Harpeth Hall Admission Viewbook 2022-2023

Where

Matter

You want a school that is spirited and dynamic, where it is cool to be smart.

You love teachers who challenge you to think critically through fun and engaging assignments.

You crave a community that wants to know you and help you discover your authentic self.

You try new things — even if you make mistakes — because we all learn best that way.

You believe brave girls and purposeful women can change the world.

Harpeth Hall is the place for you because . . .

10 Special Things About Honeybear Nation

Our Campbell Plaid

Our distinct uniform connects us to each other. United in plaid, we embrace our individuality.

Your Advisor

You are paired with a faculty advisor who is your advocate and mentor. Your advisory group is made up of eight to ten students in your grade who gather often to share experiences, ask questions, and celebrate each other.

Our Spirit Clubs

You will be placed in one of four spirit clubs — Angkor, Ariston, Eccowasin, or Triad. The intramural clubs date back almost 100 years and build connections across classes. Wearing your club color and waving your club flag, you will compete for the annual trophy by earning points through quiz bowl, song competitions, and other activities.

The Dedicated Faculty

Our teachers cheer for you in the classroom, on the stage, and on the courts. They encourage your endeavors and champion your growth. They show up early and stay late to help you shine.

The Innovative Learning

Our teachers create learning experiences that are hands-on and imaginative. From power tools to telescopes, students learn through doing. Sometimes, girls dress in togas on the library steps as if they were orators in ancient Rome; other times, students transform their classroom into a giant working cell, breaking through the membrane to the nucleus to experience biology firsthand. In the new Bullard Bright IDEA Lab, girls record podcasts, build robots, and come together to collaborate and create in so many inventive ways.

The Traditions That Ground Us and Push Us Forward

Every May since the 1920s, Harpeth Hall girls carry on the tradition of Step Singing. Our juniors and

seniors gather together to sing on the steps of the Ann Scott Carell Library. Here, seniors pass on leadership of the school as the juniors pledge to transmit Harpeth Hall better, greater, and more beautiful than it was transmitted to them.

The Senior House

Our Senior House is a special place where girls get to be girls. Each year, the seniors choose a theme and decorate the Senior House. They have spontaneous dance parties on the patio, sign the wall when they make their college selection, and study in quieter moments.

Crossing the Lawn

Every spring, our eighth grade advisors gather with their students on Souby Lawn where they recognize each girls’ accomplishments and contributions to our community. With each remark, our eighth grade students travel step by step

across the lawn, symbolizing their passage from middle to upper school. The girls know they will carry the support of their middle school teachers as they begin their future in the upper school.

Our Story

From Ward Seminary for Young Ladies to WardBelmont School and now to Harpeth Hall, our story has always been about girls. For 157 years, we’ve held true to the bold idea that girls deserve an excellent education full of possibilities and purpose. Today, the Harpeth Hall campus comprises nearly 44 acres with an enrollment of more than 700 students.

Our Enduring Friendships

With over 6,000 Honeybears across the nation and around the globe, Harpeth Hall graduates look out for one another. Our alumnae support each other through internships, career advice, and lifelong friendships. Harpeth Hall women are everywhere.

You Can Expect

You will join a diverse community.

Harpeth Hall girls represent a variety of states, countries, backgrounds, and experiences. There are friends waiting for you here.

You will thrive in an inclusive environment. Harpeth Hall embraces differences and champions the uniqueness that each girl brings to the classroom. We are a school that honors individuality and raises every student’s voice.

You will expand your knowledge.

Our dynamic faculty designs rigorous, intriguing, and innovative curriculum that engage students’ talents and interests. Harpeth Hall teachers are experts in their fields and passionate about what they do. They care deeply about you!

You will master essential life skills.

In addition to our strong academics, you will gain knowledge of important skills, including collaboration, creativity, and communication.

You will be inspired.

The award-winning artists, authors, scientists, global experts, entrepreneurs, and business leaders who visit our campus will encourage you to imagine your brightest future.

You will find your place. Here you can burst into giggles or quietly read a good book. Your friends will know you, accept you, and push you to be your best self.

You will participate in all you can imagine. From sports to dance, student government to robotics, and musical productions to community service projects, there are so many ways for you to discover new avenues and find new interests.

You will surprise yourself.

Every day at Harpeth Hall is an opportunity. With the support of faculty and friends, what were once ambitions become accomplishments.

You will laugh.

In the company of other girls, you will be valued for being your authentic self and will find joy in the unexpected. Sharing in the fun of cartwheels on the lawn or an explosive science experiment will fill your days with memorable moments.

