The 20,000-square-foot facility serves as the information and technology hub of the campus, housing comprehensive library services along with the school's network and technology support team.
THE LIBRARY
The Ann Scott Carell Library is home to the most comfortable chairs on campus and they surround an inviting fireplace. The library, with its huge windows overlooking Souby lawn, is a place with quiet nooks for those who wish to read and five small study rooms for collaboration with classmates. The library houses a 30,000 item collection and also provides students with thousands of electronic resources. The library is open every day from 7:30am – 5:00pm.
The lower level includes the help desk (the Bear Cave), the archives room, a meeting room, and a makerspace called, the Design Den.
BEAR CAVE
Harpeth Hall's Laptop Help Desk is located on the lower level of the Ann Scott Carell Library. It is open Monday - Friday during the school year and Tuesdays and Thursdays during June and July.
TECHNOLOGY
Every student in grades 5 through 12 uses a laptop as part of her learning experience. Campus technology includes:
More than 150 faculty and staff laptops and approximately 700 student laptops
A schoolwide wireless network
Software to support all disciplines
Scanners, digital cameras, and video cameras for faculty and student use
A fully-automated library with catalog and database access all over campus as well as from home
Internet access with email for students, faculty, staff, and administrators
A long-range strategic plan for our technology goals
Access to a learning management system for all students and teachers
Ceiling-mounted wireless projectors in all rooms; and probes, graphing calculators, and video microscopes in math and science classes
Harpeth Hall is committed to preparing students to be lifelong learners and effective users of information and ideas because a well-rounded education prepares students for any type of career they might choose. The Information Services Department offers an exemplary information literacy program for students to help them develop the skills to find, evaluate, and use information.
As a school founded on bold ideas, Harpeth Hall continues to look beyond tomorrow to innovate for the global community our girls will enter. The next level in the school’s educational excellence is the new Bullard Bright IDEA Lab.
The Bright IDEA Lab is a place for learning, experimenting, and dreaming as you have never seen before. An epicenter for creativity, critical thought, and collaboration, the Lab brings middle and upper school students and teachers together to learn from each other, build on shared experiences, take intellectual risks, and explore new frontiers.
“In a time when life is reimagined for all of us and the norms and routines of yesterday are shed, a Bright IDEA Lab gives us the opportunity to envision a different kind of learning space,” Harpeth Hall Head of School Jess Hill said. “A classroom, presentation space, studio, maker space, and lab all in one, this flexible space is without definition in the traditional sense. … In this space, the connections, collaborations, and possibilities are endless.”
The Bright IDEA Lab promotes:
Innovation
Connection between the sciences and the humanities.
Design
Problem-solving skills through engineering, coding, entrepreneurship, digital humanities, and interdisciplinary scholarship.
Education in Action
Opportunities to learn from featured speakers, participate in professional development sessions convene student/teacher meetings, and conduct workshops to research, build, and launch entrepreneurial projects.
Our Design Den is a fully equipped makerspace that includes: Makerbot 3-D Printers, Epilog Laser Cutter, 3-D software, CNC router, power tools, hand tools, programming components, and a variety of raw materials. In the Design Den, girls design virtual spaces, bring engineering ideas into reality, and bridge STEM mechanics and creative thinking to create innovative projects across all disciplines.
The Stephanie Balmer Garden for Student Engagement is a permanent tribute honoring Dr. Stephanie Balmer, our beloved sixth Head of School from 2014 to 2018. Located in the same space that Dr. Balmer worked with students and faculty to plan a school garden, this expanded garden will serve as a community garden, an outdoor classroom, a gathering space, and a beautiful natural retreat which will combine beauty with function and enhance the east side of campus. This teaching garden will promote student learning, interaction, connection, reflection, artistic endeavors, and a general curiosity about nature. Consistent with the school’s commitment to sustainability, Harpeth Hall will better teach girls about the importance of caring for our environment and the critical role our land plays in our sustenance through this garden.
