Rumsey Hall School

Rumsey Hall School is located on a mountain in the small town of Washington, Connecticut. Although slightly remote, it is safe and tranquil, about a two-hour drive from New York and Boston, offering both a pastoral environment and urban convenience. As a boarding school for grades 5-9, its diverse campus culture helps younger students quickly adapt to life abroad. Last year, a 6th-grade public school student successfully gained admission to this dream school.
1. Academically, STEAM courses are a highlight, covering innovation, robotics, programming, and more, equipped with professional facilities, making it suitable for technology enthusiasts. ESL courses are taught in levels, helping international students improve their English proficiency. The Dean's List mechanism recognizes students who demonstrate excellent effort across multiple subjects, stimulating intrinsic motivation for learning. The school provides high levels of attention, with extra tutoring on school days and five days a week of one-on-one guidance for language skills.
2. Sports activities are abundant; rowing and skiing are strengths, with ice hockey being particularly prominent—it boasts 3 school teams and an exclusive ice rink, frequently winning competition awards. 19 sports programs cover the entire year, fostering students' physical fitness and team spirit.
3. Admissions prefer optimistic and confident students, as these qualities help students fully utilize resources to achieve growth.
It is a highly recommended American junior boarding school.

Principal Zhan's Review: Rumsey Hall is located in Washington, Connecticut, USA. Founded in 1900, its motto is "Those who do not progress fall behind," emphasizing its commitment to progress and education. The school offers a wide variety of sports programs, including hockey, crew, and golf.
In terms of cultural heritage, established in 1900, the Rumsey Hall campus, spanning 231 acres, features architecture that blends traditional and modern design styles, creating a warm yet contemporary atmosphere. This provides students with a beautiful and quiet environment for learning and living.
In terms of academic development, the school emphasizes that effort is the standard for success. Students' effort levels are assessed based on classroom participation, extra credit projects, and timely submission of assignments. The "Effort List" aims to encourage students to meet academic expectations; students must demonstrate outstanding effort in four or more courses to make the list, with three of these being core academic subjects.
In terms of community building, the school helps children realize their own value. During a school visit, you can see terraces designed by the children themselves along the river, providing spaces for them to study and relax.
In terms of emotional support, every student at Rumsey Hall has a mentor. Mentors meet with students individually or in groups weekly to discuss their academic performance, effort levels, and school life. Furthermore, students or mentors can request a meeting at any time to identify and resolve issues promptly.

At Rumsey Hall, outdoor adventures are an important part of learning. If you are a Rumsey student, you will often have classes outdoors! Rumsey Hall teachers create engaging lessons, from science labs in the forest to history lessons on river stones, and quiet reading sessions leaning against trees. Students can go outdoors to explore a bigger world and enjoy the fresh country air on campus. From the school's Kindies program all the way to ninth grade, teachers encourage students to think and teach them to respect the natural world around them.

I recorded a 4-minute video for all parents to explain http://www.findingschool.net/virtual-tour/101

Rumsey is a high-quality boarding middle school located in Connecticut. The school's distinguishing features include a family-like boarding atmosphere, which is very inclusive and friendly, and a strong focus on international students. Rumsey offers a wide array of activities, providing up to 16 sports and 40 athletic teams across the fall, winter, and spring seasons, including basketball, volleyball, rugby, baseball, tennis, ice hockey, field hockey, skiing, and more. Its arts program encompasses Fine Arts, Performing Arts, Music, painting, pottery, ironwork, and 'Icreate'—a program that utilizes various material combinations, art, and industrial design for innovative creations. Opportunities also include bands, choirs, private instrument lessons, and drama. Chinese students from Rumsey have an excellent track record for applying to top American high schools. For our past admissions, 6th and 7th graders can submit TOEFL Junior applications. The school favors children who are outgoing, tolerant, and friendly.

To add:

5. US high school admissions trends over the past three years: The matriculation outcomes for 2020 were somewhat weaker, but the admissions outcomes prior to that were very good.

2020 saw admissions to Asheville, Berkshire, Blair, Brooks, Concord, Choate, Emma Willard, Episcopal (or Bishop's), Governor's, Hill, Hopkins, Hotchkiss, Kent, Peddie, Taft, Westtown, Pennington, etc.

2019 saw admissions to Berkshire (4 students), Choate (4 students), Emma Willard, Hotchkiss (3 students), Kent (3 students), Loomis (3 students), Peddie, Andover, Taft (7 students), etc.

2018 saw admissions to Berkshire (4 students), Kent (5 students), Loomis (5 students), Middlesex (2 students), Milton (2 students), Exeter, Taft (6 students), St. Paul's, etc.

I have visited this school. Rumsey Hall is located on a hill in the small town of Washington, Connecticut. The location is a bit remote but absolutely safe. It offers boarding for grades 5-9. STEAM courses are a specialty of the school, which also provides ESL programs. Communication with the admissions director indicated that the school is keen to admit optimistic and confident students.

School Features

1. The school offers a wide range of sports activities. Boating, cross-country running, field hockey, and skiing are all school strengths, especially the ice hockey team, which is excellent. There are 3 ice hockey teams, and they frequently win awards in various level competitions. The campus has its own ice rink.

2. Dean’s List: Students can be selected for demonstrating outstanding effort in three or more courses. This aims to strengthen and help students develop internal motivation and strive for academic excellence.

3. High level of student attention: During school days, extra help sessions are available to reinforce daily lessons or provide additional challenges. Additionally, for Language Skills, one-on-one guidance is provided five days a week.

4. STEAM Courses: Courses offered include innovation, robotics, computer art/graphic design, computer skills, and introduction to programming. Students interested in these areas might consider it.

This year, Rumsey's advancement results were terrible, no wonder the list was released on March 10th and the Counselor resigned in writing on March 11th. Such a school is truly not as good as an ordinary school in China.

Rumsey is an ideal kingdom nestled in the dense forests near Washington in western Connecticut.

Aside from the impact of the 2020 pandemic, I have visited Rumsey Hall multiple times over the past four years, including regular school visits as an independent consultant, leading students for interviews, and holding parent-teacher conferences for students.

When it comes to Rumsey Hall, I've summarized three main characteristics.
The first is the strong family atmosphere on campus, the second is the wide range of sports activities, with rowing being their signature sport. The third characteristic is that Rumsey Hall has its own system for teaching management called the 'Effort report'.

For more detailed information, please refer to the lengthy comment.

The overall atmosphere of the school is excellent. Its human-centered and family-like atmosphere is its biggest characteristic and what most attracts younger international students. From the principal and admissions director to every teacher, everyone at the school is very sincere and enthusiastic, making students and parents feel like they are part of this big family.

The school's academic management is excellent. A weekly effort report is sent to parents, detailing each teacher's evaluation of the child's performance, allowing parents to timely track students' academic progress.

The curriculum offered is also very rich, including AP courses like Biology and English Literature. STEAM programs are a distinctive feature of the school. Additionally, the school provides ESL courses.

The school places a strong emphasis on artistic development. Annually, there are one-act play performances in the fall, a winter musical, and a spring talent show. Students are involved in the entire production process of plays or talent shows, from set construction to sound and lighting management. Older students have two music courses to choose from: Music History and Modern Music Media, and Clef Club. The Clef Club is a vocal performance group that typically performs at Parent Weekends, winter concerts, and graduation.