Rocky Hill School

This article is about the private school in Rhode Island. For the public high school in Connecticut, see Rocky Hill High School.

Rocky Hill Country Day School
Location
530 Ives Road Warwick , Kent County 02818
Coordinates	41°39′31″N71°25′22″W / 41.658677°N 71.4226587°W / 41.658677; -71.4226587
Information
Founded	1934

Rocky Hill Country Day School is an independent, coeducational, college preparatory day school located on 84 acres along the Potowomut River and Narragansett Bay in East Greenwich, Rhode Island. It educates in grades nursery through grade 12. ^[1]

History

Rocky Hill Country Day School (RHCD) was founded in 1934 as the Rocky Hill School for Boys by educators Dorothy Marshall and Esther Banfield Brown in Newport, Rhode Island. Originally established to offer a rigorous academic program rooted in moral character and leadership for young men, the school relocated in 1941 to the historic Hopelands estate in Potowomut, a peninsula in Warwick, Rhode Island, bordered by the towns of East Greenwich and North Kingstown. The new 84-acre waterfront campus along Narragansett Bay was once known as Potowomut Farm and holds deep historical significance, including ties to the Greene family and indigenous land use prior to European settlement.

In 1967, the school transitioned to a coeducational model, offering lower, middle, and upper school divisions. Over the decades, Rocky Hill has remained committed to academic excellence while evolving its programs to meet the needs of today’s learners. The campus is home to several historically significant buildings, including the original manor house and carriage house, which have been thoughtfully restored for academic and community use.

Research on the school’s history and its surrounding region has been compiled by Charles Laurent, RHCD Fifth Grade Teacher and Resident Historian. His work includes:

• Rocky Hill Country Day School History
• Hopelands & Potowomut History
• Land of Fires, Land of Hope, 1686–Present: Discovering The History of The Hopelands Estate: One of the last original Country Estates in Rhode Island

Heads of School

Dorothy Knott Marshall - Headmistress - 1934 – 1941
Nathan Hale - Headmaster - 1941 – 1962
Robert Smith - Headmaster - 1962 – 1967
Hugh Campbell - Headmaster - 1967 – 1975
Alan Flynn Jr - Headmaster - 1975 – 1991
R. Leith Herrmann - Headmaster - 1991 – 1995
James Young - Headmaster - 1996 – 2013
Jonathan Schoenwald - Headmaster - 2011 – 2013
Peter Branch - Headmaster - 2013 – 2016
James Tracy - Headmaster - 2016 – 2018
Diane Rich - Head of School - 2018 – 2024
Dan Rocha - Interim Head of School - 2024 – 2025
Christine Heine - Head of School - 2025 – Present

Facilities

• Perkins Hall ^[2]
• Gibson Hall
• Sharpe Gymnasium
• Carriage House
• Hale Science Center
• Alan F. Flynn, Jr. Academic Center
• Hopelands
• Brickhouse
• Academic Center for Enrichment
• Marshall House (Preschool)
• Pony Barn
• Campbell Center
• Pump House
• Head of School residence

Notable alumni

• Rudy Tanzi ’78 ^[3]
• Mena Suvari ’97 ^[4]
• Rome Kirby ’07 ^{[5] [6] [7]}
• Damian Rivera '21

References

1. "Rocky Hill School". www.aisne.org. Archived from the original on March 31, 2017.
2. "Rocky Hill School History- Top Private School in RI". Archived from the original on February 18, 2017. Retrieved February 27, 2017.
3. "East Greenwich, Rhode Island. Rocky Hill School - PDF Free Download".
4. Unknown ^{[ permanent dead link ]}
5. Salit, Richard (October 19, 2013). "America's Cup winner Rome Kirby visits alma mater, Rocky Hill School". Providence Journal. Archived from the original on October 20, 2013. Retrieved February 27, 2017.
6. "Rocky Hill Alum, Rome Kirby, the Sole American Sailor on the Victorious, America's Cup Oracle Team". October 2, 2013.
7. "Team Oracle USA, Rome Kirby visits alma mater - ABC6 - Providence, RI and New Bedford, MA News, Weather". Archived from the original on February 28, 2017. Retrieved February 27, 2017.

External links

• Official website