Harrow Hill Classical School | Concept Design by OODesigns

On writing, from copywork to the thesis

The school keeps the three stages of the old curriculum, and for the record they have served it well. In the grammar stage, kindergarten through fifth grade, children memorise, copy and name things, and they do it aloud. In the logic stage, sixth through eighth, they ask why and are required to argue the other side. Rhetoric begins with the eighth-grade thesis, defended standing up, and continues into high school. Writing shows the ladder most plainly, each grade adding one rung to the last.

Close view of a fountain pen nib writing a line of cursive on ruled paper — Cursive starts in second grade. Fountain pens are allowed from sixth.

KLetters, formed wellPencil grip, every capital and lowercase letter, and their own name on every page.
Grade 1CopyworkCopies a sentence from a good book, capital letter to full stop, without a slip.
Grade 2DictationWrites three sentences read aloud once, spelling and punctuation intact. Cursive begins.
Grade 3The paragraphTopic sentence, three supporting details, a closing sentence.
Grade 4NarrationRetells a fable or a chapter in their own words, in order, in five sentences.
Grade 5The essayFive paragraphs with a claim, three reasons and quotations from the book.
Grade 6PersuasionArgues one side of a question, then writes the strongest reply to their own argument.
Grade 7Logic and researchA term of formal logic, then a six-page research paper with footnotes.
Grade 8The thesisTen pages on a question of their choosing, defended for twenty minutes in May.

The register of classes, 2026 to 2027

One class a grade, sixteen at most. It was resolved some years ago that every child should be heard reading aloud before lunch, and sixteen is the number at which a teacher can still do it. Kindergarten keeps a second adult all day.

Three slate writing boards with slate pencils resting on an old wooden school desk — Kindergarten practises its letters on slate before paper, as it has since the school opened.

Grade	Teacher	Enrolled	Fall 2027
Kindergarten	Ruth Eastman and Mary Toews	16 of 16	Waiting list
First grade	Hannah Rempel	15 of 16	1 seat
Second grade	Lydia Osei	14 of 16	2 seats
Third grade	Samuel Hartzler	16 of 16	Waiting list
Fourth grade	Clara Duerksen	13 of 16	3 seats
Fifth grade	Thomas Beale and Grace Nakamura	15 of 16	1 seat
Sixth grade	Naomi Friesen	12 of 16	4 seats
Seventh grade	Peter Ahlquist	14 of 16	2 seats
Eighth grade	Elena Vasquez and Grace Nakamura	11 of 16	Closed

A child enrolled An open seatGrade 8 does not take new students after October.

The order of a Tuesday, fifth grade

The day is kept by a bell, rung each week by the fifth grader who has earned it. The younger grades keep the same order of business, with a longer recess.

A tall stack of hardback and paperback books, with a red cloth copy of Treasure Island in the middle — Fifth grade is on chapter 14 of Treasure Island this week. Jim is up the mast.

7:50
Doors openDrop-off loop on Lindenwood. Early care from 7:15 for $4 a morning.
8:10
Morning assemblyThe whole school in the hall. A poem said from memory, a hymn sung, the notices. Nobody reads from a page.
8:30
LatinChants, then translation of an Aesop fable, two lines at a time.
9:15
MathematicsFractions, decimals and percent. Facts drill for five minutes, every day, without exception.
10:15
RecessOutside unless the wind chill is under 20 degrees.
10:35
Grammar and compositionDiagramming sentences, then the week's essay.
11:45
Lunch and recessBrought from home or ordered by 9am through the parent portal.
12:40
HistoryAncient Greece, read from Herodotus in translation, mapped by hand.
1:35
Science or artScience Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Drawing and music the other days.
2:25
Reading aloudThe teacher reads, the class listens, then a ten-minute conversation about what happened.
3:15
DismissalAfter-care until 5:45, homework hour included.

Fees and assistance, as set for 2027 to 2028

One fee covers the school day, every book on the list and every field trip. Families may pay over ten months, over twelve, or once. Assistance is decided on need before enrolment and never after. The board settled that point long ago, so that no family is asked to negotiate in August.

