History and Mission
The mission of The Harvey School is to help students of varying abilities maximize their potential as they prepare for successful college and university careers as well as adulthood. Through a program of academic challenge, faculty support, and out-of-class activities, Harvey encourages students to find the best of what is within them and to develop the confidence and ability to try new things and to master them. eHarvey is an extension of that mission. By giving students a broad choice of courses and allowing them to work at their own pace, on their own time and at their preferred location, eHarvey offers students a unique opportunity to reach their academic potential.
The Harvey School was founded by Dr. Herbert Carter in 1916 as a residential school for boys, enrolling students through the secondary grades. Dr. Carter, a New York City pediatrician, built the school at his farm in Hawthorne, New York. His intention was to provide a country environment and an educational program for his son, Herbert Swift Carter, Jr., who was limited from strenuous physical activity due to a childhood illness. The school was named for Sir William Harvey (1578-1657), personal physician of King Charles I, who claimed to be the first to describe the mechanics of blood circulation. Dr. Harvey’s discoveries and methods established him as one of the fathers of modern medical science.
The Harvey School soon established a reputation for providing a sound, traditional education of the English prep school style in a small residential setting.
The school continued operating at the Hawthorne location until 1959, when construction of a highway cloverleaf interchange pre-empted the school’s property. The search for a new site led to the former Sylvan Weil Estate in Katonah, where the school resides today on more than 100 acres.
In 1973 the school added a ninth grade, and in 1979 the remaining secondary grades were established. Harvey began admitting girls as day students when it began operating as a full high school; this transition, which served as a challenge to the administration and trustees, was further complicated by a fire that destroyed the school’s central building.
The current Headmaster, Barry W. Fenstermacher, was appointed in 1986, and under his leadership the campus has developed further with the same mission – development of a quality “country school” offering a five-day residential dimension close to the metropolitan New York area. In March 2005, a new arts center was completed to provide an environment for art, dance, music and dramatic arts education and performance. The architecture of the $6m theatre earned a silver prize for its design.
eHarvey was founded in 2004 with the purpose of bringing Harvey’s highly successful philosophy of educating students with varying learning styles to a wider audience. eHarvey has facilitated opportunities for extra help and summer school for Harvey students and non-Harvey students alike.
Summer 2010 brings a greatly expanded summer school program, credit recovery program and online high school with additional offerings in foreign language, science courses and English language arts. Our online methodology has proven to be so successful, that we are beginning our online high school in the Fall of 2010.
