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After class president and Irvington resident Brendan Kneitz banged the gavel to call the meeting to order, he introduced Headmaster Barry Fenstermacher, who greeted 350 students and the staff gathered in the Lasdon Theater in The Walker Center for the Arts.
"Wonderful to welcome all of you -- new students as well as returning students," said Fenstermacher. "Whatever didn't go great for you last year, or whatever did go great for you last year, you get to do it all over now with more knowledge than you had then, and things should be better and easier for you as a result."
Fenstermacher welcomed a new global contingent of six students who are members of the school’s International Student Program and who hail from China, Taiwan, Korea and Germany.
They join six Chinese students returning to Harvey for their second year as sophomores and juniors, bringing the total number of international students at Harvey to 12. Addressing the six new students from abroad, the headmaster said, "It's our goal to make each of you feel less like a new student and more like a returning student as fast as possible.”
Before dismissing the students to begin their first day of classes, Fenstermacher gave them a send-off message emphasizing that tolerance within a diverse school community is a Harvey core value.
"It's important to recognize that Harvey is big enough to have lots to share and small enough to do it in a way that shows respect from one person to the next," said Fenstermacher.
The Harvey School, located on a wooded, 125-acre campus on Route 22, is an independent coeducational college-preparatory school for students in grades six through 12.
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