Teachers Ready to Inspire You

MARQUIS CHAPPELL • Director of Equity and Inclusion and Upper School English Teacher

Fable to fiction: The girls’ favorite assignment in freshman English is writing a flash fiction piece based on a personal neighborhood anecdote (i.e. “the forbidden house down the road,” “the noisy neighbor who never sleeps,” “the house three doors down wherein people always enter but never leave”). They particularly enjoy how the assignment challenges them to fuse childhood fables, the idea of home, and artful writing to create an original work.

My home: I spent the majority of my childhood in Chattanooga where I enjoyed the burgeoning arts scene. Between Chattanooga Theatre Centre, Ballet Tennessee, The Center for Creative Arts, and taking years of private piano and violin lessons, I was perpetually surrounded by innovative artists who profoundly and expressively made sense of the world. Chattanooga is also where my maternal grandmother lived, making the city feel like home.

Favorite place in Nashville: Unequivocally Radnor Lake State Park. As a nature enthusiast, the flora and fauna lining the trails as well as the lake’s stillness make me feel whole.

AMY EMERSON • Middle School Science Teacher and Caretaker of the Stephanie Balmer Garden for Student Engagement

Moving to Mars: One of our favorite projects in 5th grade science is the Mars Colony project, which rounds out our yearlong study of Earth’s systems. Having learned about the life-sustaining systems on our planet, students then must apply what they know to design and build a habitat for humans to live on Mars. In addition to engineering and technology, students must consider the psychological needs of the inhabitants and include ideas to help them stay happy and productive. Students collaborate in small groups, and then each class builds one colony.

My home: As one of six energetic children growing up in Dallas, Texas, I would often hear my mom say: “I think you need to be outside for a while…” and this was my earliest motivation to be independent and to explore the outdoors by foot and by bike.

Favorite place in Nashville: Percy Warner Park is one of my favorite places in Nashville. It is many things to me: a place to be energetic, a place to relax, and a place to wonder. The red trail is my most-frequented path, and I love watching the change of seasons. I especially love early spring when the native woodland plants are blooming.

BEN FULWIDER • Upper School Social Sciences Teacher and Department Chair

Negotiation simulation: When studying the end of World War I, I ask my students to engage in a simulation where they try to negotiate a more successful outcome than the Treaty of Versailles which led to another world war just two decades later. Not only do they come to appreciate the difficulty of the task, but they also have a lot of fun doing it.

My home: I grew up in a suburb of New York City, and my favorite thing about it was being a 20-minute train ride from the greatest city in the world. It is only since I’ve grown up and moved away that I appreciate the vast cultural and human resources of places like the New York City area.

Favorite place in Nashville: My favorite places in Nashville are the Percy and Edwin Warner parks. Whenever I need to recharge I bike, run, or hike the trails or the famous 11.2-mile road loop. It is the most wonderful urban park space I have ever seen, and it’s right here where I live!

MICHELE O’BRIEN

• Middle School History Teacher

Revolutionary rebel: Students experience the revolutionary shift from pre-industrial artisan life to life as a laborer on an assembly line in our hat-making activity. Later in the year, seventh grade students adopt the rebellious persona of a real 19th-century Abolitionist and debate the role of John Brown in their movement. Was he a righteous asset or a liability?

My home: A town about 40 miles west of Chicago called Batavia, home of the particle physics and accelerator laboratory Fermilab.

Favorite place in Nashville: Equal parts Grimey’s Record Shop and Radnor Lake State Park.

SAMANTHA O’CONNOR • Upper School Science Teacher

Chemical concepts: My favorite aspect of teaching chemistry is watching how it comes to life during hands-on labs and watching how students engineer solutions to real-world problems. In chemistry, we see electrons change the color of fire, we use computational models and code to interpret systems with temperature, pressure, and volume, and we use the concepts of chemical bonding to invent a product that would help clean up an oil spill. For me, the highlight of the year is when chemistry and history overlap in our study of nuclear chemistry and radioactive atoms!

My home: I am from a tiny, map-dot town in the middle of the midwestern cornfields, Tremont, Illinois. With a population slightly over 2,000 people, everyone knew everyone which helped to create an extremely kind and supportive community. My town is known for having the best turkey sandwiches and strawberry shortcake at the annual Tremont Turkey Festival!

Favorite place in Nashville: Hands down, getting hand-made ice cream from Sip Café in East Nashville and going for a walk at Cornelia Fort Airpark!

