Harvey Celebrates Founding

The Harvey School will celebrate its founding and its 92nd consecutive year as a private preparatory school by asking two of its youngest students to cut a special “Founders’ Day” cake on February 28.

Two sixth-graders, Emily Silk and Wit Geffs, will cut the birthday cake, and join in the celebrations, which will include an assembly, led by the school’s Headmaster, Barry Fenstermacher, as well as some activities centered on the school’s history.

Founders’ Day was a tradition established by the Dr. and Mrs. Herbert Carter, the founders of the school, celebrated in February each year, and observed with a special flat cake cut by the youngest in the school. Harvey celebrated this day for its first fifty years, and recently brought back the tradition.

The school, founded in 1916 by Herbert Carter, a New York City-based pediatrician, was originally intended as a place of learning for students with physical handicaps, but after Dr. Carter’s death in 1927, the emphasis was placed on educating boys in grades 4 through 8, and preparing them for prominent boarding schools in the Northeast.

A ninth grade was added in 1970, and in 1979, the tenth grade and girls were added, then eleventh grade the following year, and the twelfth grade in 1981.

The school currently offers sixth- through 12th-graders a nurturing environment where they can grow both academically and socially, and engage in challenging courses and various out-of-class activities. An optional five-day residential program for students in grades 7 through 12 is also available.

The school also offers a number of Advanced Placement courses, has three Internet-accessible labs, and a 25,000-square-foot arts center, which enhances its already competitive performing arts curriculum. The school’s sports program includes offerings in baseball, basketball, cross-country, field hockey, football, ice hockey, lacrosse, rugby, skiing, soccer, softball, and tennis.