Provided by Office of Communications

Today, Manzanita is a focal point of campus, visited by almost all students and faculty on a daily basis. “It’s always been a place where people go for fun and happiness and good vibes,” history teacher James Tate said.

As soon as the bell rings for lunch, hundreds of students and teachers flood out of their classes heading to the building all the way eastward on campus. As students briskly walk through the quad following the aroma of garlic noodles and sweet brownie cupcakes. Famished students and kitchen staff exchange warm smiles and “thank you”s while Spirit Coordinate Eric Kallbrier asks trivia questions to the lunch line. A line of people stretches out from the building’s entrance, passing beneath a large cursive sign that proudly reads “Manzanita Hall”.  

In 1893, Frank Cramer started a college prep school for boys called Manzanita Hall in Palo Alto. Catherine Harker followed suit and created Miss Harker’s School for Girls in 1902. Manzanita Hall briefly lost its name when the school was renamed to the Palo Alto Military Academy. In 1955, Miss Harker’s School for Girls began accepting boys and became the Harker Day School. After the Harker Day School and the Palo Alto Military Academy merged in 1992, the Harker School, as we know it today, was officially established.

The new Harker School opened up its Saratoga campus in the early 90s, operating as a K-8 boarding and day school, where the Manzanita Hall we know and love was reinstated. The bistro area was previously a chapel but then got remodeled into a cafeteria area. The outdoor area and Chef’s grill space was an art studio. History teacher James Tate attended Harker from Kindergarten through fifth grade as a day student and recounts the campus’ transformation from his days as a student to the present.

“It was so surreal that it wasn’t even surreal; it was so different that I basically didn’t recognize the place.” Tate said. “Most of Manzanita was dorms for students that lived on campus. Where the cafeteria is now, was a pottery studio. Right next to that, the most desirable drinking fountain on campus was there because it had the coldest water on campus.”

Harker opened its high school grades in 1998 and converted Manzanita into a cafeteria. Teja Patil (’02), a member of the first graduating class, witnessed the transformation of Manzanita into a cafeteria and a space for friends to bond. 

“We used to call it the edge,” Patil said. “We always found ourselves somewhere in the edge or in this little room in the back called the ledge where we just hung out and studied. It almost was like an interstitial space. I really loved it because it was like an informal space where people came together.”

In 2002, Harker discontinued its boarding program to create more space for the new upper school. The girls’ dormitories upstairs in Manzanita now serve as working areas for the Office of Communication, where Director of Communications and former boarding director Pam Dickinson works.

“People understood why it needed to close,” Dickinson said. “We took care of the students that we had; we didn’t close it before students would’ve naturally graduated in eighth grade. It was a wonderful program. Everyone who worked in it loved it, so there was some sadness and great memories around that. And those of us who worked in the boarding program then still are in touch with all of the boarding students that graduated back in those days.”

Although Manzanita previously served as housing, an art studio and a chapel, its current use has transformed dramatically. It currently serves a wide variety of purposes, from health services from the nurse offices, to gathering donations, to getting a refreshing glass of water or fruit. Director of Journalism Whitney Huang teaches in Manzanita 70, where the Yearbook and News classes are held. 

“It’s nice in terms of our location for journalism because we’re beneath the Office of Communication,” Huang said. “They are in charge of all of the press and communications — everything that comes in and goes out for Harker professionally. Just beneath them, it’s journalism, and we’re doing that as students.”

Today, Manzanita is a focal point of campus, visited by almost all students and faculty on a daily basis. 

“The purpose of the building is radically different now than it was 25 or 30 years ago,” Tate said. “But it still maintains some of the same gestalt. It’s always been a place where people go for fun and happiness and good vibes. It’s always been a place of positive energy and people leave it feeling good; they go there expecting good things.”