Horizons at New Canaan Country School

Horizons was founded in l964 as a multi-faceted summer enrichment program for 20 children from low-income families in Fairfield County, Connecticut.  Since then, the Horizons Program at New Canaan Country School has grown steadily. Today it provides year-round programming to over 400 students in grades Kindergarten through twelfth from Stamford, Norwalk, New Canaan and surrounding communities.

Horizons’ six-week intensive Kindergarten through eighth grade Summer Program, set on the campus of New Canaan Country School, gives approximately 270 children a chance to have new experiences, meet new friends, take part in academic, art and music classes, eat nourishing breakfasts and lunches, swim, provide service to the community, and become part of a diverse family of caring teachers and staff. All of our students benefit from the low three to one student/teacher ratio and from the support services of reading specialists, social workers, and a staff psychologist. The low student-teacher ratio coupled with the support services minimizes the summer decline in students’ performance and maximizes their performance and self-confidence during the school year.

The School Year Program gives students in grades Kindergarten through eighth grade the opportunity to participate in enrichment lessons focusing on the arts, a winter Saturday program, the Horizons Music Academy (an instrumental music program), group tennis lessons, and the Horizons Friends Corps, a peer mentoring program matching New Canaan Country School eighth graders with Horizons second, third, and fourth grade students.  Horizons has collaborated with New Canaan Mounted Troop and Locust Performing Arts Center to provide scholarships to individual students who demonstrate a special interest in horseback riding and dance.  In addition to offering this broad range of enrichment opportunities, Horizons provides one-on-one tutoring to all students who need it.  Most tutors meet with students once a week in the schools they attend.

The High School Program offers weekly academic coaching, individual tutoring, guidance with the college entry process, college tours, PSAT and SAT preparation, and community service opportunities.