This school is unique in New York City, which has 538 miles (866 km) of waterfront, in that it attempts to relate every aspect of its curriculum to the water.

Examples of the former include The Harbor SEALs Citizen Science Monitoring program, rowing, sailing, aquabatics, vessel operations, among others.

The Harbor School is part of this effort to prepare students for college with a regular New York State Regents Diploma and for a technical career.

For example, students who choose professional diving must pass a series of aquatic and endurance-related tests before being accepted into the program.

Students in the Marine Biology Research Program, perform scientific monitoring and work on long-term restoration projects around the Hudson-Raritan Estuary.

Past events have included attendees such as NBC's Willie Geist and Savannah Guthrie, Martha Stewart, the United States Coast Guard, and sailing Olympian professionals such as Dawn Riley and Hannah Swett.

The Harbor School is also supported by corporate sponsors such as Nautica, Conde Nast, Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs and Rolex.