Message from the Head of School

We often talk about what a unique and special place The Harvey School is, but 2020 has turned out to be unique for myriad reasons that extend far beyond the boundaries of our idyllic campus on the hill.

As Harvey’s chief storyteller, my task is to distill this year into a brief but meaningful narrative and thank each and every one of you for the critical role that you played.

We began the school year with gratitude as our central theme. Both personally and professionally, I believe that we closed this year with a profound sense of gratitude for our community and all that we accomplished together against the backdrop of a global pandemic and social and political unrest. In such unsettling times, it is natural to consider the impact these disruptions or upheavals have on our own lives. What has most impressed me is that as a community, Harvey has embodied the idea that by working together we become more resilient and more hopeful, confident that together our efforts can make a difference, whether by volunteering or making a gift. In recognition of that ideal, we have renamed our Annual Report as The Harvey School Donor Impact Report since this title better reflects the profound effects of our collective dedication to our school and to each other.

Looking back on some highlights of the year, we are most grateful and proud of the turnout and enthusiasm generated by our Annual Spring Benefit, Harvey with Heart, and the impact it had on our school community. More than 300 parents, alumni, faculty, staff, trustees, and friends of the school gathered virtually to celebrate our dedicated and talented faculty and to raise more than $320,000 in their honor. Our hockey team turned the tides at the Fairchester Athletic Association championship, clinching the title and effectively closing Harvey’s athletic season for the year with an inspired victory that coincided with a culminating celebration of Evarts Rink’s 50th anniversary. The continued generosity of our current parents and alumni not only enabled us to raise more than $400,000 for the Weil House & Barn Complex but also brought us very close to reaching our pre-pandemic Annual Fund goal. We cannot talk about the cohesion or resilience of our community without grateful nods to the creativity and innovation of our remarkable faculty and to the flexibility of our students and their families with respect to the success of Harvey’s distance learning. The partnership created between the faculty and their students endures even from a distance to help students discover their dreams and develop the courage to chase them and to provide the support students need to find their own voices and use them for good in the world.

The current global climate has created a great shift not only in how we view the world but also in how we experience it. We are pushed to assess and reassess our prior knowledge in search of ways to move beyond the challenges we face and become stronger in the process. I have no doubt that Harvey will continue to serve as an example of the impact of hope and community. Perhaps the most important lesson we are learning through all this is that we do not just live within our communities, but our communities live within us as well. Thank you for all you have done for Harvey, particularly during these unprecedented times. We are grateful that with your support we ended the 2020 academic year with a sense of optimism and renewed confidence in the value of Harvey’s mission and the strength and resilience of our community.

With kind regards,

William J. Knauer, Head of School