About HCSD Guidance

We believe helping students to understand themselves will assist them in making sound decisions and plans today and in their future. Our services are delivered through individual and group counseling. We ensure students have opportunities to engage in academic advisement and multi-year planning, college and career advisement and social/personal development.

About HCSD Arts

HCSD's Fine and Performing Arts Department affords all students the opportunity to study music, visual art, dance, and theatre, providing every child with experiences that promote life-long participation and enjoyment of the arts. We embrace the cooperative work of parents, teachers, students, and the community, and are invested in a collaborative approach to support student development and success.

About HCSD Athletics

The Harrison Athletics program is built on the principles of Rigor, Development, Communication, and Accountability. Harrison coaches work to develop programs based on communication, clear expectations, ongoing feedback, accountability and developing self-advocacy in our student athletes. We are committed to meeting the standards of high expectation and maximum effort on and off the field.

IB Middle Years Programme (MYP)

“The principles of the International Baccalaureate Middle Years Programme are directly aligned with the District’s core values and our commitment to engaging students to think critically, approach problems ethically, and value the diversity of the world in which we live.”

-- Louis N. Wool, Ed.D.

Superintendent of Schools

What is the Middle Years Programme (MYP)?

The MYP is a challenging framework of learning that encourages students in grades 6 through 10 to become creative, critical and reflective thinkers. MYP emphasizes intellectual challenge, encouraging students to make connections between their studies in traditional subjects and the real world. The Program fosters development of communication skills, intercultural understanding and global engagement – essential qualities for life in the 21st century.

The IB Middle Years Programme

addresses students’ intellectual, social, emotional and physical well-being.
enables students to understand and manage the complexities of our world, and provides them with the skills and attitudes they need in order to take responsible action for the future.
ensures breadth and depth of knowledge and understanding through the study of eight subject areas.
provides the opportunity for students to undertake an independent project in an area of personal interest.

The MYP Curriculum Framework

The MYP organizes teaching and learning through eight subject groups. The programme promotes interdisciplinary study that helps students make important connections between academic subjects. Integrated teaching and learning helps students analyze complex issues and develop the habits of mind they need to participate in our increasingly interconnected world.

The Middle Years Programme (MYP) helps students develop both subject-specific and interdisciplinary understanding. The MYP curriculum framework includes:

Approaches to Learning (ATL): students learn how to learn by developing skills for research, critical and creative thinking, communication, collaboration, and self-management.
Key and Related Concepts: students explore big ideas that matter.
Global Contexts: students understand the relevance and importance of their study for understanding their common humanity and shared guardianship of the planet.

The MYP culminates in an independent learning project called the Personal Project. Students complete a comprehensive independent project in 10th grade that reflects the breadth and depth of their learning.

The Authorization Process

Teachers in grades 6-10 from Louis M. Klein Middle School and Harrison High School have been working in partnership towards the authorization of our Middle Years Programme. We are in the final stages of the candidate phase. Last spring, we finished our consultation process, which included a three day visit with a representative from the IB Organization and the submission of our Application for Authorization. We have completed the final process of the Candidate Phase, the Verification Visit from the IB Organization which took place virtually in the beginning of December. We look forward to final authorization as a Middle Years Programme school district by the end of the 2020-21 school year.

IB MYP Eight Subject Groups
Personal Project