Welcome to Rippowam Cisqua School. We are delighted you have decided to learn more about our school. Rippowam Cisqua is a co-educational, independent day school with 510 students enrolled in PreKindergarten through ninth grade.

Although we have been in existence for almost a century, our mission and philosophy, and the teaching methodologies used by our highly experienced educators, embody the most current research into how children’s brains learn, and take into account what children need to know as they go forth as twenty first century learners. So what does this mean for your family?

You can be assured that we will partner with you to teach your child to be a critical thinker, not merely a recipient of a linear curriculum as set forth in many textbooks. We teach your child to think, rather than to memorize, and we make sure each child is an active participant in the process. Research shows us that critical thinking and communication skills will be the most important assets that our children can possess as they grow up in the twenty first century.

Learning at RCS is fun! Every lesson in every classroom is engaging and involves a multidisciplinary, multi-sensory, hands-on approach -- whether it is mastering the multiplication tables, learning about life in Mexico, designing a submarine, or learning about the American Revolution. Our students love to come to school and learn, and we know that a love of learning is also an essential component of a twenty first century learner.

We also know that your child needs to be confident as he or she goes forth into the unknown realm that is adulthood – the joy that comes from the knowledge that any challenge can be met and any problem can be solved – and that will also be part of your child’s experience at RCS. For our students, the correct answer is not the end of an inquiry but merely one part of the process in learning how to think. Right answers are good but so are wrong answers in that they show us what directions and strategies did not work as we continue to strive to find strategies that lead to the correct answers.

The final essential part of the RCS education is learning to get along with others. We feel strongly that your children, who as adults will be the caretakers of our world in the coming years, must understand that we as people are more the same than we are different and learn to behave accordingly. We must teach respect in our classrooms, and we do, and we must demonstrate to children the importance of getting along with others. All of the children at Rippowam Cisqua are very fortunate to be students at a school where they are loved and respected by their teachers, and nurturing those relationships with the adults in their lives and their fellow classmates is a responsibility that we take seriously. We also teach our students the importance of looking after others who may not have the same advantages that they do.

The magic happens on our Lower Campus with two full-time teachers in each classroom, and on our Upper Campus in classrooms with no more than 18 students per class. This favorable teacher-student ratio allows each student to be known, loved, and challenged, and to enjoy friendships with classmates as they work collaboratively not only in our classrooms but in our art studios, science labs, music rooms, and playing fields.

Please come visit our campuses for a tour and see what we mean when we say that RCS is the warmest, smartest, most wonderful place to be a child. We look forward to meeting you.