The Harbour School

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History

When we started twelve years ago, we were leading a paradigm shift in the field of education. Could we develop a school that focuses on empowering the whole child, that respects every student as an individual with his/her learning style, likes and dislikes, interests, background, culture and motivations?A school that uses a personal approach to learning so we really get to know each child, that allows and encourages children to be creative and imaginative and be their amazing selves and have teachers who are able to adapt their methods to deliver curriculum to different types of learners? Most importantly, could we create a school in which children thrived and still learned just as much as - or more than - those who sat glumly and dutifully in desks all day, a school where children were encouraged to enjoy their childhood while also becoming kind, resilient and knowledgeable problem-solvers?

Our Journey

We had three teachers and nine students that December. Our students were happy and making progress, our parents were happy, word of mouth grew and more students kept coming. In the following school year, we increased to 30 students and by 2012 we had 103 students. We received Western Association of School and Colleges Accreditation in 2013, and were awarded by the Hong Kong government’s education bureau our new campus at The Grove in 2015.  There have been awards for contests such as 21st Century School of the Year, Roots and Shoots, Technovation Challenge, Odyssey of the Mind, The Harvard Book Prize Essay, and the Hong Kong Youth Science and Technology Innovation Contest, and we have expanded from Pre-K through High School. We’ve produced Renaissance Faires and Global Issues Conferences and social action rock videos.  But the most important milestones have been much less public. There was the first time a child cried at having to go home from school because she was sick, and the time a child slept in his clothes after a vacation because he didn’t want to be late to school. There was the first time a very shy child spoke on stage, and the time a very gifted mathematician finished a class that was five years advanced. There was the time that three girls supported a fourth to do something really scary by producing an incredibly beautiful and skilled song. There were many times when parents asked us what was in the magic sauce that had created a happy and talkative child at the dinner table. 
 

The THS Model 

THS is a model for providing a 21st-century education for typical, advanced and gifted children while also providing support to students with areas of weakness.  We have created an environment that provides a comprehensive, integrated education building on a strong foundation of core skills to develop a global cultural literacy in science, history, technology, and the arts in an atmosphere of kindness, flexibility, respect, and individualism. Our first twelve years have shown that a community of learning can be exciting, fun, rigorous, compelling and creative. In addition to a structured approach to math, reading, and writing, we use an experiential approach in areas such as science, history and the arts. Students at THS are active, learning many things through experimentation, project work, discussion or action. They have built and monitored coral reefs, started companies, imported coffee, designed and built a school in Africa, created computer games and much more. Our students learn through authentic production and solving real problems.  

 

The school is supervised by three governing bodies:

Board of Directors

The Board of Directors sets and supports the mission and vision of the school; hires and supports executive staff; ensures legal and responsible management practices are in place; and acts as a final oversight body in matters relating to child protection and professional misconduct. 

Executive Committee

The Executive Committee turns the board's vision into a reality by designing the school program and creating strategic and operational plans to support the program. The Executive Committee decides who will manage the many divisions of the school program. The Executive Committee is composed of our Head of School, Primary and High School Principals, Managing Director, and the Director of The Children’s Institute (our sister organization).

Senior Management Team

The Senior Management Team is composed of the academic and professional heads of each THS division. In consultation with the Executive Committee, the Senior Management Team manages the day-to-day operations of every part of THS.
 

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