The Harvey School

The Harvey School is a co-educational, college preparatory school near Katonah, New York, for students in grades 6 through 12.^[1] It is located on a wooded, 125-acre campus and has an annual tuition (2024) of $52,680.

The Harvey School was founded in 1916 in Hawthorne, New York by Dr. Herbert Carter^[2] as a residential school for boys, enrolling students through the secondary grades. Dr. Carter, a New York City pediatrician, built the school on his farm with the intention of providing a country environment and an educational program for his physically handicapped son, Herbert Swift Carter, Jr. He named the school for Sir William Harvey (1578–1657), personal physician of King Charles I who is considered one of the fathers of modern medical science.^[3]

John L. Miner was appointed as the school's first headmaster when its doors opened in October 1916, with an enrollment of twelve boys. Mr. Miner served the school for ten years before leaving to establish Greenwich Country Day School,^[4] originally known as The Harvey School of Greenwich.

Herbert Carter, Jr. graduated from Harvey in 1919, and from Princeton University in 1923. Following a year at Oxford he returned to Harvey to teach English. In 1926, he succeeded Mr. Miner as headmaster, serving in that position until 1938. After Dr. Carter's death 1927, the school shifted its purpose from caring for the physically handicapped to preparing boys from grades four through eight for enrollment in the leading eastern secondary boarding schools. In 1938, the school came under the leadership of Mr. Leverett T. Smith, who served until 1963.^[2]

In 1947 the school established a board of trustees and became a not-for-profit organization.

In 1959, the school lost its Hawthorne campus due to construction of a cloverleaf highway interchange on the Taconic and Sprain Parkways, and moved to its current 100-acre (40 ha) campus on the former Sylvan Weil Estate in Katonah. The new campus could accommodate 60 boarding students and a growing day student population. When Harry A. Dawe became headmaster in 1969 the school began a transition to being primarily a day school, while retaining the residential environment.

In 1970 the school added ninth grade, and between 1979 and 1981 it added grades nine through twelve. Harvey began admitting girls as day students when it began operating as a full high school. The fourth and fifth grades were eliminated in 1983 and 1984, and girls were admitted to the middle school beginning in 1984.

Barry Fenstermacher, served the school as headmaster from 1986 through 2016.^[2] During his tenure, in March 2005 a new arts center was completed^[5] to provide an environment for studio, music and dramatic-arts education, as well as a flexible performance theater. The architecture of the $6m theatre gained a silver prize for its design.^[5]

The current head of school, William J. Knauer joined in July, 2016.

The Student Council meets regularly to discuss improvements in school life and to plan all-school activities such as Family Weekend and holiday parties. The President and Vice-President, elected by a simple majority of students during the preceding year, lead the Student Council. Additional representatives are elected by individual classes.

+ V=Varsity, JV=Junior Varsity, MS=Middle School

The school's teams are quite successful in their leagues. In the last four years^[when?] the Varsity Girls basketball has won the league three times as well as placing first and second in various tournaments. The Girls Varsity Soccer Team is relatively new,^[when?] but has quickly climbed the ranks and won the HVAL Championship in 2007.

• 2nd place HVAL 2005
• 1st place HVAL 06
• NEPSAC Tournament Quarterfinalist 2006
• 1st place HVAL 07
• NESPAC Tournament Quarterfinalist 2007

The boys' teams' standings all vary depending on the sport. Although not always on top, the football team participates in a very competitive league. The rugby team is unique among independent schools in the area. The Coach, Phil Lazzaro, holds practices throughout the year and even has a team trip to play in Ireland every three years.

• Harvey School website
• Private School Review