Good Neighbors
Founded in 1893 in Palo Alto, The Harker School is a transitional kindergarten through grade 12, nonprofit independent school. We are committed to providing a nationally recognized program for our students that allows them to flourish, find their passions and make a difference in the world.
We are equally committed to providing a respectful and collaborative environment, both within our campus community and in the San Jose neighborhoods where our campuses are located. We have four campuses, one for each division: transitional kindergarten, lower school, middle school and upper school. It is our hope that this page provides helpful information to our neighbors; it also includes ways to contact us if you have ideas or concerns.
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Traffic Management
Residents who live near a school are often concerned about how neighborhood traffic might be impacted during morning drop-off and afternoon pickup times during the school year. It is also important to us at Harker that our students can be dropped off and picked up safely and that parents are able to come and go quickly during commute times.
Harker has operated four different school campuses for years, and we have considerable experience with reducing traffic congestion during peak times. For example:
- Many cars arriving at our campuses contain two or more students, and we facilitate car pools among parents.
- We offer financial incentives and preferred parking to staff who car pool.
- Harker campuses are served by school-run shuttles that transport students from areas where clusters of students live close together (such as Los Altos and Silver Creek).
- Harker operates an intercampus shuttle so that siblings who attend different divisions can be dropped off and picked up in just one location, reducing overall traffic around our campuses.
- We work closely with parents to remind them to avoid cut-through traffic around our campuses and to follow our drop-off and pickup routing and procedures. Each campus has its own set of driving regulations.
Our Campuses
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Transitional Kindergarten
888 Boynton Avenue | San Jose, CA
We purchased this property in summer 2021 to house our transitional kindergarten program, offices, and to prepare for other future uses. We are completing tennis courts for our student athletes to use starting in the 2026-27 school year.
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Lower School
4300 Bucknall Road | San Jose, CA
Our Bucknall Rd. campus is home to our lower school (K-5) students. This campus has two drop-off and pickup zones and crosswalk guards for the neighborhood on school days. We have a shuttle between this and the other Harker campuses to help reduce cars. For larger school events, we open the campus field for parking, and contract with a local church to use their parking lot so we can shuttle visitors to the campus to reduce neighborhood traffic. We send regular reminders and video "how-tos" to parents to educate and remind them of the school's expectations on safe and respectful practices in our neighborhood.
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Middle School
4525 Union Avenue I San Jose, CA
Our Union Ave. campus was constructed between May 2020 and August 2021, and serves our middle school students in grades 6-8. (Our middle school was moved here from its former location on Blackford Ave.) A long internal drop-off pattern, as well as carpool and shuttle programs, help reduce cars in the neighborhood and there is sufficient on-campus parking for all school events. We send regular reminders and video "how-tos" to parents to educate and remind them of the school's expectations on safe and respectful practices in our neighborhood.
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Upper School
500 Saratoga Avenue I San Jose, CA
Our Saratoga Ave. campus serves our upper school students, grades 9-12. Two long internal drop-off options, as well as an intercampus shuttle, help reduce traffic and cars in the neighborhood. As we do for all our campuses, we send regular reminders and video "how-tos" to parents to educate and remind them of the school's expectations on safe and respectful practices in our neighborhood.
Construction Outreach
When Harker embarks on major construction projects, we provide avenues for community feedback and keep our neighbors informed. Below are the information and most recent meeting notes from our 2020-21 middle school campus project and information about our next project at our existing lower school campus on Bucknall Ave.
Bucknall Rd. Campus Enhancement Project: June 2026-Dec. 2027
Harker received the city of San José's approval in spring 2026 to embark on a significant construction project to enhance our existing lower school campus. The primary features of this project are building a new major academic building in the southern section of campus and providing more on-campus parking and better traffic design to reduce traffic on area streets.
DETAILS ON LOWER SCHOOL PROJECT SIGN UP FOR NEIGHBORHOOD EMAIL UPDATES
Completed Construction: Union Ave. Campus, May 2020-Aug. 2021
Harker submitted plans to the city of San José in 2018 to modify our Union Ave. campus in preparation for moving our middle school (grades 6-8) to this site in time for the 2021-22 school year. All of our modifications met city of San José zoning and planning criteria and required no variances.
Harker invited adjacent neighbors to a meeting to discuss the plans in April 2018 and the city of San José hosted a public meeting for the broader community in December 2018. We also presented an overview of our plans at a Cambrian Community Council meeting in August 2018. The City of San José reviewed the application and conducted an independent traffic analysis. Numerous meetings were held between the neighbors, the city and The Harker School to resolve concerns. Amendments were made and the permit was approved by the City Council at their March 10, 2020 meeting. All of the documents related to this project are posted for public record. Construction began May 18, 2020 and was completed in August 2021. Harker maintains an email list for Cambrian neighbor communication for updates and holds annual public meetings with the neighbors to address concerns.
Cambrian Community Meeting Slides: Tues., Oct. 28, 2025
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