History

The Country School was founded in 1955 by a group of parents and educators dedicated to quality education and interested in providing an environment where children could develop their full potential. They believed that through individual attention and strong relationships, Country School teachers would be able to reach the minds of young children, developing their natural enthusiasm for learning.

The first year, school was held in two rented classrooms in a house in Stony Creek, with one teacher, Katherine DeFrancis, teaching 13 children in seven different grade levels. The second year, a 15-acre parcel of land was purchased on Opening Hill Road in Madison, David MacLane was appointed Headmaster, and The Country School as we know it today began to take shape.

The late Charles Twichell, a trustee and teacher during the school’s early years, recalled the excitement that gripped all involved with the growth of The Country School:

Trustees, parents, and faculty labored, often with bare hands, to create buildings, improve grounds, develop a curriculum. And the children, aware that each step was a “first,” were excited, too. You parents surely want a school where the excitement of learning and the excitement of creation are part of your children’s day. Every community wants such a school. The children in it will see taking place around them the very process of change and growth, or re-evaluation and redefinition, that will surely characterize their adult lives.

Over the years, the school has indeed changed and grown as it re-evaluated and redefined itself. Today, The Country School serves 200 students from more than 20 Connecticut communities on what is now a 23-acre campus. Following the whole child model, the school’s rigorous curriculum features traditional academic subjects as well as rich offerings in the arts, athletics, STEAM (cross-curricular science, technology, engineering, the arts, and math), outdoor education, leadership training, and public speaking. To this day, The Country School remains a place where “the excitement of learning and the excitement of creation” are part of every child’s day.

These days, as The Country School marks its 60th anniversary, our school's campus itself is a source of excitement. Recently, the school embarked on its largest-ever capital campaign and campus enhancement project, a plan that is transforming our physical space and campus footprint as well as our students' experience.