Traditions

Harvard-Westlake has a long history of enduring and meaningful traditions. Here are some of the most notable.

HOMECOMING

Homecoming takes place in October and is Harvard-Westlake's largest community-wide event of the year. This all-day celebration on the upper school campus features games, rides, prizes, food from HW's cultural clubs, and athletic events. Harvard-Westlake athletic teams play throughout the day, culminating with the varsity football game in the evening. Homecoming is organized and run by over 500 Harvard-Westlake Parents volunteers and is attended by the school's students, faculty, alumni, parents, and neighbors.

CLASS RETREATS

Every October, middle school students join classmates on grade-level retreats. The goals for this program include developing relationship and class unity, fostering an appreciation for the outdoors, and cultivating students' self-confidence and independence. In the course of the three-year program, students make new friends, get to know teachers outside the classroom, learn new skills, and experience the beauty of nature. Naturalists teach students respect for the environment and engage them in challenging and fun activities. Seniors go on another retreat right before graduation to signify the culmination of their high school experience.

DODGEBALL TOURNAMENT

Each spring, the middle school comes to life with a 32-team, single-elimination dodgeball tournament that spans the last few months of school. All students are welcome to participate, and each team is also allowed one faculty member. The dodgeball court is the place to be during activities period, as spectators can range into the hundreds for high-profile matchups. The tournament bracket is posted off of the Horn Commons alongside the row of plaques commemorating all the previous champions.

NINTH GRADE PROMOTION CEREMONY

At the middle school's final assembly of the year, the ninth graders are honored with our ninth grade promotion ceremony. During the ceremony, ninth graders greet their deans and the head of the middle school on one side of the stage, then proceed across the stage to be greeted by representatives of the upper school dean team, symbolically marking their passing from the middle school to the upper school.

SENIOR CEREMONY

The Senior Ceremony is a tradition that originated at the Westlake School for Girls in 1933. Held in September, it symbolizes the formal recognition of the seniors as the leaders of the school and their acceptance of the responsibility that comes with being the oldest on campus. After the seniors are given flower crowns or pins to wear throughout the event, the senior prefects give speeches reflecting on their class's Harvard-Westlake experience. Then, as the head of school reads their names, the seniors walk on stage to receive a class ring or pin.

GRADUATION DAY

Graduation day begins with breakfast and the Senior Tribute Awards honoring teachers selected by the senior class. Then seniors don their robes and line up for the procession, led by the senior faculty member and chief marshal, followed by next year's head prefects, members of the board of trustees, the school administration, the president of the alumni association, and faculty and staff members, all in full academic regalia. During the ceremony, the valedictorian and the salutatorian make speeches. Finally, diplomas are awarded and the seniors jubilantly fling their mortarboards high into the air.