Every aspect of a girls’ school, from the classroom to the athletic field to the academic program is designed for girls. At their heart, girls’ schools are places of leadership. Places where community and collaboration, agency and self efficacy flourish. But most of all, girls’ schools are places of incredible innovation.
- International Coalition of Girls' Schools

Academic Program

Our Upper, Middle, and Lower Schools offer exceptional educational experiences for children. Each division is comprised of faculty members committed to their own learning as professionals and to their understanding of and relationship with our girls. As a Sacred Heart Network School, Stone Ridge takes great pride in our distinct service learning program that is merged into the academic studies. Committed to educating to a deep respect for intellectual values, Stone Ridge seeks to inspire students to a lifelong love of learning. Our academic program across all divisions is founded upon our mission: to inspire young women to lead and serve, through lives of purpose that integrate faith, intellect, community, social action, and personal growth in an atmosphere of wise freedom.

Our academic program is designed specifically to serve the needs of girls as they develop their gifts, build empathy and compassion for the world, and gain confidence in their lives as purposeful. Research tells us that when learning is directly tied to the understanding of self and to increased knowledge of the world, girls learn best. As such, our program uniquely serves girls with a curriculum founded on curiosity, interdisciplinary critical thinking, and the cultivation of their God-given gifts as they navigate increasingly, and developmentally appropriate, challenging landscapes of learning. 

Unlike many independent schools, Stone Ridge has a fully articulated Pre-Kindergarten-12 scope and sequence for learning. We use streamlined, research-informed Expectations for Learning at every level to guide the construction of knowledge and the building of skills across all grade levels. The Stone Ridge Little Hearts Program uses Creative Curriculum and The Project Approach for instructional design. In the Lower, Middle, and Upper Schools, Stone Ridge educates using Understanding by Design as its pedagogical approach for instruction and curriculum. Each course is grounded in essential questions which allow the girls to engage in meaningful, open-ended questions designed to foster student interest, guide inquiry, stimulate discussion, and spark rethinking over time, pointing toward intra- and inter-disciplinary ideas. By anchoring our courses with Essential Questions, we guide students in uncovering and constructing meaning that they can flexibly transfer to new settings, issues, and problems. Learning is an exercise of purpose, of self-understanding, and of coming to know the world in which they will someday lead and serve as children of the Sacred Heart.