Shouts of Toga! Toga! Toga! Filled Dr. Geraldine McGrath’s Latin classes at The Harvey School. In the photo, Kelly Barker, Katherine Powers, and Dylan Lunde cives Romani of the Middle School, are forming a triumvirate to make the celebratory toga party an annual event secundum legem scholae Harviensis. Dr. McGrath explained that fun activities such as myth masks, Latin t-shirts, and the popular Harry Potter Project make learning Latin exciting for her students.

Students from all three grades at the Middle School took a well deserved break from their studies recently to enjoy trips to Albany, New York City and Philadelphia.

The sixth-grade’s class first stop on their Albany tour began at the New York State Museum, where they saw several exhibits, including the history of the state’s various Indian tribes, the area’s mineral deposits and a visual of New York City. They also took a tour of the New York State Capitol Building. Highlights of the tour included the Million Dollar Staircase, the senate floor, and a visit from New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo. The group was particularly amazed by the hand carved stone, as well as the gold leafed walls in the senate. To round out the day, the students were treated to a tour of the U.S.S. Slater by a World War II Navy veteran. (more…)

A social studies assignment that 11th-grader Justin Bernstein received while he was in the seventh grade at Fox Lane Middle School has today turned into a $40,000 windfall for the Muscular Dystrophy Association.

All of the money raised is due to Justin’s tireless efforts to help raise awareness of the disease, which currently afflicts about 250,000 Americans, including a good friend of Justin’s. MD is a group of genetic, degenerative diseases primarily affecting voluntary muscles. The 17-year-old came up with the fundraising idea after his social studies teacher at Fox Lane, Erin Filner, asked that the class think of ways to make the world a better place, based upon the premise of the movie “Pay It Forward.” (more…)

Seventeen students from The Harvey School earned awards for their performance on the National Latin Exam, an annual test that assesses their comprehension of Latin, its history and its culture.

The exam, which is administered worldwide by the American Classical League and the National Junior Classical League, is open to students enrolled in Latin or have completed a Latin course in the months leading up to the exam.
All of the exams include a series of multiple-choice questions on grammar, comprehension, mythology, life history, and derivatives.
Students who received Certificates of Achievement on the Introduction to Latin exam included sixth-graders Felipe Deihle, Mike Meehan, Quinn Schoen, and Kyle Williams; Zachary Bamford, a seventh-grade student; and eighth-graders Morgan Greenwald and William Schubert.

Students earning recognition on the Latin I exam were seventh-graders Ben Longson and Fiona Magliari, and eighth-graders Katherine Kessler and Tim McGee, who all received cum laude awards; Samantha Rettie, another eighth-grader, received the magna cum laude award, and ninth-grader Lydia Williams received the gold summa cum laude award.

Students receiving awards based on their performance in the Latin II exam included eighth-grader Natalia St. Lawrence, who received the cum laude award, and Emma Solomon and Chloe Gbai, who both received magna cum laude awards.

Gabbi Bertone, an 11th-grader, received the cum laude award in the Latin IV poetry exam.

The Harvey School Early Music Ensemble will present their spring concert on Sunday, May 18th, at 4:00 p.m. in the Black Box Theatre in the Arts Center. The ensemble will perform music from five centuries beginning with Gregorian Chant and closing with the United States premiere of the original version of Scott Joplin’s “Ragtime Dance”. Other featured selections will be three scenes from “The Beggar’s Opera” [a Baroque period musical comedy], early colonial American songs and dances, and music from the time of the American Civil War.

The 36 member ensemble includes singers, instrumentalists and dancers from both the upper and middle schools. Susan Daily is director of the ensemble and Melanie Gambino is the ensemble’s historical dance choreographer.