High School

Click here to view our School Information Presentation.

ECDS High School

ECDS HS Pic5 052417Easton Country Day School’s (ECDS) High School program strives to develop well rounded students capable of performing at the most competitive universities. To accomplish this goal, we emphasize an individualized, comprehensive curriculum and courses that challenge students, in the same manner, they will be tested at the post-secondary level. We specifically strive to exchange the ‘rote task and worksheet-driven’ approach, long practiced at far too many institutions, for a methodology that focuses on critical thinking and thoughtful analysis. We aim to have our students both rigorously challenged and highly engaged. Indeed, we exclusively admit those students who make a real commitment to their academic and personal growth. Ultimately, ECDS seeks to prepare and graduate students capable of excelling–regardless of which path in life they may choose.

High School Mission Statement

Easton Country Day School is an independent, coeducational elementary school for students Pre-Kindergarten through Grade 12. ECDS was founded by educators who wanted the best possible academic and social foundation for their own children, in a learning environment where the values taught at home were echoed and strengthened. ECDS strives to enable our students to develop to their full potential; academically, morally, creatively and physically, our students are in an environment that fosters respect and loving kindness. We aim to promote excellence in individual academic achievement in keeping with our school motto “Responsibility, Integrity, Community, Praxis.” We cultivate mutual respect and kindness, as well as civic responsibility in a multicultural environment where we can encourage the development of competent, caring, and responsible human beings.

ECDS HS Pic2 052417We strive to accomplish our mission by:
• Keeping our classes small so that each student receives plenty of individual attention.
• Employing only highly qualified and remarkably dedicated teachers whose exceptional skills are put to their best use.
• Integrating multi-leveled courses, together with an individualized hands-on, problem-solving approach to academics.
• Maintaining an active partnership with parents in setting and adhering to standards of conduct and attitude that reflect well on our collective belief in social responsibility.
• Attracting a multicultural community with talents capable of responding to an educational experience while also celebrating their cultural differences.
• Providing a non-sectarian yet spiritual environment where parents and students honor their personal beliefs and those of others without fear of crimination.

Here at ECDS, parents and teachers work together to raise competent, caring, and responsible human beings as we celebrate our differences and encourage each child to strive for personal excellence.

Quick Facts about ECDS High School

• Located in the town of Easton, Connecticut
• Later start time than most high schools to align with the latest neuroscientific research on the adolescent brain (8:40 a.m.)
• Highly skilled faculty who scaffold work seamlessly to accommodate each student’s abilities and needs
• College preparatory high school programming (e.g. AP and UConn college-credited courses)
• A focus on individualized personal attention for each student
• Educational programming based and developed on research-supported models of teaching and learning
• Requirements are based on recommendations taken from the admissions criteria for Harvard University
• Ongoing input into educational programming taken from educators associated with top institutions (Harvard, Yale, Johns Hopkins, etc.)
• Graduates of ECDS attend colleges and universities across the country including Cornell, Yale, the University of Connecticut, and other top schools
• ESL program for International Students monitored through Sacred Heart University and designed to increase TOEFL scores significantly

Core High School Academic Requirements:

• Four credits of English (4)
• One credit Comprehensive writing component (1): Recommend minimum of two credits
• Three credits Social Studies (3): Distinct from History; World Religions, Psychology, Sociology, Philosophy, Human Justice
• Three credits of History (3): World History, US History, Civics included
• Four credits of Math (4): Recommended Algebra I & II; Geometry; Pre-Calculus and beyond (AP Calculus AB & BC and even Multi-Variable Calculus)
• Four credits of Science (4): Recommended Earth Science, Biology, Chemistry, Physics-with 3 Labs minimum and beyond (AP and UConn Physics, AP Biology, AP Chemistry)
• Three credits of World Language (3)
• Electives (minimum of 5): Enrichment activities can fulfill these requirements; Enrichment Activities Description

Additional Electives & Opportunities Available at ECDS High School

ECDS offers an array of leveled courses ranging from Introductory Levels to Honors, AP and even University of Connecticut College Credited Courses. In addition to offering the core high school requirements, ECDS provides an individualized program that strives to offer unique courses that sets our students apart from other college-bound high school students.

Art Portfolio Course

This is an upper level course offered for serious art students who would like to pursue the arts at a post-graduate level. Students undertake greater artistic challenges through the practice of sustained art-making involving more complex compositional, technical, and conceptual problems. By succeeding in this course, the student will make sophisticated decisions in their work with a technical understanding of materials and increased ability to articulate the significance of their art to others.

