student life

Learning happens in many different ways at Rocky Hill Country Day School. Students join clubs and go on field trips.  They explore the world with class trips near and far.  They serve our local community helping many different organizations with service and outreach.  Rocky Hill Country Day students are globally-minded citizens becoming leaders in our community as well as experiencing the world around them.

CLUBS

Rocky Hill Upper School students playing Spikeball during a club outdoors in front of Flynn

Students collaborate with faculty to design clubs based on their passions and interests, thereby developing their leadership and organizational skills. Clubs vary, but perennial favorites are the French Club, Yearbook, Robotics, Math Team, and the Health and Wellness Club. Students are invited to start their own clubs at Rocky Hill Country Day.

FIELD TRIPS

Offering over 90 off-campus learning experiences delivering a fun, real-world learning model for our students, Rocky Hill Country Day designs curriculum to integrate the outside world, acknowledging that learning happens in all moments and in any place or space. Each year, our students and teachers select trips that are driven by student interest and are identified as places that elevate the learning experience. Field trips range from coastal habitats, to engineering labs, to national conferences and art galleries; even Legoland.

Rocky Hill students exploring the outdoors on a field trip

SIGNATURE TRIPS

LOWER & MIDDLE SCHOOL

LOWER SCHOOL
ENVIRO-ED
WEEK
Each year as part of our Environmental Education Program, students in the 4th and 5th grade integrate history and environmental science both on land and from the waters of the Green River to Narragansett Bay. Students canoe, camp overnight, and experience the benefits of our Rhode Island shoreline on and off campus as their outdoor classroom.
MIDDLE SCHOOL
ENVIROWEEK
With the Potowomut River estuary, Narragansett Bay, and woodlands of southern Rhode Island serving as classrooms, the Middle School launches the school year with Enviroweek, venturing outside of the school walls to conduct field surveys, collect and record data, and learn about each of these environments from many different perspectives.
NATURE'S
CLASSROOM
Each winter the 7th-grade class spends three days and two nights at Nature’s Classroom in Charlton, Massachusetts with a focus on winter ecology. As a part of their environmental education, students look at ways in which organisms have adapted to the harsh conditions of a New England winter.
QUEBEC CITY
A highlight of students’ 8th grade year is the trip to Quebec City where they explore this historic, French-speaking city in all of its winter glory. Cultural and historical experiences abound, including a tour of Old Quebec City, dining on regional cuisine, and braving the cold for a fun night of tubing, making it an unforgettable adventure!

SIGNATURE TRIPS

UPPER SCHOOL

FRESHMAN TRIP
At the beginning of the year, freshman spend three days at the Berkshire Outdoor Center. Students participate in team-building activities such as orienteering, raft building, and challenging activities such as the Alpine Tower, so that students get a chance to meet their classmates and make friends.
SOPHOMORE TRIP
Emphasizing our commitment to service, sophomores spend three days on a service learning trip to Gifts to Give. They reflect on the needs of others, and how to directly make an impact on those needs, all while putting in some hands-on hard work to benefit a community.
JUNIOR TRIP
As a preview to their year of studying American history and literature, juniors explore our nation’s culture and history throughout New England. Activities may include a walking tour of the points of historical and cultural interest in Boston, sailing on a historic schooner, and a white water rafting excursion.
SENIOR TRIP
Our senior class celebrates their upcoming graduation with a local trip for a fun day. This offers the class the opportunity to enjoy their friends as they reminisce about their time at Rocky Hill Country Day. Each year, students help decide the location for their senior trip.

community service

ROocky Hill student performing community service during a field trip

Our community service programs are integral parts of our students’ experiences. With dedicated community service coordinators, all students in Nursery-12 participate in service initiatives which offer meaningful real-world connections and problem-solving opportunities. Our students have impacted our community organizations such as:

  • Welcome House in Wakefield
  • Communities for People
  • American Heart Association 
    Rhode Island Food Bank and local pantries
  • JDRF
  • Nursing homes
  • Animal shelters

Students in the Upper School are required to complete 40 hours of documented community service over the course of four years, prior to graduation. The Community Service Coordinator helps freshmen identify an area of interest and connects them with an organization where they can perform service.

LEADERSHIP OPPORTUNITIES

Leadership at Rocky Hill Country Day is developed through a variety of experiences, both peer-elected and self-initiated at all grade levels. Students have many opportunities to lead in small groups, with our ‘buddies’ model both at lunchtime and to develop a love of reading and literacy, leading morning meetings, and as school or class ambassadors. From the athletic fields. courts, and classrooms, our students are developing capacities to lead in a variety of settings.

Rock Hill Student Council in a meeting

SELECTED | ELECTED

STUDENT COUNCIL

Consisting of two chambers, Student Life and Policy, the Student Council works to promote school spirit and proposes initiatives for the good of the community.

PREFECTS

Prefects are members of the rising senior class who are elected by the student body in grades 8-12 to lead the Student Council and serve on the Disciplinary Committee.

NATHAN HALE

Middle and Upper School students gain valuable leadership skills as members of the Nathan Hale Society, working directly with the Admission Office to promote the School. 

PEER SELECTED | SELF INITIATED

CLUB LEADERS

Students collaborate with peers, develop club goals, and organize meeting times, activities, and share their interests and passions with the Rocky Hill Country Day community. 

PEER MENTORS/BUDDY PROGRAMS

From our youngest to our oldest students, Rocky Hill Country Day provides opportunities to mentor one another based on developmental age and stage, as well as mastery of specific subject matter or extracurricular skill sets. 

MEETING LEADERS

Students gather regularly in a variety of settings, offering students opportunities to facilitate meetings. Beginning at a young age, students practice communication and public speaking skills.

EQUITY & BELONGING

Rocky Hill Country Day believes that the educational outcomes of its students are directly dependent upon the active recognition, support, and fostering of the student body’s diverse backgrounds.

The School recognizes the broad spectrum of what makes people different, and through its discussion- and project-based curricular pedagogy, the School encourages its teachers to create an environment that is safe for, and receptive to, the sharing of ideas, experiences, and dialogue that will broaden the perspectives of different constituencies.

To achieve this, the School continues to make an active, educated, and collective commitment to work against forces of discrimination. As diversity enriches the quality of school life, it is the expectation that all members of the Rocky Hill Country Day community will favorably impact their extended communities and bring new meaning to the School’s motto, Know Thyself.

CONTACT US

If you have any questions, or would like to know more about Rocky Hill Country Day School, please fill out the form below.

Rocky Hill Country Day School

530 Ives Road
East Greenwich, RI 02818

Phone: 401.884.9070
Fax: 401.885.4985