2024 Best Private Schools in Fairfield County, CT

Home to 116 private schools according to Private School Review, Fairfield County offers a dizzying wealth of options. While assessing the choices, “try to keep an open mind and cast a wide net,” encourages Beth Avitabile, Co-Founder, Go! Educational Consulting, LLC, which helps families with school placement. Although a school might be highly prestigious or well-known, it might not be the best fit for your child or have any openings, she explains. To give you a head start on your search, we’ve rounded up several top-notch and varied institutions.

School	Location	Elementary Grades	Middle School Grades	High School Grades	2023-2024 Tuition & Fees**
St. Luke’s School *hr	New Canaan	n/a	5-8	9-12	$50,430 – $54,960
Sacred Heart Greenwich	Greenwich	PK-4	5-8	9-12	$42,800-$54,700
Brunswick School	Greenwich	PK-4	5-8	9-12	$45,225-$53,250
Greenwich Academy	Greenwich	PK-4	5-8	9-12	$47,550-$53,300
King School *hr	Stamford	PK-5	6-8	9-12	$40,035-$54,130
St. Joseph High School *hr	Trumbull	n/a	n/a	9-12	$18,750
Wooster School	Danbury	n/a	5-8	9-12	$40,140-$47,440
Pierrepont School	Westport	K-4	5-8	9-12	$50,330-$52,450
Spire School	Stamford	n/a	n/a	8-12	not published
Ridgefield Academy *hr	Ridgefield	PK-3	4-5	6-8	$34,445-$49,020

Most welcoming: St. Luke’s School

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Warmth is the vibe at this nearly 100-year-old favorite, from the head of school’s ever-present golden retriever to the fire cauldron surrounded by Adirondack chairs outside. Secular (despite its name), St. Luke’s spans grades 5-12. While offering a “really good academic program, it provides opportunities for children to grow socially, emotionally, and intellectually,” says Avitabile. “We’ve found students are motivated to learn, but also willing to take risks—the school welcomes that.” Rich in amenities, the 40-acre campus includes a designLab, two theaters, four international squash courts, and six tennis courts. In 2023-2024, tuition was $50,430-$54,960.

St. Luke’s was #5 on our list for how to get your kid into an Ivy.

Best Catholic all-girls: Sacred Heart Greenwich

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An all-girls Catholic school spanning pre-K-12, Sacred Heart is known for its top performing students. Since 2020, a whopping 140 students have received Scholastic Writing Awards and 47 graduates have committed to compete in collegiate athletic programs. Founded in 1848, Sacred Heart emphasizes community service, with students completing a total of 13,000 hours annually. Just know admission is extremely competitive, points out Avitabile. Tuition for 2024-2025 will range from $24,300 for five half days (pre-K) to $54,700 for grade 12.

This all-girl catholic school topped our list of the most kids going to an elite college or university. See Tomo’s coverage here.

Best secular all boys: Brunswick School

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“Brunswick gives young men the advantage of a boarding school education while still living at home with Mom and Dad,” says Avitabile, noting the “super challenging academics and parents who really support and push their children.” The K-12 school is “very highly regarded athletically and academically,” observes Audrey Noyes Ludemann, Partner, The Bertram Group, LLC, which provides boarding and day school advising. Accordingly, the school is highly selective in terms of admission, says Avitabile. Tuition for the 2023-2024 school year was $45,225-$53,250.

Best secular all girls: Greenwich Academy

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Spanning pre-K-12, Brunswick’s sister school is similarly exclusive and difficult to get into, says Avitabile. Founded in 1827, it’s the sixth oldest girls’ day school in the country. Stellar in academics and athletics, “GA is for highly motivated students and strong achievers in everything they do,” observes Avitabile. The 39-acre campus features a wealth of amenities, including a film lab and screening room, computer art lab, performing arts center, art rooms, painting and ceramics studios, and two libraries. The 2023-2024 tuition ranged from $47,550-$53,300.

Best student-faculty relationships: King School

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At this pre-K-12 school, students have a “really neat opportunity to have close relationships with faculty members,” says Avitabile. Along with what the school describes as an “inquiry-based learning approach,” King provides a supportive environment to its diverse student body. “They can work with a slightly broader range of students,” notes Ludemann. The 34-acre campus, one mile from the Merritt Parkway and four miles from I-95, features libraries; art studios; and a performing arts center, sustainable garden, maker space, innovation lab, and vivarium (where students breed frogs to donate to aquariums). Tuition for 2023-2024 was $40,035-$54,130.

Another private school that is on our list for most “elite” college commits for the Class of 2023.

Best Catholic coed: St. Joseph High School

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The largest coed Catholic high school in the state, St. Joe’s, founded in 1962, “extends a warm welcome to students of all faith backgrounds.” Offering a college prep curriculum (including more than 25 AP, early college experience, and college level courses), the school is rich in amenities. The 57-acre campus offers a student-led coffee shop, broadcast journalism studio, wetlands and nature boardwalk, health and wellness center, and student academic center. Athletics are a strength, with 55 sports teams across all three seasons and at least 15 student-athletes enrolling in Division I, II, and III colleges each year. Tuition for 2023-2024 was $18,750.

Most supportive: Wooster School

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Encompassing grades 5-12, this school with an overall enrollment of 325, can “help kids who need a little more attention,” says Ludemann. “Students get an excellent education, but the numbers are smaller, which allows them better access to teachers.” For more support, Wooster offers a Bridge program for middle and upper school students with language-based, executive function, or attention-related learning differences. Although Wooster’s heritage is Episcopalian, students from many faiths or religion traditions are welcome. Tuition for 2023-2024 was $40,140-$47,440 (in 2024-2025, it will be $67,100 for the Bridge program).

Best-kept secret: Pierrepont School

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“Pierrepont doesn’t advertise the way other schools do—people find out about it by word of mouth,” shares Avitabile. Students are diverse and gifted, reveals Ludemann, scoring highly on the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children. In an unusual twist, they aren’t given traditional letter or number grades, class ranks, or GPAs. Instead, Pierrepont provides written assessments of their progress three times per year. With a 3:1 student teacher ratio, the student population at this K-12 school is very small, points out Avitabile. Housed in a Mediterranean mansion, Pierrepont “looks like someone’s house on Greenwich Point—not an institution,” she says. For 2023-2024, tuition was $50,330-$52,450.

Best therapeutic: Spire School

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This day school offers a state-approved special education program for college-bound students in eighth to twelfth grade. With only 62 students, a 2:1 student teacher ratio, and an average class size of four to six, Spire emphasizes individualized learning and provides weekly one-on-meetings with life coaches. Run by Greenwich Education Group, its sister schools include The Pinnacle School (for students in grades 2-12 with complex learning challenges and secondary co-occurring needs) and Links Academy (providing one-on-one education to college-bound students in grades 6-12).

Best for younger kids: Ridgefield Academy

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Ridgefield Academy and the Ridgefield branch of Landmark Preschool (together spanning pre-K-8) are in Ridgefield’s West Mountain Historic District, listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The 42-acre campus features an Outdoor Campus Center (OCC), a 31,500-square-foot playscape with an outdoor classroom, zipline, meeting terrace, and walking path. At the nearly 50-year-old schools, lunches feature many local ingredients and are prepared from scratch on-site. For 2024-2025, tuition spans $34,445-$49,020 for Ridgefield Academy.

What’s Next

For those of you looking to buy a home in Fairfield County, Tomo.com provides free access to the most up to date real estate listings. You also can connect with a free home search advisor to get your journey started – by phone or text. 

Want to know more about Public schools in Fairfield County? Check out Tomo’s Best Public Schools in Fairfield County.