Bushcraft Course

Bushcraft is the acquisition of skills and knowledge to be able to thrive in the wilderness and natural environment. These skills include fire-craft, tracking, hunting, fishing, shelter- building, foraging, water sourcing, hand-carving wood, and rope and twine-making, among others.

Civil Engineering Course

This is a three credit University of Connecticut Civil Engineering class offered at ECDS. Topics covered include fundamentals of statics using vector methods, resolution and composition of forces; equilibrium of force systems; analysis of forces acting on structures and machines; centroids; the moment of inertia. At the end of this course, students will receive one high school science credit and three UCONN college credits.

Computer Programming Course

This course focuses on using the C programming language, and creates the foundational language for many other programming languages. By its nature, the C language puts the programmer in charge of the steps a computer must take to perform a single task. C is what is known as a “low level” language because it is not abstract and removed from the functions of the machine itself. Because of this, the programmer will gain a keen understanding of how memory is used and how to efficiently write a program. The end goal is to use computer programming in a useful and creative way.

Electronics and Robotics Course

This is a STEM class that explores the world of Electrical Engineering by learning the basic concepts of electronics and robotics through lecture, labs, and student projects, culminating in an end-of- year robot design and function presentation. Layered on top of the daily learning, students experience life as an engineer and learn about the engineering design life cycle. By creating their own robot, students will take their project through each phase of this cycle. The robots that the students design will be required to complete a useful task. Students will also keep engineering journals to document their progress. This course will use several platforms for learning. Students will use various forms of analog and digital circuitry such and breadboards and components to learn circuit schematic and design, Arduino boards for electronics, VEX EDR robotics platform for robotic design, AutoDesk Inventor for mechanical design, and ROBOT C software for programming.

ESL – English Language Acquisition Course

ECDS partners with the Sacred Heart University English Language Institute to offer our international students an entirely online, individualized, professor-led, English language program of study. Our online program is a complete twelve-level English language course designed to orientate students to the culture of the United States, help them achieve their personal, academic and professional goals while recognizing and addressing each student’s individualized educational needs and cultural backgrounds. This program allows students to quickly acquire the English-speaking skills necessary in being admitted and successful at the post-graduate level.

Forensics Science Course

Forensics Science is an integrated science which applies the use of multiple scientific disciplines that assist in answering the investigation of criminal or civil questions of the law. In this course students use biology, chemistry, physics, and earth science to analyze and interpret evidence within the realm of the US legal system. It begins with an introduction to scientific inquiry and the process of forensic investigation and evidence collection. Then the knowledge of research is applied to the analysis of crime scene evidence such as trace evidence (hair, fiber, etc.), fingerprints, DNA, blood, handwriting, bones, and/or soil. Also, students study ballistics, how to determine time and manner of death, and drug identification and toxicology.

Horse Management Course

Through its relationship with local stables, ECDS offers a program in Horse Management. This course may be of interest to students with plans to pursue careers in veterinary science or other animal sciences. The program provides exposure to all aspects of horse care and management of a horse farm.

Kulturny Course

Kulturny is a course which, broadly, aims to orient students to adding a level of cultural sophistication to the principal subjects that are offered in private schools. In these days of rapid reactions, instant communications, and immediate rewards, Kulturny seeks to open doors to intellectual and cultural arenas not otherwise addressed in a school’s curriculum. As a subject it is primarily academic; it is as comprehensive as time allows, yet it is inevitably but an invitation to further exploration; it attempts to acquaint our children with some of the bases of Western culture. Overall, Kulturny aims to provide an amalgam of enjoyment and education that will adhere to each student by enriching their minds and hearts for life.

Screen Writing Course

This course is designed to take students through the full process of writing for film or television. It teaches the key craft elements of story structure, plot, scene development, characters, theme, genre, and dialogue, and shows students how they work together to create an emotional experience for the audience. Students will learn how to build their own story ideas while also being able to evaluate other scripts, both produced and written by peers.

School Field Trips (Monthly)

ECDS High School takes academic and community-building trips to various locations. Trips have included traveling to Washington DC, New York City, the Metropolitan Museum, Glass Blowing, Community Service, Zip Lining, Go-Karting, Ice Skating, Ski Trips, among others.

School Clubs (Offered During School Hours)

ECDS offers such clubs as STEM, Community Service, Film Club, Indoor Soccer, Human Rights, Robotics, Quiz-Bowl, among others. Students are encouraged to facilitate and help create school sponsored clubs that enrich the high school experience.