JIM ROMERO • Director of Strength & Conditioning and Head Track & Field Coach

The strength of self: In my class, the girls set fitness goals and are provided a plan. They are challenged weekly to bring a great attitude, develop great technique, provide great effort, and push themselves outside their comfort zone. At the end of the semester, the fitness test provides the girls with a great sense of accomplishment and realization that they are mentally and physically STRONG young ladies.

My home: I am originally from Southern California. What makes where I grew up special is my home church, Grace Community Church.

Favorite place in Nashville: At home with my wife and seven children enjoying time together as a family.

JENNIFER WEBSTER • Upper School Math and Computer Science Teacher

Smart stats: Students in honors precalculus take the lead on teaching one another statistical concepts. Using a critical mind, the girls learn to be informed consumers of media-reported statistics and analyze big data.

My home: Hermitage, Tennessee. Nestled between Old Hickory and Percy Priest lakes on the eastern edge of Davidson County, Hermitage boasts beautiful greenways, the home of President Andrew Jackson, and the delicious Hermitage Steakhouse.

Favorite place in Nashville: My favorite place to be is on the back porch of my house in Gladeville (Mt. Juliet). The Opryland area is also a favorite of mine, because many of my fondest childhood memories come from summers spent at the Opryland theme park and family games of frisbee golf at Two Rivers Park.

VANESA WENZ • Middle School Spanish Teacher

Music matters: My students create an original music video in which they teach their classmates a particular Spanish grammar structure (the past tense or ser/estar). They select two songs from a prepared list and write, sing, and act out new lyrics.

My home: Buenos Aires, Argentina, the third biggest city in Latin America. Although I had a four-hour-long commute to go to college, I am happy that I had that experience since it taught me the value of hard work.

Favorite place in Nashville: I love the Warner Parks! It gives me enormous pleasure to have a piece of wilderness and calmness in the middle of the city. I especially enjoy snake and bird watching!

7 Leadership Skills You Will Learn at Harpeth Hall

Speak so others listen and listen thoughtfully

From a fifth grade classroom presentation about your summer reading to a senior speech given in front of the entire school community, you will be ready to face any size audience and let your voice be heard. Equally important, you will listen to learn. In conversation with both classmates and teachers, you will engage in a vibrant intellectual environment that values diversity of thought and difference of opinion.

Write with force and precision

From middle school research papers to upper school literary analysis and persuasive essays, you will have the ability to tackle any writing assignment.

Solve problems

Whether you are building submarine prototypes in your eighth grade science class, redesigning the soda can in freshman algebra class, or developing multimedia public service projects on infectious diseases in upper school biology, you will develop the skills needed to gather information, identify barriers, explore solutions, and make smart decisions.

Act when you see a need

Living honorably is more than a phrase in our mission statement, it is the foundation for how our students learn and grow at Harpeth Hall. Our community is stronger when we lift each other up. Through our Public Purpose program, Act Now student group, and curricular offerings such as Winterim academic travel, Harpeth Hall girls transfer their learning to action on campus, locally, nationally, and globally.

Identify when to lead and when to follow You will have the confidence to lead in your own way, because you will learn that every individual in a community has the responsibility to shape the community for the better.

Embrace diversity and uphold inclusion You will be part of a school community that fosters academic curiosity, empowers diverse voices, and encourages experiences that prepare girls to challenge themselves as students and as individuals in the broader world. Every girl is developed and celebrated here.

Be confident in who you are At Harpeth Hall, you can bring your whole self to school every day. In every endeavor, you will be able to make the hard right choice over the easy wrong one. Confidence and capability will define your success.

Who Are Changing the World

SABIN NETTLES

• Class of 2009

Boston College, B.S. Psychology Washington University, Ph.D. Neuroscience St. Louis, Missouri

Sabin embraces initiatives that promote student development, diversity, and inclusion in STEM fields. She is co-director of a neuroscience outreach program at Washington University, Brain Discovery, which pairs elementary school students in the St. Louis area with university neuroscientists. This program teaches students about the brain and nervous system by having the students engage in hands-on experiments and activities while learning about the scientific process and what it means to be a scientist.

Sabin’s mentors at Harpeth Hall and beyond validated her passion for science. Her goal is to do the same for the next generation STEM stars.

MARKELL LEWIS MILLER

• Class of 1999

Director of Community Food Programs, Food Gatherers, Ann Arbor, Michigan

Stanford University, B.S.E. Product Design UC-Berkeley, M.P.H. in Public Health Nutrition

At Food Gatherers, Markell leads the effort to make sure everyone in her Michigan community has the food they want in order to feel happy and healthy. In addition to food programs, she directs the food bank’s efforts to partner with health care organizations, advocate for policy changes in Michigan and Washington D.C., and analyze and disseminate data about hunger. Markell is also the proud and busy mother of three young children. At Harpeth Hall, Markell loved math, painting, Latin, and physics, and she has carried with her this breadth of interests.