Grade	Per year	Ten payments of
KindergartenFull day, 7:50 to 3:15	$7,450	$745
Grades 1 to 4	$8,950	$895
Grades 5 to 8	$9,850	$985
Books and materialsThe child keeps every book	$260	Once
After-care3:15 to 5:45, school days	$2,100	$210

41%of families receive assistance

$3,400average award last year

10%off for each brother or sister

Apply for assistance by February 1 alongside the admissions application. Awards are renewed each year with a new tax return. The estimator below gives a first figure in under a minute.

Withdraw before June 1 and every payment except the $500 deposit comes back. After June 1 the year is owed, unless the family moves more than 50 miles away.

A wooden library shelf of old leather-bound books with gilt lettering on their spines — The school library lends 6,200 books. Children borrow two a week from first grade on.

Admission to the fall 2027 classes

Five steps, taken in order. There is no entrance exam. A child reads aloud to a teacher for half an hour, and I have yet to find a test that tells us more.

1
Visit
Oct 6 to Jan 28
Tours Tuesdays and Thursdays at 8:30. Open houses Saturday, Nov 7 and Jan 16. Shadow days on Fridays for grades 2 to 8.
2
Apply
By Saturday, Jan 30
Online, $60 fee, waived for families applying for assistance. Upload the last report card.
3
Reading visit
Feb 1 to Feb 12
Kindergarten: thirty minutes with a teacher and a picture book. Grades 1 to 8: a morning in class.
4
Decision
Monday, Mar 1
Letters go out by email and post on the same day, with any assistance award attached.
5
Enrol
By Monday, Mar 15
Sign the enrolment contract and pay a $500 deposit, which comes off the first tuition payment.

Three dates follow the application, and nothing is asked of you between them

30 JanuarySaturday

Applications close. An email confirms yours arrived the same day, with your child's checklist attached to it, and Mrs. Penner in admissions telephones within two school days to answer your questions and book the reading visit.
1 to 12 FebruarySchool days

The reading visit, at whichever hour suits your family. You wait in the library, never in the hall.
1 MarchMonday

A decision by email and post, with any assistance award in the same letter.

Those who teach, and for how long

The house has fourteen teachers, eleven of them here five years or more. Every adult is background-checked through the KBI and CPR-certified. We appoint for learning first and patience second. A new family meets these six first.

MA

Dr. Miriam Achterberg

Head of schoolPh.D. Classics, 23 years in schools, head since 2015

Taught Latin for sixteen years before running the school. Still teaches seventh-grade logic on Fridays.

RE

Ruth Eastman

KindergartenB.S. Elementary Education, trained in structured phonics

Twenty-two years with five-year-olds. Keeps a record of the first word every child reads on their own.

SH

Samuel Hartzler

Third gradeB.A. History, Kansas teaching licence, 9 years here

Introduces Latin grammar and the Middle Ages in the same year, and lets the class build a castle to scale.

GN

Grace Nakamura

Latin, grades 5 to 8M.A. Classics, 12 years teaching Latin

Reads Virgil with the eighth grade in the spring and runs the Latin recitation contest each March.

TB

Thomas Beale

Mathematics, grades 5 to 8B.S. Aerospace Engineering, 7 years teaching

An aircraft stress engineer for eleven years. Every eighth grader finishes Algebra I with him.

EV

Elena Vasquez

History and rhetoric, grades 6 to 8M.A. History, debate coach, 14 years teaching

Coaches every eighth-grade thesis from first question to the defence in May.

Business a family may settle from home

Four matters that once required a visit to the office are now settled on this site, from a phone: a visit, the application, a first estimate of assistance, and a child’s week.

Book a visitharrowhill.example/visit

November 2026 Thanksgiving week closed

TourOpen houseShadow day

Choose a visit School tourThu, Nov 12, 8:30, 2 places left Open houseSat, Nov 7, 10:00 to noon, 24 places left Shadow day, grades 2 to 8Fri, Nov 13, all day, 3 places left

Your name Email or mobile number Grade next fall

The office sees every booking, with a reminder text sent to the family the day before.

