Skip to Main Content
The student news site of The Harker School.

Harker Aquila

The student news site of The Harker School.

Harker Aquila

The student news site of The Harker School.

Harker Aquila

11 new teachers joined the upper school community this year, ranging in subjects from organic chemistry to Japanese.

New faces, fresh perspectives

by Sam Li and Eva Cheng September 7, 2025

The upper school welcomed 11 teachers this year across departments like science, history, English, languages, mathematics, music and journalism. With a diverse set of backgrounds, the new faculty bring...

Right side hitter Nat Tan (12) jumps to tip the ball. Her tips allowed Harker to have an early lead in the first set.

Varsity girls volleyball defeat Branham 3-2 in historic season opener

by Lily Peng, Sports and Photo Editor September 4, 2025

Varsity girls volleyball opened their season with a tight 5-set win in an away game against Branham High School 25-22, 21-25, 25-21, 24-26 and 15-10 on Aug. 28. “This was our first time beating Branham...

Senior Tiffany Zhu gazes at a Pop Mart blind box as other customers around her glance at nearby products. Pop Mart’s revenue rose to $1.9 billion in 2024, thanks to the popularity of the Labubu toy in the “Monsters” line.

Pop Mart encourages consumerism through social media trends and cute designs

by Lindsay Li, Multimedia Editor August 31, 2025

Pop Mart’s strangely endearing creations push teenagers and adults alike to spend thousands on everything from miniature figurines to phone cases in the past year and a half. Between resellers and passionate...

About 10% of students at the Upper School recieve financial aid, but the school's policy prohibits students and families from discussing the amount or terms of their awards. While administrators emphasize privacy and fairness, some argue the policy silences conversations about socioeconomic diversity. (Illustration by Elizabeth Zhang)

Navigating conversations about wealth, financial aid and socioeconomic diversity at Harker

by Mendy Mao and Leah Krupnik August 30, 2025

This year's upper school tuition for Harker students is $64,800. Behind this number lies an often overlooked reality: around 10% of all students K-12 receive some form of financial aid. With strict rules...

OpenAI’s latest flagship model was expected to offer a major break-
through, though the model’s rollout was messy and performance improvements   are largely incremental. (Photoillustration by Ashley Mo and Charlie Wang)

ChatGPT-5 delivers practical progress but falls short of expectations

by Claire Tian and Caden Ruan August 29, 2025

AI frontrunner OpenAI released its new flagship large language model GPT-5 on Aug. 7 and generated a mixed reception from users. ChatGPT-5 improves upon previous OpenAI models in benchmarks, including...

Americorps pauses President’s Volunteer Service Award, altering incentives for students to volunteer. “When I first found out that PVSA was  removed, I was extremely enraged,” junior and prospective PVSA applicant Demi Zheng said. (Illustration by Sarah Wang)

President’s Volunteer Service Award pause prompts student to reflect on volunteering motivation

by Risa Chokhawala and Chelsea Xie August 29, 2025

Junior Demi Zheng eagerly clicked into the President’s Volunteer Service Award (PVSA) application, already imagining the gold medal and certificate she would receive in the mail after logging over 100...

New speed bumps and crosswalks  mark the loading zones. They were installed in response to safety concerns around speeding in the parking lots.

Upper school campus features new renovations such as new benches and speed bumps

by Vivek Moorjani, Humans of Harker Managing Editor August 29, 2025

Administration facilitated a number of renovations at the upper school campus, with improvements like new benches, speed bumps, lights and flooring in the Auxiliary Gym, greenery in the quad and updates...

Frosh students and advisers stand as they read the Matriculation Oath. Afterwards, the student body viewed videos of skits about Harker student life.

Matriculation marks start of new academic year

by Jonathan Szeto and Cynthia Xie August 28, 2025

Students and staff welcomed the Class of 2029 to the upper school during the Matriculation Ceremony in the Zhang Gymnasium on Friday. Frosh advisories processed into the Zhang Gymnasium, entering their...

Seniors Emma Li and Joy Hu participate in a game of blindfolded Jenga with their friends. The workshop was made to forge deeper bonds within the senior class.

Seniors reconnect for workshops and academic preparation at Senior Retreat

by Samuel Tong and Jasmine Hansra August 24, 2025

Class of 2026 attended the Senior Retreat, where they participated in teacher and alumni-led  workshops and seminars to prepare for the upcoming year on Aug. 20. Seniors listened to a panel of alumni...

HDC members perform a jazz choreography to "See Me Now" onstage in the Patil Theater.  Both teams showcased the routines they learned during the closing performance on Friday.

Dance teams kickstart year with United Spirit Association dance camp

by Heather Wang, Humans of Harker Managing Editor August 18, 2025

Harker Dance Company and Kinetic Krew kicked off the year with new choreography and team bonding during a camp led by United Spirit Association (USA) on campus from Aug. 13 to 15. Both teams learned...

Hannah Streeper ('25), Caitlyn Wong ('25) and Haden Andrews ('25) take pictures with their graduation caps. Graduation marked the end of four years at Harker for the class of 2025, from being the first on campus at the end of the pandemic in ninth grade to creating bittersweet memories as seniors.

Cheers, tears and goodbyes: Class of 2025 caps off high school career with graduation

by Lily Peng and Cynthia Xie June 2, 2025

The class of 2025 concluded their high school journey with a graduation ceremony at Mountain Winery on May 22. Students received their diplomas and celebrated the end of their high school careers by...

Load More Stories