Stephen for Garvey

It is my privilege, on behalf of colleagues, students and parents to convey thanks to John Garvey for his outstanding 44 years of service to Brentwood. Mr. Garvey holds the longevity record of service for a faculty member in Brentwood history. Records are set to be broken, but here is one statistic that no one else can claim. He is the only member of faculty to have served under all of the first four Heads of School on the Mill Bay campus: David Mackenzie, Bill Ross, Andrea Pennells & Bud Patel. Educated in London and then Exeter University, Mr. Garvey spoke to the students recently about some recollections from his school days. What he did not tell them was he represented London Schools, English Universities & British Universities in soccer. That’s not easy to do by the way. Those select teams are tough to make! Mr. Garvey came to Brentwood with this background at age 24. He was the Assistant Houseparent of Privett from 1972 to ‘74. He was appointed Head of the Math Department at age 30 and Assistant Head of School at age 39 – the position he has held for 29 years until the present day. At various stages he has held many key responsibilities: Director of Athletics, Grad organizer, manager of discipline, and supervisor of the 3 am student departures for every major vacation. But there were several constants over that window from 1971 to 2015: there is the exceptional teacher of mathematics – that’s how his math colleagues view him, that’s how his students over the decades speak of his teaching. Then there is the inspirational coach. Great coaches don’t just know their game they have a feel for it, they can communicate it and they exude their love of the discipline. The athletes among you will know what I mean. And with all that comes the tremendous loyalty that athletes have for great coaches. Garv’s athletes over the years have revered him. And finally there is the outstanding leader. Mr Garvey has an eye for detail. His procedural memos have guided us as a school for decades, and he leads, as he teaches and coaches, by example. If there is a disliked task or an unpopular shift, Garv always assigns himself first. He has provided outstanding leadership amongst the faculty for decades. Furthermore, at times when things get a bit tense, Garv’s sense of humour surfaces and gets us laughing.   We’ll miss him! Thank you Garv. We have an award that is presented periodically, the Hugh Stephen Award. The rubric simply reads “In recognition of extraordinary service to Brentwood”. In the past 35 years it has been awarded 14 times to: ·   3 Heads of School: David Mackenzie, Bill Ross & Andrea Pennells. ·   5 Governors: Hugh Stephen, Maurice Young, Joe Briggs, Pip Holmes & Ward Phillips. ·   6 Teachers: Gil Bunch, Nick Prowse, Tony Carr, Jim Burrows, John Queen, & Gerry Pennells. It is awarded to the 15th recipient today: The Hugh Stephen Award is presented to John Garvey in recognition of 44 years of exceptional teaching, inspirational coaching and outstanding leadership. Mr. John Allpress, Deputy Head of School