Your applicationFall 2027, grade 3

Eleanor Whitmore, entering third grade4 of 7 done

Inquiry formSent Sep 21Done
School tourThursday, Oct 15, 8:30Done
Application and $60 feePaid Nov 2Done
Last report cardsecond-grade-fall.pdfDone
Teacher recommendationSent to her current teacher Nov 2Waiting
Reading visitFeb 1 to Feb 12See the dates
Tuition assistanceOptional, due Feb 1Start the form

Families see what is left. The admissions office sees every applicant's checklist on one screen.

Tuition assistance estimatorA first figure, not a promise

Household income before tax $68,000

People in the household 4

Children enrolling

Estimated award$5,500

Your share, per month over ten

The estimate uses the same formula the committee starts from. The final award follows the tax return.

Parent portalWeek of October 12

Theo Brennan, fifth gradeMr. Beale and Mrs. Nakamura

Reading log

Treasure IslandChapter 14 of 34

Next: The Hobbit, starting November 9

This week

Latin quiz18 / 20
Fractions test92%
RecitationReady

Attendance

38 of 38

Days present this year, 1 late arrival

Lunch account

$23.40

Add $25

Teachers post marks once. Parents see them the same afternoon, with the week's poem to practise at home.

Matters raised by parents

Any matter not recorded here may be raised with the office on (316) 555-0162, where a person answers from 7:30 to 4:30.

Reviews from Harrow Hill families

This space shows recent Google reviews from Harrow Hill families, pulled in automatically once the school connects its profile.

No reviews connected yet. Nothing here is written by the school.

Is Harrow Hill a religious school?

No. The school has no church affiliation and welcomes families of every faith and none. Children study the Bible, the Greek myths and the Norse sagas as literature, because so much of what they will read later depends on them.

Is there a uniform?

Yes, a simple one: navy or khaki trousers, skirts or jumpers, and a white or light blue collared shirt. No logo is required, so ordinary store-bought clothes work. A swap rack in the front hall is free.

Do you offer a bus or hot lunch?

There is no bus. The parent portal runs a carpool board by neighbourhood, and most families share driving. Hot lunch from a local caterer is $5.25 a day, ordered by 9am in the portal, or children bring their own.

Can my child start in the middle of the year?

Only if the grade has an open seat, and two have none this year. Where there is one, we arrange a reading visit within the week and the child starts that Monday.

What if my child is behind in reading, or ahead?

A reading specialist, trained in structured literacy for dyslexia, works with children in small groups four mornings a week at no extra cost. Children who are ahead read further up the list and join the next grade for Latin or math where it fits.

An invitation to the back of a classroom

Tours are on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 8:30, October through January, with open houses on Saturday, November 7 and January 16. We ask only that you sit at the back of a class and listen. The school has never put its own case better.

Address: 8120 E Lindenwood St
Wichita, KS 67206
Phone: (316) 555-0162
Office: Monday to Friday, 7:30 to 4:30
Email: admissions@harrowhill.example
Families from: East Wichita, Andover, Bel Aire, Derby and Rose Hill

Book a visit Call the office

Street map of east Wichita between Oliver and Webb, from 21st Street down to Douglas, with the school marked in a residential block

Harrow Hill

The calendar, for the record

School day	8:10 to 3:15
Early care and after-care	7:15 to 5:45
Office, Monday to Friday	7:30 to 4:30
Office in summer	Tue to Thu, 9 to 2
First and last day, 2026 to 2027	Aug 13 and May 21
Thanksgiving break	Nov 25 to 27
Winter break	Dec 19 to Jan 4

I decide snow and ice closures by 6:00am, and a text goes out at once, with a banner on this site. Where the roads are passable by mid-morning, we open at 10:00 rather than lose the day. Calls after 4:30 go to voicemail and are returned by 9:00 the next school day.