Our Mission
Fairfield College Preparatory School is a Jesuit, Catholic School of excellence forming young men of intellectual competence, who possess the conscience to make wise decisions, a compassion for others, and a commitment to justice in our global society.
Our Vision
Fairfield College Preparatory School strives to be a reflective community of faith, in which students revere their relationship with God and with one another. We are committed to graduating transformational leaders who will respond to global and ecological challenges in an interconnected world marked by profound change.
Our Philosophy
Fairfield Prep accomplishes its mission and realizes its vision by demonstrating personal care and concern for all of its students, and by celebrating their unique gifts and diversity. In turn, students are expected to become responsible participants in the Prep community and beyond, and are encouraged to use their talents in the service of others, especially to those in need, ad majorem Dei gloriam (For the greater glory of God).
Fairfield Prep aspires to:
- inspire in its students a lifelong love of learning;
- offer its students the finest preparation for college;
- invite each student to deepen his relationship with God;
- encourage each student’s social, cultural and physical development;
- challenge its students to become leaders, living as men of competence, conscience, compassion, and commitment to justice.
The ideal graduate at graduation will have begun to realize his full potential within the nurturing environment of our Ignatian community. His intellectual abilities and moral perceptions will have been refined and developed, so that with maturity and growth he will be able to function wholly and positively within the complexities of the modern world, bringing to it moral insight, reasoned judgment, and a willingness to act as a transformational leader in the cause of human justice.
The Grad at Grad
What is a "Grad at Graduation"?
Jesuit schools express their commonality of purpose in many ways. Vital to this expression is the Characteristics of the Graduate at Graduation, a document that sets forth those characteristics that all Jesuit schools agree ideally will be found in the typical graduate of a Jesuit high school. These characteristics are summarized as follows:
Upon graduation, the following characteristics represent the values which we cultivate in our students:
Open to Growth
The Jesuit high school graduate has matured as a person emotionally, intellectually, physically, creatively, socially, and religiously to a level that reflects intentional responsibility for his own growth. The graduate is beginning to reach out in his development, seeking opportunities to stretch his mind, imagination, feelings, and religious consciousness.
Intellectually Competent
The Jesuit high school graduate will demonstrate his mastery of academic subjects, and will make interdisciplinary connections across the curriculum. The graduate will have developed the essential intellectual skills and understandings that will allow himto excel in college and throughout his life. He is also developing habits of intellectual inquiry, as well as passion for life-long learning by embracing intellectual rigor in his personal quest for religious truth and in his pursuit of social justice.
Religious
The Jesuit high school graduate will understand the major doctrines and practices of the Catholic Church. Theology classes, retreats, and service experiences will have imbued him with personal knowledge of these teachings and traditions. Challenged to examine his own religious feelings, values, and beliefs through the lens of Ignatian spirituality, the graduate will deepen his relationship with God by means of active participation in a faith community.
Loving
The Jesuit high school graduate is continuing to form his own identity in relation to God and others. He is moving beyond self-centeredness and entering into mature relationships characterized by trust, self-sacrifice, commitment, and love. Recognizing God's image in others, he accepts and reveres the human dignity and divine mystery present in all people.
Committed to Doing Justice
The Jesuit high school graduate has developed the awareness and skills necessary to live in a global society as a person for and with others. He is keenly aware of the many needs of local, national, and global communities, all of which evolve in parallel with the development of new technologies, their ethical application, and their impact on the environment. In a world marked by profound change, the graduate will deepen his understanding to serve faith, promote justice, and dialogue with cultures and other religions in light of the Church's mandate to establish right relationships with God, with one another, and with creation.
Ignatian Pedagogical Paradigm
pedagogy: the art, science, or profession of teaching
At its core, Fairfield Prep's curriculum is based on the Ignatian Pedagogical Paradigm (IPP), an educational framework derived from the Ratio Studiorum (Plan of Studies) formulated by Ignatius Loyola, founder of the Society of Jesus, for use in the first Jesuit Schools. Teachers in Jesuit schools are themselves taught how to create lessons that flow from the IPP's elements, which are:
- Context
- Experience
- Reflection
- Action
- Evaluation
By looking at lesson planning through the lense of the IPP, teachers are able to teach more than just the "material" that must be covered in a typical, chronological syllabus. Instead the student's whole person is joined to the educational enterprise, helping to bring about the desired result: a student who understands the interconnectedness of knowledge and the importance of applying fundamental principles to the application of knowledge to help make the world a better place for all, privileged and unprivileged.
Custom Class: hero-image
Explore More
