Ridgefield Academy offers comprehensive Secondary School Admissions assistance to help prepare our students and their families for the challenges and opportunities that lay ahead. Based upon our experience and positive feedback from our alumni, we are confident this carefully sequenced process will present good insight into the world of secondary education and the selection of the right “fit.”
Not only do we provide a step-by-step calendar guide, but we also offer information on selection criteria, specific directions on obtaining information from secondary schools, a directory of schools, including admissions contact information. In addition, we review the interviewing process; what students should know about a school prior to their visit, and what questions may be asked of them.
Between the highly individualized process, the question and answer group sessions, and the visitation with a member of the Ridgefield Academy faculty, RA 8th grade students and their families can, we believe, make an informed decision about their future schooling.
Our students enjoy a 90% success rate for their first and second choice of secondary schools. In the last three years we have placed students at the following independent day and boarding schools:
Academy for Information Technology and Engineering (CT)
Andover (MA)
Avon Old Farms School (CT) Berkshire School (MA)
Brunswick Academy (CT)
Canterbury School (CT) Cardigan Mountain School (NH)
Chase Collegiate School (CT)
Cheshire Academy (CT)
Choate Rosemary Hall (CT)
Convent of the Sacred Heart (CT),
Deerfield Academy (MA)
Ethel Walker School (CT)
Exeter Academy (NH)
Fairfield College Preparatory School (CT)
Gould Academy (ME)
Green Farms Academy (CT)
Groton Academy (MA)
The Gunnery (CT) Hackley School (NY)
Harvey School (NY)
Hopkins School (CT)
Hotchkiss School (CT)
Immaculate High School (CT) Kent School (CT)
King School (CT)
| Lauralton Hall (CT)
Loomis-Chaffee School (CT)
Masters School (NY)
Millbrook School (NY)
Milton Academy (MA)
Miss Porter's School (CT)
Northfield Mount Herman (MA)
Pomfret School (CT)
Portsmouth Abbey School (RI)
Rye Country Day School (NY)
Salisbury School (CT)
St. Andrew’s School (DE)
St. Luke’s School (CT)
St. Mark's Academy (MA)
St. Paul's School (NH) Stanwich School (CT)
Suffield Academy (CT) Tabor Academy (MA)
Taft School (CT)
Westover School (CT)
Wooster School (CT)
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Our graduates have also attended some of the finest colleges and universities. A partial list includes:
American University Boston University
Carnegie Mellon University Centenary College of New Jersey
Colgate University
Columbia University
Cornell University
Dickinson College
Endicott College
Fairfield University
Fordham University George Washington University
Georgetown University
Grinnell College
Hamilton College Hampshire College
Harvard University
Hobart and William Smith Colleges
Indiana University
Ithaca College
James Madison University
Keene State College
Kenyon College Lafayette College
London Centre for Contemporary Music (UK)
Loyola College
Massachusetts Maritime Academy
| Manhattanville College
McGill University (Canada) Miami University The New School
Northeastern University North Toronto Collegiate Institute
NY Institute of Technology
NYU Tisch School of the Arts
New York University
Princeton University
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institutive Roger Williams University
Rollins College
Savannah College of Art & Design
Susquehanna University
University of California at Berkeley University of Colorado - Boulder
University of Connecticut University of Michigan
University of Richmond
University of Vermont
University of Washington
Wesleyan University
Union College
Vanderbilt University
Yale University
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Highlights of RA's Secondary School Process
- In the spring of the 7th grade year, parents will meet with Head of School, Mr. James P. Heus and Head of Middle and Upper Schools, Mr. Joe Perry to learn about the process
- Students will have weekly one-on-one meetings with Mr. Heus and/or Mr. Perry to discuss options
- Several evening information sessions are offered to parents and students
- Mr. Heus and/or Mr. Perry provide opportunities for students to join them on visits to secondary schools. In the spring, 7th graders have the opportunity to attend a group trip to boarding schools, while in the fall, 8th graders have the option to attend individual trips to independent day schools
- RA hosts the largest Secondary School Fair in the Fairfield area in early October