Tuition, Fees, and Payment Information

Enrollment contracts for the 2025-2026 school year became binding on June 1.

Deposits made with your enrollment contract are applied toward your tuition, and are non-refundable and non-transferable.

Payment schedules: June 1 is the first due date for tuition payments. Please refer to your enrollment contract for your selected payment plan.

• Annual: Single payment, due June 1.
• Bi-annual: Two payments. 60% due June 1, 40% due December 1.
• Monthly: Eight payments, due June 1 through January 1.
• Enrollment contracts signed after June 1 will select a payment plan and make payments to “catch up” to the schedule already in progress.

Fees: Bi-annual and Monthly plans include mandatory Tuition Refund Plan (TRP). The Tuition Refund Plan (TRP) is administered by A.W.G. Dewar, Inc. and provides insurance against tuition payments for any portion of the school year that cannot be completed due to prolonged medical absence, dismissal, or withdrawal from school. Participation is recommended for all families regardless of payment plan selection. This protects both the family and the School from an unexpected change in enrollment during the academic year. TRP fees are equal to 1.75% of total tuition. Please note: Families who select the Annual Plan and do not make payment in full by June 1 are subject to installment and TRP fees.

The Bi-annual Payment Plan and the Monthly Payment Plan also require that you register for automatic deductions using the AutoPay function in VC Pay. Even if you were signed up for AutoPay last year, you still need to sign for AutoPay for the 2025-2026 school year. VC Pay can be found on the Patriot Portal. You should have received instructions on how to sign up when your invoice was posted on the Patriot Portal.

Installment payment/ACH fees are equal to 2.00% of the total tuition and are charged for the convenience of extending tuition payments beyond June 1.

Billing Terms

The school’s billing terms are unchanged for the 2025-2026 school year:

• Payment notifications will be sent out approximately 10 days in advance of the due date.
• The due date for tuition payments and fees is the 1st day of the month.
• A late fee of $125 will be assessed on all balances not paid by the due date. There is no grace period after the due date.

Other Fees: Invoices for Extended Care, Enrichment Clubs and lunches (preschools only) will be billed separately on an Incidentals invoice and will also be posted in the Patriot Portal. Incidental charges appear in the next monthly statement after the charge is incurred. For example, a charge incurred in September would appear on your October bill, is due on November 1st, and late fees would apply on all balances unpaid after November 1st.

While AutoPay is not required for Incidentals charges at this time, we do encourage you to set up AutoPay for your Incidentals invoice as it is more streamlined for you and the Academy. Please note that VC Pay requires you to separately set up Auto Pay for both your Tuition and Incidentals invoices. Also, VCPay requires households to set up Auto Pay each year. While this requires additional time, it is meant to protect households and ensure only authorized withdrawals are made from household banking accounts. Payment may also be made using cash or check.

Bus Transportation (K-8) Fees: Connecticut families who elect to use bus service for transport to and/or from campus are charged bus transportation fees. (New York provides this service for their residents at no extra charge, and the Town of Ridgefield subsidizes a portion of the cost for Ridgefield residents.)

Fees for bus transportation will appear as an incidental on fall invoices and are payable one month after billing. More information on this service, including 2025-2026 fees can be found here.

School Attendance and School Records

Class attendance is conditional upon maintaining a current balance. Balances left overdue for extended periods may result in students not being able to attend classes until the account balance is brought current.

Additionally, any households with past due tuition and/or incidentals balances after January 1st will be unable to enroll in spring break camps, summer camps and extended care. Re-enrollment contracts will not be sent to any families who have delinquent balances after January 1st.

Questions?

Please contact us and let us know how we can help.
Tuition, billing, and online accounts: Linda LaFonte | llafonte@ridgefieldacademy.org | 203.894.1800 x105
Bus transportation: Larry Curry | lcurry@ridgefieldacademy.org | 203.894.1800 x110
K-8 Extended Day: Sara Abriola | sabriola@ridgefieldacademy.org | 203.894.1800 x106
Ridgefield Preschool Extended Day: Sara Abriola | sabriola@ridgefieldacademy.org | 203.894.1800 x106
Westport Preschool Extended Day: Janet Wilson | jwilson@landmarkpreschool.org | 203.226.6982
Bedford Preschool Extended Day: Sarah McKimmie | smckimmie@landmarkpreschool.org | 914.234.2300