After a national search in partnership with DovetailED and Carney, Sandoe & Associates, Rye Country Day School is pleased to announce that Tom Curran, currently Director of Athletics at Fairfield College Preparatory School in Fairfield, CT, will be Rye Country Day School's next Director of Athletics starting in July 2025.

Since 2014, Mr. Curran has presided over FP’s active athletic program that has earned 21 Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference (CIAC) State Championship titles, 22 CIAC State Runners-up honors, and 43 Southern Connecticut Conference championship trophies. Prior to being promoted to director, he served as Assistant Athletic Director for three years. He was also Head Varsity Tennis coach, Head Freshman Basketball coach, and an assistant Varsity and JV Basketball coach.

Mr. Curran is a strategic, visionary leader, and his eleven years at the helm of FP athletics have been marked by notable program growth. He oversaw two expansive renovations of the Lavery Fitness Center, transitioned two fields to artificial turf, and served on the leadership team tasked with envisioning FP’s newest building, the Barron Center for Arts & Recreation. Slated to open in the fall of 2026, the 47,000-square-foot athletics and theatre complex will feature a multi-use gymnasium, providing ample space for sports, strength and conditioning, theater productions, concerts, and other large community gatherings.

Mr. Curran has also worked closely with the administration at Fairfield University, FP’s founding parent institution, to ensure smooth transitions from high school to college for alumni continuing on to Fairfield’s Division I athletics. To support seniors heading to other institutions of higher education, Mr. Curran collaborates closely with College Counseling, and FP boasts a strong college-bound athletes list every year. Always focused on evolving athletics in the best interest of student-athletes, Mr. Curran founded both the Fairfield Prep Football and Rugby Youth summer camps and the Northeast Jesuit Rugby Tournament. He also partnered Fairfield Prep with Visionary Physical Therapy for Athletic Training and KMK Training for strength and conditioning.

A firm believer in the value of service and the unique opportunity that athletes have to develop their sense of public purpose, Mr. Curran partnered with local community organizations and schools to provide service opportunities for all Fairfield Prep teams.

Demonstrating his staunch belief in the role of athletics as a valuable component of a student’s overall excellence, Mr. Curran has a track record of productive cross-departmental collaboration with colleagues in academic divisions, advancement, marketing and communications, and enrollment management. Mr. Curran’s partnership with his admissions counterparts has given him insight into the experiences and conditions that benefit middle school students looking to pursue athletics in high school. He is extremely eager to oversee Rye Country Day’s Pre-K - Grade 12 athletics strategy, with special attention to augmenting the Middle to Upper School athletics experience.

Mr. Curran’s hallmark is his high regard for data and analytics to give athletics a learning element similar to academic courses. He fully implemented Hudl performance analysis technology, as well as Teambuildr and RIIP (Reduce Injuries Improve Performance) Reps online strength and conditioning software, so athletes could observe their performance and intentionally set and achieve goals with coach mentorship. For Mr. Curran, knowing how to get and analyze information about one’s performance and developing the ability to derive key areas of improvement are transferable skills that support student success well beyond the athletic sphere.

Mr. Curran holds a B.A. from Quinnipiac University, where he was a two-year captain of the Northeast Conference (NEC) championship-winning tennis team and a four-year All-NEC honoree. During his high school years at Fairfield Prep, Mr. Curran was a captain on both the Varsity Tennis and Basketball teams. He resides in Fairfield, CT, with his wife, Denise, and their two children, Coco and Danny.

We look forward to having Tom Curran join the RCDS community in July.