chair to the K-8 math department. Ellis took over as Middle School Head in 2004.
A school-wide safety review was conducted by an external consulting firm in 2018, following a middle school faculty assault on the Blackford campus in 2017. This resulted in major tightening of campus security at all locations.
Harker Parent Education events began in the 2013-14 school year, inviting speakers from various fields to share their insights and expertise on parenting with Harker families and those of the greater community.
Extent
50 Linear Feet
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
Contains brochures, news clippings, student newspapers, newsletters, rosters, alumni information, advertisements, programs and flyers from The Harker School as it operated a Preschool through grade 12 program on four campuses from 2013 through 2021. This record group was created to reflect the purchase of the 4525 Union Avenue campus, originally for a future lower school, achieving a Strategic Plan objective to own all properties on which the School operates. A three-year preschool program was opened on the Union campus in 2013, and operated on that campus through 2020.
In May 2018, Head Brian Yager announced “Our original plan was to move the lower school to our Union Avenue campus when the Blackford lease expired, and then move our middle school to the lower school campus. However, as the benefits of moving just one school rather than two became clear, including significantly reducing the stress on our students and faculty and reducing the costs of campus improvements, we decided to move the middle school instead.” It was further announced at that time that the preschool program would be phased out. Only new transitional kindergarten (TK) students continued to be admitted, and the TK program operated at the middle school in the 2020-2021 school year while the Union campus was readied for the middle school. The preschool program was reduced to a single year TK program beginning with the 2021-22 school year, made possible after the purchase of the 888 Boynton Avenue property in San Jose in summer 2021.
The middle school program opened at the Union Avenue campus in Fall of 2021.
Acquisitions Information
These records were accumulated by The Harker School between 2013-2021.
The original materials were accumulated by various offices and stored informally within the school prior to 2002. They were accessioned by the Archives in August 2003, and materials continued to be accessioned into the Archives periodically thereafter. There is no indication of a records management program during or since the time these records were created.
The original collection was processed by Susan Smith, Harker Archivist, and Enid Davis, Harker Library Director. The Harker History Committee was formed in August of 2001, initially at the request of the Administration, to find historical materials to help promote and market the school, research the lives and careers of the founders of the predecessor schools, and to organize and preserve aging photographs. Original History Committee members include Enid Davis, Library Director, Pam Dickinson, Director of Communications, Terry Walsh, Alumni Director, and Chris Darren, Yearbook and Photography coordinator. Sue Smith was an ad-hoc member. The project grew into the development of the Archives.
Updated Acquisitions (April 2009)Former Harker employee and board of trustees member, Phyllis Carley kept all of the files related to the Board of Trustees and her personal items related to the schools in her home. She asked Harker employee and History Committee member Terry Walsh to move the items to Harker upon her death. Mrs. Carley passed away in April 2009 and Terry Walsh and Harker employees Kelly Espinosa and Carol Sosnowski sorted and boxed up all items related to Harker or its predecessor schools at her home. The boxes with Board of Trustees papers were moved to a secured area of the school for Diana Nichols, who passed away in 2018. The rest of the boxes were moved to archives for processing.
Updated Acquisitions (June 2009)In June 2009, during construction, 3 boxes of archival materials were found in the hallway behind the Saratoga campus gym. These materials were likely present when the 2001 items were accessioned, but were only recently transferred to the Archives. These boxes contained various items from Miss Harker’s School, Harker Day School, PAMA and financial records and correspondence of Major Donald Nichols.
Updated Acquisitions (March 2010)School related items were received from Dale Johnson, grandson of former Harker employee and trustee, Phyllis Carley, after her death. As board secretary, she held files related to the Board of Trustees and personal school mementos in her home. Some items were accessioned to the Archives in 2009 – 2010 and some items remain with the Administration.
Updated Acquisitions (October 2010)Triona Coyne, assistant to Head of School sent a fire proof file cabinet filled with files to archives. The files were moved to a standard file cabinet in the archives processing office and the fireproof file was moved to Archives Room 7. The fireproof file cabinet stores our oldest items in archives. The files from this cabinet contain building & facilities files that include site plans, notes, bids, blueprints, samples, personal notes and various other documents for campus remodels and construction including on the Saratoga campus: KDG building, Dorm, Dobbins & Shah Halls, Portable classrooms and on the Bucknall Campus.
Updated Acquisitions (Spring 2011)Administrative files from current board member and former Harker administrator, Diana Nichols, were sent to archives on several different dates in the spring of 2011. These files had been stored in a special storage room which was being cleared out for a remodel. Chris Doll (Nichols’ admin assistant) and Nichols sorted through the files to determine what files could be moved to the Archives. The files contained various administrative documents from both Howard and Diana Nichols, programs, newsletters, yearbooks, memorabilia and other items that spanned the years of Harker Academy to present. The files were in no particular order. The files seemed to contain many items that may have been stored with the Mrs. Carley files that were secured by Diana Nichols in April 2009.
Updated Acquisitions (June 2012)Upon her retirement, Ruth Tebo, Harker admissions assistant, sent several boxes to the Archives. The boxes contained employee & student rosters, calendars, beginning of the year paperwork, admissions materials, and many other annual documents. In addition, Tebo compiled files from the office of Chris Doll, who worked at Harker for 29 years, part of that time as administrative assistant to DIana Nchols. These files contained photos, memorabilia, personnel handbooks, newsletters, annual documents and more that spanned the years from about 1980 to 2012.
Updated Acquisitions (September 2013)Upon her retirement, P.E. teacher and former P.E. Dept. Chair, Deb Shaw contributed her personal lesson plans, department meeting agenda, Spirit Week Guide, P.E. Teachers Handbook, P.E. & Athletics Handbook and Health Education curriculum. Shaw worked at Harker from September 1984 to June 1995 and from May 2010 to June 2013.
Updated Acquisitions (February 2018)Several boxes were left in the Archives Office from the Office of Communications from 2014-2017. The boxes contained yearbooks, graduation programs and DVDs, admissions materials, the Harker Quarterly 2013-2016, awards from alumni Emma Hawley (2004), a Stanford Undergraduate Research Journal from alumni Jenny Chen (2013), various programs from the performing arts department and letters of correspondence from faculty and staff.
Updated Acquisitions (May 2019)Upon Diana Nichols’ death in September of 2018, the records in her office were boxed up by Sue Smith, Library Director/Archivist, and moved to the Archives. These included her papers, and those of her late husband Howard Nichols, which were moved to her office after his death in December 2009. The files contain items that span the years from the 1950’s (Harker Day School and PAMA) 2018. Howard Nichols’ files were accessioned to his “Leader” folders in previous Record Groups based on the date created.
- Title
- RG08_The Harker School (PS-12)
- Subtitle
- The Harker School (PS-12), 2013-2021
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- These records were created by The Harker School.
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Revision Statements
- 2002.12: Processed by: Susan Smith, Archivist-Intern, San Jose State University
- 2022.10: Processed by: Susan Smith, Archivist
Repository Details
Part of the The Harker School Archives Repository