Some interesting data

What can we learn from this amazing building we inhabit, and what is it trying to tell us? Thanks to last year’s Living Building class and our Engineer in Residence, Richard Lange, we have an abundance of sensors all around the Commons constantly reporting back data to our Commons Control...

New things popping up all over!

This fall, new ideas, equipment and plants are popping up all over the Commons and Beckerman! The first bit of news is about the sprouting lettuce plants that have been nurtured in the Greenhouse by the Farm and Community class and will soon be planted in the Harley Organic Micro-farm....

Introducing our Leaders In Residence

We are so excited to begin this 2014-15 school year IN the Commons! As part of the continuing evolution of the building as our teacher, we are delighted to add two capable and vivacious women to Harley in support of the programs and activities in the Commons. They are our...

Horizons Stepping in the BCCE

As part of their afternoon expeditions, some 5th Grade Horizons students worked with Ja’Daiza Johnson (Harley ’07) on step routines. This especially rainy summer called for some creative use of spaces, and the BCCE proved to be the perfect spot for this athletic and energetic activity. The acoustics of the...

Horizons in the Commons

The middle school students attending our Horizons at Harley program this summer are given a variety of expeditions to pursue. These two-week-long courses offer them the change to really dig into some hands-on learning and then take trips around the Rochester area which support the material learned in the classes....

Sustainable and innovative businesses

On Friday, June 27th, the BCCE was a hot spot for entrepreneurs with their new sustainable business start-ups. Hosted by Arunas Chesonis and Cranberry Capital, CEOs and representatives from a variety of technologically-innovative companies shared their early work and plans for market launch for their products. The morning began with...

Productive senior internship

New Benches for the LS Playground The two seniors who were serving their internship with Chris Hartman these past three weeks worked hard to build some much-needed outdoor furniture. Matt Andrews and Malcolm Reick proudly moved two benches to the Lower School playground! After they tested out a few models,...

Common Ground – 4th Grade Technology

Even though this excellent design-thinking project wasn’t completed in the Commons, it fully and entirely embraces many of the goals we have for how the students will collaborate, think outside the box, prototype/test/re-built/re-test, and offer feedback on each others’ work. With just enough guidance from Jim Tiffin to get started,...

Vertical hydroponics full-scale update

Houston, we have lettuce…. Remember the hydroponic prototypes the 7th grade students made a while ago? Well, they voted on the designs that proved the most successful in terms of plant growth and they created full-sized working models. These vertical models are suspended from the balcony to the floor in...

Jammin’ at the Commons-IfCM

At long last, the much-anticipated reschedule of the Jammin’ at the Commons interactive community concert (which was originally planned for March, but was cancelled due to monster snow) happened in the Briggs Center for Civic Engagement on Sunday, May 18th. The musicians originally involved in the project came from Harley,...