Dear Families and Friends,

Last Wednesday, our students once again commemorated Charter Day, the day in April 1809 when the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania approved an appeal by leaders of Harrisburg Academy to incorporate a school in the "borough" of Harrisburg.  Although this year's celebration of Charter Day was more low-keyed and didn’t include a time capsule as it did in 2010, it was nonetheless spirited.

Haven’t seen our Charter?  We are fortunate to have a handsome copy of the Academy's 1809 Charter.  The Taliaferro family presented it to our school community three years ago during our Triple Anniversary.  If you haven't seen it, I encourage you to do so.  It hangs in the hallway right off the lobby that leads to the Claire Reynolds Joyce Lower School Library.  

One element of Charter Day that shouldn't be lost in the midst of the blue and gold “ spiritwear" or the popular 19th-century lunch menu is the enduring commitment of Harrisburg Academy to the study of the liberal arts.  For over 203 years, Harrisburg Academy has offered a course of study that includes literature, history, science, music, visual arts, mathematics and languages.  And the same will be true in the future because our commitment to the study of the liberal arts is at the heart of the Academy's mission -- "Harrisburg Academy offers an academically challenging and globally minded liberal arts education ....." 

As other schools in the greater Harrisburg region consider how best to respond to fiscal constraints, early indications are that at least some of them will diminish their liberal arts curricula.  Music and art classes for elementary school children may be eliminated and so may opportunities to learn from school librarians and access school libraries on a regular basis.  For middle and high school students, opportunities to study modern languages might be scaled back, as might other important courses of study such as environmental science . 

Now is not the time to diminish the study of liberal arts in favor of increased concentration on vocational, technical and pre-professional courses of study.  Now is the time to foster learning that will expand students' creativity and inventiveness, and study of the liberal arts will achieve that goal. 

As Daniel Pink points out in his highly-acclaimed book, A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers will Rule the Future, our nation's ability to thrive in the challenging economic times of the 21st century depends on talents that are fostered by opportunities to learn how to maximize the creativity, inventiveness and even empathy of our students.  These qualities are right-brain attributes and certainly not the kind of left-brain ones, such as linear thinking, we normally believe are vital for success in today's, let alone tomorrow's, world.  For Pink, tomorrow's leaders will indeed be the "right-brainers."

This is just one reason why independent schools throughout the United States such as Harrisburg Academy are committing more and not less resources to strengthening their liberal arts courses of study.  Schools of the future will create ample opportunities in liberal arts curricula for students to master 21st century essential learning competencies.

There is no doubt the Academy's 1809 Charter has significance far beyond what our Commonwealth's legislature approved more than 200 years ago – the Academy's unwavering and enduring commitment to the study of the liberal arts.  At the Academy, students learn under the mentorship of teachers, who provide thoughtful oversight and individual attention, and through this, teaching and learning of the liberal arts thrives at the Academy.  

Our school community has changed significantly since 1809, but thankfully  its focus remains on the study of the liberal arts.  It's just one more reason why today Harrisburg Academy is proud to be "something more and something different." 

Best wishes,

Jim