Campus Culture
RCDS is a place where it is cool to be smart, and where
opportunities are almost limitless. The dress code is relaxed, but the
community's sense of hard work and values are clear. RCDS football players are
singers, and its musicians are world-class physicists. Although RCDS traces a
long history back to 1869, we have a history of changing and adjusting to the
conditions of contemporary times. Technology is a pervasive piece of the RCDS
school culture. RCDS is a wireless dual
platform laptop community, and there is an entire electronic world, filled with
political, academic, and social chatrooms that exist in the school's network.
Technology has not replaced the value of personal contact at RCDS, rather it
has strengthened it. Tools like Smartboards and laptops are living examples of
the school's belief in both the traditional and innovative teaching methods
espoused by our Mission Statement.
Lower School
The Lower
School is first and
foremost a nurturing place. When a young child is socially happy and eager to
come to school, great academic advancements can follow. Although we hold all
children to high standards in the Lower
School, our faculty has a keen sense
of the learning continuum for Lower
School children, and
teachers do not force kids beyond what is developmentally appropriate for them.
However, RCDS students emerge from our Lower school healthy, happy, and solidly
grounded with a foundation for higher-level learning.
Middle School
The RCDS
Middle School is
fundamentally a responsive place. The Middle School faculty understands when to
challenge and when to support this crucial developmental stage. The Middle
School is a fairly structured environment, as structure is a key foundation for
learning at this age. However, the laptop program begins in Seventh Grade, and
students begin to have significant elective choices in both Seventh and Eighth
grade. Furthermore, interscholastic sports teams emerge in Seventh and Eight
grade, and the students have their first exposure to true academic exams. All
of this leaves them solidly grounded for our Upper School.
Upper School
The Upper
School is a place where
students refine and present the excellence of their passions in remarkable
ways. Although guided by the omnipresent boundaries of a college-preparatory
curriculum, Upper
School students can carve
both academic and co-curricular paths that meet their individual goals. A web
of adult supports ensures no one falls through the cracks, while creating an
environment that affords more space and more freedom than our Middle School.
The Upper School faculty works hard to ensure that
its students not only meet the challenge of a remarkably challenging academic
program, but that they have time to appreciate the joys of adolescence. This
balance is constantly evolving under the guidance of thoughtful leadership -
from both students and adults. Student ideas play out in real ways in the Upper School,
where new clubs, activities, and projects will change every year based on the
passions of its students.