SOPHIA HOWARD • Class of 2017

Yale Law School Undergraduate Liman Fellowship, New Haven, Connecticut

Spelman College, B.A. Philosophy and Comparative Women’s Studies

Sophia graduated Phi Beta Kappa as a double major in philosophy and comparative women’s studies concentrating in women’s resistance movements. She received the inaugural Outstanding Service and Leadership Award for her work with The Learning Club, an alternative sentencing program at the Fulton County Juvenile Court for boys ages 13-17. She also founded Unlocked Minds, a book club for women in Whitworth State Facility. Sophia earned the prestigious Yale Law School Undergraduate Liman Fellowship which supports her work as a policy intern for RestoreHER, an organization that advocates for incarcerated pregnant women.

As the social media and marketing assistant for the WomenNow Continuum, Sophia lives in South Africa and works toward a more vigorous collective execution of the international discourse on the intersections of HIV, gender-based violence, and sexual and reproductive wellbeing. She plans to apply to law school.

KATE GOLDENRING

• Class of 2015

Software Engineer with Microsoft, Seattle, Washington University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, B.A. Computer Science and Economics

At Microsoft, Kate works in the Internet of Things (IoT), taking ownership of an open-source project that discovers devices and deploys applications to them. At Harpeth Hall, Kate learned to voice her questions and concerns freely, a skill she carried with her to Microsoft where she is the only woman on her team. Work excites her, but calling on her life balance skills learned at Harpeth Hall, she finds that having a hobby to pull her away from the screen and into nature provides much needed balance. She has been backpacking in the woods of New Hampshire, Maine, Massachusetts, and in the stunning Glacier Wilderness of Washington.

CLAIRE SMITH • Class of 2017

Fellow, The Johns Hopkins University Poverty and Inequality Research Lab, Baltimore, Maryland

Washington and Lee University, B.A. Society and Global Politics

As a student at Washington and Lee, Claire was the captain of the cross country and track and field teams, editor-in-chief of the university’s political review, and served with a Christian ministry group. Graduating with a sociology and global politics major and Middle Eastern and South Asian studies minor, her honors thesis in sociology examined the relationship between national identity types and immigration attitudes within the United States. Claire is a predoctoral research fellow in the Poverty and Inequality Research Lab at The Johns Hopkins University.

BROWNING CLARK • Class of 2019

University of Tennessee, Accounting Major, Haslam Scholar and Smith Global Leadership Scholar Knoxville, Tennessee

At the University of Tennessee, the Haslam Scholars and Smith Global Leadership Scholars programs provide the resources and connections Browning needs to pursue a career in business and use her voice to promote gender equity in the workforce and girls’ education globally. Surrounded by peers who push her intellectually, Browning has soared as a student, leader, and critical thinker. She is involved in the UT Student Alumni Association, and her love for the program came from her time as president of the school’s ambassadors and her internship at Harpeth Hall with the advancement office. Browning is empowered, confident, and engaged because of her Harpeth Hall teachers.

5 Phenomenal Projects

Environmental Interactions

From the shining sea to the desert sand, vegetation and wildlife cover nearly every corner of our planet. In many places, those plants and animals share space with humans. In this fifth grade project, students connect science with geography to explore North American biomes and learn how people impact physical environments. Through research and collaboration, students learn about significant individuals in the field of environmental studies and present creative visual displays of their new knowledge.

Distinguished Women

Maya Angelou. Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Dolly Parton. In sixth grade, students read the biographies of important women in history and then select a woman to study more in depth with the intent of understanding who she was, what motivated her, and her impact on society. Students write monologues from the perspective of their Distinguished Women, create mixed-media portraits, and compose spoken word poetry. The project culminates with a presentation of their art and research, dressed as the woman they have come to know so well.

Bridges Falling Down

Seventh grade science students build a new bridge for a fictional city. They research the importance and function of bridges, collaborate with real engineers to design bridges using 3-D modeling software, and build Popsicle bridges capable of holding 70 pounds or more.

Illuminated Jellyfish

In ninth grade biology class, students participate in a genetic engineering unit that culminates in the heat shock of a luminous gene from a jellyfish into the genome of an E. coli culture. The result is glowing bacteria.

Grab a Seat

Students in an upper school engineering class conceptualize, design, and build chairs. Girls learn to measure, problem solve construction, and use power tools such as chop saws, drills, and impact drivers. Creative design ideas and quantitative skills combine, resulting in a new place to sit and ponder.

