November 2022 Volume 23 Issue 1
Crunching the Numbers: Mr. Brooks-Barr Arrives at Harvey By Emma Galgano On Sept. 20, The Pulse had the opportunity to interview the new Director of Finance and Operations, Mr. Alex BrooksBarr. While interviewing him, The Pulse learned about his life and hidden talents. Mr. Brooks-Barr grew up in the Finger Lakes region in a town called Skaneateles. It is a “small little village at the top of the lake with 10,000 people.” Following his graduation from high school, he then continued his academic life at the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg, Virginia. In college, Mr. Brooks-Barr was initially studying to become an environmental science major. But, he told The Pulse, “I didn’t really see a clear career path from it except teaching, which is something I didn’t want to do at the time. I went over and changed majors during my senior year to business administration. It gave me a clear career path and set me up, moving forward.” Mr. Brooks-Barr was also a tennis star in college. He was the No. 6 singles player, and in his sophomore year of college, he was named All-Conference player of the year. Mr. Brooks-Barr told The Pulse, “In college, I played varsity tennis. So, almost all of my extracurricular time was spent playing tennis. It was all year-round. We had fall ball, winter tournaments, and matches.” Now, Mr. Brooks-Barr only plays tennis “here and there.” His two younger sons, Liam, 11, and Oliver, 9, often encourage him to pick up a racket. However, since his sons are competitive basketball players, most of his weekends are spent getting them to different tournaments and watching them play.
When he is not playing tennis, he loves listening to music. Mr. Brooks-Barr said he has a turntable to play some of his favorite artists like Radiohead. Before coming to Harvey, Mr. Brooks-Barr worked at the Rebecca School, located in Midtown Manhattan, for eight and a half years. He stated, “It is a private school solely for students with special needs. It ranged from students three and a half to 21 years old.” It is a relatively small school, with 155 students and 175 staff members. Mr. Brooks-Barr always knew about The Harvey School. His in-laws live in Mahopac, New York, and he would always drive by Harvey and think “it was a beautiful campus,” and he “wondered what went on there, because it looked like a great environment for supporting education.” Then one day, he saw the Director of Finance and Operations position open up at Harvey on an independent school Listserv. Mr. Brooks-Barr said that it “looked like it entailed a lot of things similar to what I was doing at the Rebecca School, but it also looked like it could provide some professional growth. The more I researched The Harvey School, the more I appreciated the school model and programming.” But being the new Director of Finance and Operations is undoubtedly no easy job. On a daily basis, Mr. Brooks-Barr oversees the school safety department, the maintenance department, and the business office.
The Harvey School’s new Director of Finance and Operations, Mr. Alex Brooks-Barr. Photo courtesy of Mr. Brooks-Barr
student tuition. He also makes sure that staff and faculty at Harvey are supported. Despite the demands of the position, Mr. Brooks-Barr feels warmly welcomed by the Harvey community. Mr. Brooks-Barr stated, “You could go up and ask anyone anything school-related, and they will be able to help you and point you in the right direction.” Mr. Brooks-Barr told The Pulse, “From the faculty, staff, and parents to the board of trustees, who have had a legacy going back 20 to 30 years, all of us come together to form a unique place.” The Pulse would like to thank Mr. Brooks-Barr for his time and dedication to Harvey.
In the big picture, he monitors the budget, which includes making sure bills and teachers get paid and Harvey receives all
Dean Forde for the Future The Pulse interviewed Mr. Ricky Forde, the new Dean of Students, on Sept. 19. Mr. Forde worked for 22 years at a school in Manhattan as a physical education teacher and as an athletic director. Mr. Forde didn’t always want to be a teacher or dean. He said always told him he has a “knack” for teaching and being with children. Mr. Forde said, “Being a teacher is something I knew I wanted to do after playing basketball.” He played basketball at Iona College. When Mr. Forde was a child, he wanted to be a fighter pilot. This was due to his being an adrenaline junky. He still rides motorcycles on a regular basis and is not only a dean. Mr. Forde is also basketball coach for The Playmakers, who are an Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) team.
The Harvey School 260 Jay Street Katonah, NY 10536
Mr. Forde told The Pulse that he wants to bring more guest speakers to Harvey morning meetings. He also wants to work with the student government representatives to implement more activities for each grade.
By Jackson Saccomanno The Pulse asked Mr. Forde what he thought about the narrative that he is just here to punish students. To this, he responded, “Just because I’m the Dean of Students, it doesn’t mean it is a bad thing. I’m basically a representative of the students. That’s what it comes down to.”
Mr. Forde stated, “I’m excited to be here. It is a great space.” He believes there is a lot of potential in the Harvey community, and he wants to help our community grow and be the best that we can be. He told The Pulse that he is big on the little things, such as people saying “hello” to him in the morning and people being respectful. Outside of school, Mr. Forde has a wife and two daughters. One of his daughters is 16, and the other is 14. He also has an old dog. “Everyone wants me to talk about the dog,” he stated. Mr. Forde loves his family very much. He helps hisdaughters with homework and anything he can when he can. The commute is also a lot better for Mr. Forde
because Harvey is much closer than his last job. Anyone who has the chance to get to know Mr. Forde will notice his impressive sockgame. The Pulse asked him what his first pair of funky socks was, and he said it was polka dots. He found that these socks gave his outfits life and color. That is what gave him the inspiration to buy more funny socks and match them with the rest of his outfits. Mr. Forde told The Pulse, “Tell everyone to up their sock game.” Mr. Forde has already made a great impression on the Harvey community, and we look forward to getting to know him even more as the year goes on. Mr. Forde and junior Dylan Gueli Photo captured by Jackson Saccomanno