Our HISTORY

John L. Miner (1916–1926)

John L. Miner was appointed as the school’s first headmaster when its doors opened in October 1916, with an enrollment of four boys. Mr. Miner served the school for 10 years before leaving to establish Greenwich Country Day School, originally known as The Harvey School of Greenwich.

Herbert Swift Carter II (1926–1938)

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, and in 1926, he succeeded Mr. Miner as headmaster.

Leverett T. Smith (1938–1963)

In 1938, the school came under the leadership of Mr. Leverett T. Smith who served until 1963. In 1947, the Carter family sold the school, established a board of trustees and joined the ranks of private independent schools operating as a not-for-profit organization. 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 120 acres.

Frank M. Perrine* (1963–1964)

* interim head

E. Bradley Richardson (1964–1969)

Harry A. Dawe (1969–1984)

As the school began transitioning to being primarily a day school, Harry A. Dawe was appointed headmaster in 1969; it was his objective to continue the transition and the growth of enrollment while retaining the residential environment.

Thomas J. Fulton* (1984–1985)

Barry W. Fenstermacher (1986–2016)

During the 30-year tenure (1986-2016) of school head Barry W. Fenstermacher, the school's enrollment more than doubled and an international student program was added. The campus facilities were improved dramatically and new land for athletic fields was acquired. The addition of the Krasne Middle School building allowed the Middle School, grades 6-8, to expand and to move into attractive and well-designed classrooms in 2001. The construction of the award-winning Walker Center for the Arts in 2005 has provided unmatched learning space for studio, music and dramatic-arts education. It also provides outreach to the community through its programming and performance spaces. The Barry W. Fenstermacher Athletic Center, completed in 2012, features two basketball courts, a fitness room, expanded locker room space and a state-of-the-art trainer's room. This center not only provides ample facilities for Harvey’s athletes, but also has allowed the school to expand its community outreach.

William J. Knauer
(2016–present)

When Harvey began its second hundred years, it did so with a new head of school, William J. Knauer, who holds two master’s degrees, one in English and another in education. He also has a certification from Columbia University in computer technology and a Diploma de Cultura from the University of Madrid. Mr. Knauer comes to Harvey after serving four years as head of the Benjamin Franklin International School, a coed day school of 670 students in Barcelona, Spain.