4 Choices You Will Make

In Your First Year

teammates, and they enjoy unforgettable experiences along the way. In 2021-2022 school year, Harpeth Hall made athletic program history claiming a school-record five state championships. As part of the Honeybear Nation, you will develop the strength and confidence for a lifetime of health and well-being.

Join student clubs

Find your favorite place on campus

At Harpeth Hall, the entire campus is yours! You will choose where to read a book, study for a test, visit with friends, and even eat lunch! You have the freedom and the responsibility to find your spot on our beautiful 44 acres of rolling green hills.

Play a sport

Want to play something you’ve never tried before? In both the middle school and upper school, there are 13 different sports, and each season, there is at least one open-participation sport. Harpeth Hall athletes learn to push themselves and be good

Activities are just as important as academics at Harpeth Hall. There are over 50 student-led clubs with more than 270 leadership opportunities in the middle and upper schools. Through community time, enrichment classes, and student clubs, you will find pieces of yourself that complement what you’re learning and make you whole.

Express yourself

Expressing yourself at Harpeth Hall is natural and doesn’t just happen on the stage. Our girls are dancers, actresses, musicians, artists, poets, public speakers, and that’s just the beginning. Students can find themselves in the spotlight in a middle school or upper school musical, explore the world through movement in our dance concerts, or share their musical talents in choir, orchestra, or modern rock band. In whatever way you choose to creatively show who you are, you will be seen and heard here.

3 Ways You Can Connect with the World

Winterim

A hallmark of the upper school at Harpeth Hall, this three-week experiential program in January provides students with opportunities for intellectual exploration and real-world preparation that stretches their point of view.

Global Perspective

Through our Public Purpose program students participate locally, nationally, and globally in projects that build community and create connections. For example, you can knit scarves and mittens for area homeless, tutor elementary school-age children, and organize an annual sock hop to raise funds to end human trafficking.

Global Scholars expands on that community focus through independent and group inquiry. The two-year program pushes students to think more broadly about geographic and cultural boundaries to foster open conversation about global challenges and explore solutions to those issues. The program culminates senior year with an independent research project.

SEEK

Seventh and eighth graders have the opportunity to participate in an independent, yearlong research program called SEEK (Scholars Engaged in Extending Knowledge). Students work alongside a faculty mentor and with guidance from a professional in their field of study to think creatively. Through SEEK girls have explored:

• Allusions and references to mythology in Harry Potter

• The effect of worm farms on organic soil

• How music affects the brain

• The history of Pop Art

• The impact of therapy dogs in schools

• Partnerships to support refugee children in Nashville

• Feminism and the development of Disney characters

• Social injustices during WWII

You Will Love

Convocation

Every school year begins with Convocation, our opening ceremony which brings the entire student body together to celebrate learning and leadership. The senior class sets the tone for the assembly by introducing their senior theme with music and costumes while student speakers issue a charge to our community to lift up our minds and spirits. Each grade announces its presence through the traditional roll call with cheers and applause. You will love experiencing the energy and excitement of a new start at Harpeth Hall.

Living Honorably

At our annual Honor Assembly, every Harpeth Hall student gathers together and pledges to be honest to herself and others, to demonstrate integrity, and to foster a respectful community. Following the assembly, every girl demonstrates her commitment to our core values by signing the Honor Pledge. You will be an important part of a community of trust and respect that will strengthen your character and elevate your education.

The number 1 reason Harpeth Hall is so great . . . Girls like you!

Harpeth Hall at a glance

Mission

Harpeth Hall is an independent, college-preparatory school for young women where each student realizes her highest intellectual ability in the sciences, the humanities, and the arts, and discovers her creative and athletic talents. Harpeth Hall develops responsible citizens who have global perspectives and make meaningful contributions to their communities and the world. With a tradition of excellence and a commitment to lifelong learning, Harpeth Hall educates young women to think critically, to lead confidently, and to live honorably.

Values

The Harpeth Hall community — students and faculty — has chosen respect, integrity, individuality, and trust to be its guiding principles. These values reflect our reverence for expressing kindness toward and acceptance of others; our commitment to diversity, forgiveness, and achieving one’s personal best; and our dedication to the service of others.

Motto

Let us lift up the mind and spirit.

Colors

Magnolia Green and Silver Gray

Mascot Honeybear

Admission and Financial Aid

Harpeth Hall annually offers more than $2 million in need-based financial aid.

For information on admission and financial aid, please visit: HarpethHall.org/admission Campus tours are available by appointment.