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Rocky Hill School

School Overview:

School Notes:

• The mission of Rocky Hill School is to educate the whole child-mind,body,and spirit. As a school community,we encourage our students to become good citizens and life-long learners, guiding them as they strive for knowledge and self-awareness.
  
  
  
  From the Headmaster:
  Rocky Hill School is a family-oriented and energized educational community. We are proud of our heritage, traditions, academic programs, and the people who create the pulse of our daily activity: faculty, students and parents. Together, we are dedicated to encouraging our students in their intellectual, physical, creative and community pursuits, which both support and challenge. We are a community that strives to demonstrate mutual respect for one another, as individuals, by incorporating kindness and caring into positive interactions among our classmates, teachers, mentors and colleagues.
  
  Visiting families often ask what makes Rocky Hill School unique. First and foremost, is our size, which affords us the opportunity to interact in small learning groups, provides us with an opportunity to connect with each of our students, and provides children with opportunities for growth they may not get at larger schools. At Rocky Hill, every child may participate in activities they have never tried before, encouraged, and supported, in the pursuit of individual interests. Valuing family is not a cliché here; it is reality. Rocky Hill School fits the concept of a true country day school and we intentionally want to retain who we are and what we do best, as we move forward in the 21st century. Secondly, we offer a superlative location, with almost one hundred acres along the Greene River and Narragansett Bay. We are, arguably, the best located school in Rhode Island, especially, in terms of our mission. Our curriculum is multifaceted, incorporating experiential learning; we are ideally located to take full advantage of the outdoor classroom concept. Our biology and marine science curriculum allow us to use our environment for on-task field work, while the river and bay serve as a water laboratory. Of prime importance to our uniqueness is the Rocky Hill School model for teaching and learning, which reflects our mission and builds on the two aforementioned qualities: size and location. Our collaborative model offers students and faculty the opportunity to interact with one another in round table, laboratory or mini-seminar style classrooms which encourages active and engaged participation among students and teachers. Our goal, throughout, is to remain true to our mission, and to graduate students who are self-advocates in their own learning.
  
  James J. Young, Headmaster
  
  The Rocky Hill School Model of Teaching:
  In the Upper School, The Rocky Hill School Model combines a vigorous approach to teaching and a state-of-the-art learning environment, integrated to create a unique synergy of people, principles, and practices. The Alan F. Flynn, Jr. Academic Center provides both a setting and an identity for the Model. The Harkness Table - an oval table with seating for 10-14 students plus a faculty member - serves as an anchor in our classrooms and laboratories, ensuring that students are focused, engaged, and accountable. Furthermore, the technology in our wireless environment provides myriad “anytime, anywhere” learning opportunities.
  
  Our approach centers on the meaningful interaction of students and faculty - a core characteristic of our curriculum at every level. The Rocky Hill School Model requires everyone in the classroom - teacher and student alike - to assume responsibility for learning. Students actively participate in the construction of their own understanding. The Harkness Table provides an energizing platform and level playing field for debate, discussion, listening, and collaboration. Indeed, The Rocky Hill School Model encourages all students to articulate and champion their own ideas, as well as listen and respond respectfully to their peers. For their part, our teachers guide students, evaluating each individual's progress as he or she strives toward intellectual independence and a lifetime of learning.
  
  Within The Rocky Hill School Model, the laptop/tablet becomes a far more potent version of the traditional notebook, with information organized and available at anytime, anywhere. The integrated use of technology enhances and encourages communication, investigation, and the sharing of ideas. Throughout the day and across the campus - indeed, across the world - our students access information and communicate instantly. In this way, Rocky Hill School students participate in a sophisticated dialogue with peers and teachers, promoting a deeper, richer understanding of the subject matter and of the individual's own experience. Wireless technology enables our students and teachers to communicate information and ideas in ways never before possible. Suddenly, distance learning becomes not only a reality, but a daily occurrence.
  
  The ultimate test of a pedagogy's effectiveness is the ability of an individual within that system to adapt successfully to changes in his or her environment. A critical element of The Rocky Hill School Model involves learning by doing. Authentic understanding is only accomplished through experience, and experience is only meaningful when students enjoy frequent and diverse opportunities to practice skills, test ideas, and apply knowledge. Our direct, hands-on approach to learning centers upon such experiences.
• Profile last updated: 01/16/2009

In the News:

• Your Neighbors (The Providence Journal)
  posted on May 24, 2009 at 01:16:16 am
  James MacDougald, a retired Air Force colonel who grew up in Rumford, and his wife, Michaele, have donated a 600-volume collection of books exploring the life and accomplishments of President Abraham Lincoln to Saint Raphael Academy in Pawtucket.
• Long before most boaters take to the water, high school sailors are braving the elements (The Providence Journal)
  posted on May 8, 2009 at 09:17:45 pm
  Sixteen high schools in Rhode Island offer sailing as a varsity or club sport.
• H.S. Boys Roundup: Putnam, Ellis Tech split double dip (The Norwich Bulletin)
  posted on May 5, 2009 at 03:45:19 am
  Dave Pelletier drove in seven runs, including a bases-clearing triple as part of a game-deciding fifth inning to lead the Ellis Tech baseball team over Putnam, 10-9, in the first game of a doubleheader Monday.
• H.S. Boys Roundup: Lancers' early leads holds up in win over Fitch (The Norwich Bulletin)
  posted on April 28, 2009 at 03:36:35 am
  Colin O’Keefe hit a two-run double and Brandon Fulton added an RBI groundout, staking the Waterford baseball team to an early lead in its 5-2 win over Fitch on Monday.

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