About

We are FCDS

Fairfield Country Day School provides an educational community dedicated to the personal growth and intellectual development of boys. Our balanced and challenging program is designed to help each student expand his desire and ability to acquire knowledge, stimulate his curiosity and creativity, and enhance his self esteem and respect for others. Each boy’s individual development is encouraged in an environment that anticipates the future while appreciating the past.

Our History

List of 3 items.

  • Educating Boys since 1936

    Originally located on Unquowa Road in downtown Fairfield, Fairfield Country Day School opened with 26 boys.

    The School grew quickly in its early years and in 1949, the need for more space prompted the acquisition of the Bronson Estate, the current home of the School. The historic main building of the School was originally the home of Timothy Dwight, minister of Greenfield Congregational Church and later president of Yale University. Isaac Bronson then purchased the property and expanded the estate to become the Bronson Homestead. Many of the original architectural details remain as part of the beautiful historic main building of the School today.

  • A Commitment to Excellence

    Throughout its history, Fairfield Country Day School has maintained its commitment to academic excellence by providing progressive resources that have evolved with the needs of the students. The School's programs have grown to serve boys in grades Kindergarten through Ninth, in three focused divisions:

    the Lower, Middle, and Upper Schools.

    Fairfield Country Day School is incorporated in the state of Connecticut and is governed by a twenty-one member Board of Trustees. The school is accredited by the Connecticut Association of Independent Schools and approved by the Connecticut State Department of Education. FCDS is also a member of the National Association of Independent Schools, the Fairchester Independent Schools, and the International Coalition of Boys’ Schools.

  • National Recognition

    Fairfield Country Day School has been recognized by the Smithsonian Institute for its participation in the laptop program and by the Council for the Advancement of Education for the School’s exemplary development of voluntary support.
Fairfield Country Day School was founded in 1936 by Laurence W. Gregory, a 1909 graduate of Yale University, "...to provide superior academic instruction to boys in an environment that fosters the scholastic and extra-curricular activity of each boy."

Core Competencies

  • Scholarship

    Our goal is to ensure proficiency in each discipline. As a school for boys we value participation in the arts and athletics. Attending to boys’ needs requires a balance between traditional teaching methodology and new educational trends. Approaches include interdisciplinary teaching, experiential education, student driven teaching environments, use of technology, and fostering intellectual curiosity. We create a lifelong love of learning in each boy.

  • Resilience

    FCDS students are adaptable, resourceful and responsive to varied experiences and outlooks. Exposure to setbacks promotes personal and academic growth and allows boys to meet future challenges.

  • Stewardship

    Our boys acknowledge and act on social, political, economic, and environmental concerns on both local and global scales and become citizens who consistently engage in meaningful service to others.

  • Leadership

    Leadership is a responsibility that fosters gentlemanly bearing and strong interpersonal relationships among peers, faculty and staff as well as those outside of our school’s community. Boys are given numerous opportunities to take initiative.

  • Digital Citizenship

    We promote the ethical and judicious use of tools to accomplish a variety of goals. Among those should be the ability to access, evaluate and share content responsibly. With these tools, FCDS students learn to engage productively and positively in multiple spheres, ranging from the personal to the global.

  • Empathy

    FCDS students are open‐minded and fair when faced with diverse ideologies, perspectives, and opinions. They are respectful and value the differences of others.

  • Collaboration

    By collaborating, students develop their potential for learning. Through cooperation, boys learn to consider other’s perspectives. Working together fosters teamwork, empathy, adaptability, and listening skills.

  • Critical Thinking

    An FCDS student develops critical thinking skills by learning to evaluate and analyze information, asking meaningful questions, and reasoning systematically. In doing this, our students are capable of solving problems, independently and collaboratively. Critical thinking fosters curiosity and a love of learning.

  • Creativity

    FCDS provides an environment that cultivates each boy’s desire to explore and dream, which enables him to pursue or find his passions. Our goal is to foster each boy’s innate imagination allowing him the freedom to create original work, problem solve and innovate.

  • Communication

    An FCDS student communicates effectively through oral, written and technological means. The ability to be a thoughtful and confident public speaker, as well as a listener, along with written and digital methods of communication enhances a boy’s 21st century skills.

FCDS Traditions

List of 4 items.

  • Public Speaking

    Clear, effective personal communication is considered an essential component of a Fairfield Country Day School education. Every FCDS student participates in the public speaking program. Younger boys recite poems. Middle and Upper School boys debate current issues in all school assemblies. Students in eighth and ninth grade write and deliver their own speeches to the school body. Every voice is heard. Every voice is strengthened.

  • Family Style Lunch

    On a communal basis, what really makes a day interesting at FCDS is when we all come together. This is especially noteworthy at lunch where we dine family-style. The boys have assigned seats, with a mix of boys from each grade, and a teacher at every table.

    There are many factors that make our lunch unique. Before lunch begins, a non-denominational grace is said by all. During the first seating, a manner-of-the-week is suggested by a young student and fourth grade students serve as waiters. The second lunch seating incorporates boys in grades 5 – 9. During the course of the school year, each boy has the opportunity to serve as a waiter and to be seated with every teacher. The benefits we all derive from this experience are numerous, but most importantly it gives teachers and students a forum to come together and get to know each other a little better outside of the classroom.

    Family-style lunch reinforces the concept of community while fostering respect for individuals. We value this time within our busy days.

  • Link Days

    Fostering the sense of community at FCDS, Link Days, which pairs students from different grades together, occur at least twice a year. Seventh graders may spend the morning reading with first graders, fifth graders may work on art projects with kindergarteners for example. Regardless of the specific projects, all of the boys have the opportunity to bond with a student from a different division. These connections remain throughout the school year and often over the course of many years.

  • Advisor Program

    The mission of Fairfield Country Day’s Advisor Program is to provide each student in grades six through nine with a resource of faculty support for both academic and personal reasons. Advisor groups consist of six to eight students and one faculty member. The groups meet on a daily basis for group discussion and individual students meet with their advisor on a regular basis. In addition to being an important resource for the boys, there is also an element of fun that brings the entire advisor program together – the spring Wiffle Ball Tournament. The Wiffle Ball Tournament has become an annual tradition that faculty and students enthusiastically participate in on Friday afternoons throughout the spring.

Motto -

We Are Judged by Our Deeds

Honor Code -

Integrity, Scholarship, and Respect

Fairfield Country Day School

2970 Bronson Road, Fairfield, CT 06824