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[quote=Anonymous]I have never posted before, but saw this thread and read the negative comments from one poster (I've seen that poster on another thread about Harbor where he or she also bashed the school) and had to chime in.

My children have had a wonderful experience at Harbor.  The environment is warm and nurturing, learning is creative and fun, and we love the teachers.  (I completely disagree with the poster who called the teachers "mediocre.")  The HOS is engaging and dynamic, and is current on all the research on early childhood education, which is the reason we have sent our children to a school that focuses on the preschool to 2nd grade years.  Have you ever seen Spiral Night?  That is Harbor at its finest.  (Every year, the entire school studies one topic -- this year it was the human body -- and each grade tackles it at its level and does numerous projects around the topic.  One night in April, all of the classes show off the projects they have been working on.  The creativity and work of the teachers and kids is very impressive, and the kids love diving deeply into the Spiral Night topics.)

In terms of exmissions and the comparison to Primary Day, Primary Day is [u]known[/u] as a feeder to Holton and Landon.  So, it is naturally self-selecting.  I also agree with a previous poster's comment that Harbor is smaller and also sends kids to a variety of schools -- public and private.  So, using exmissions to Holton and Landon as a basis for claiming that Primary Day is superior is absurd.  (Not to mention the fact that some couldn't care less about sending their kids to Holton or Landon, and so wouldn't choose a school on that basis.)  Moreover, Primary Day may be a great fit for some, but certainly not for all.  Friends have sent their kids to Primary Day, and they have described their kids as "color within the lines" kids, so it suited their children.  But, one friend with an off-the-charts bright and creative kid HATED Primary Day for her son and pulled him.  My children are not "color within the lines" kids, and I wanted an environment that sparked creativity and inquisitiveness.  I have found it at Harbor.  Those who are not happy there, for whatever reason, should leave and find a better fit.

For the poster who wanted to know how it went with the administration to pull a child prior to 2nd grade, my experience has been that while they would love children to stay through 2nd and extol the benefits of a preschool to 2nd grade model, they understand that for various reasons, people will and do pull their child earlier and they certainly don't hold it against them.[/quote]

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