Pictured above: Tina DiSanto (board of trustees' president), Dick Durand '73 (Virtue in Action Award recipient), Rob Zimmerman '98 (head of school), Steve Lazarus '81 (Distinguished Alumni Award recipient), and Holly Mott '95 (alumni council president) at the Alumni Breakfast.

Homecoming Weekend at Country Day was legendary - from the Alumni Reception and the football game (way to crush it, Nighthawks!) on Friday, to the Alumni Breakfast and Black Alumni Network gathering on Saturday and reunions all weekend long. We hope everyone had a blast!

Members of the Class of 1973 gathered to celebrate their 50th reunion. 

Oh, What a Night! Alumni and their families reunited with classmates and teachers while enjoying 1970's-inspired treats under sparkling disco balls at the Alumni Reception.

Classmates from 1952 and 1953 celebrated the Class of 1953's 70th reunion with spouses, friends, and Head of School Rob Zimmerman '98.

Country Day was thrilled to honor Dick Durand '73 (far left), Virtue in Action Award recipient, and Steve Lazarus '81 (far right), Distinguished Alumni Award recipient, at the Alumni Breakfast on Saturday morning.

Country Day welcomed over 80 alumni to its inaugural Black Alumni Network gathering during Homecoming Weekend. A great time of reconnecting and reminiscing was enjoyed by alums from 1978 to 2020, teachers, administrators, and their guests. The Office of Belonging & Well-Being and the Advancement Office look forward to hosting this event again next year!

The Class of 2003 celebrated its 20th reunion at Little Miami Brewing.

The Class of 1983 celebrated its 40th reunion throughout Homecoming weekend.

Save the Date: Homecoming and Reunion Weekend 2024

Friday, September 20 and Saturday, September 21

Classes ending in '4 and '9 will celebrate their reunions next year. It's never too early to start planning your reunion! Contact Peter Fossett '80, associate director of alumni and legacy giving, at fossettp@countryday.net or 513.979.0283 for more information. 

Country Day named #1 in the Cincinnati area

We are thrilled to announce that Niche has ranked Cincinnati Country Day School as the #1 best private high school, #1 best private K-12 school, and #1 best high school for STEM in the Cincinnati area.

“We are pleased to be ranked #1 in a multitude of categories that showcase our entire program, including K-12, high school, and STEM education,” says Robert Zimmerman `98, head of school. “Most of all, this is a testament to our world-class faculty and staff. We take the most pride in our relationships, not our rankings, as they best reflect how we know, nurture, and inspire our students.”

In Ohio, the school also ranked #4 best private K-12 school, #5 best private high school, and #5 best high school for STEM.

The school has earned these rankings by scoring highly in many factors that aim to capture what it’s really like to attend Country Day. 

Click here to visit Country Day’s profile and see the full list of 2024 rankings, methodologies, and data sources.

Referrals to Country Day for High School

It’s peak season in Cincinnati for high school enrollment! Throughout the fall, high schools across the city will be inundated with students exploring the various options – co-ed, single-gender, religiously affiliated, and independent – to continue their educational journey. As a Country Day alum, we hope that you will continue the positive word-of-mouth that generates much of our new student admission business. There are many ways to assist our Admission Office in their outreach to prospective students in grades 9-12:



Make A Connection

Everyone knows a friend, family member, or neighbor looking at high schools in Cincinnati. And, our admission team is eager to show them how each child at Country Day is known, nurtured, and inspired. If you can forward some basic information on the student and family, the Admission Office will take it from there. Please use this link to refer a student and family to Country Day.

Encourage Campus Visits

History shows that once a family visits Country Day, they’re hooked! Our admission appointments are highly personalized to meet a family wherever they might be in the school search process. Encourage your referrals to schedule an individual meeting and tour. Or simply bring the family to campus for an arts performance, athletic game, or alumni event!

Spread The Word

Our website and social media outlets are the best way to spread the word about our school. Follow and share our stories on Country Day’s Facebook and Instagram. The highlight of these posts is our opening of school video that we hope you will share as well.

Waive The Application Fee

Fee waivers are available to all current parents, friends, and alumni of Country Day. When applying for admission, prospective students or their parents can use a special alumni code to waive the admission application fee. The code is C284.

We appreciate all that you do for Country Day and all that has helped contribute to the largest opening of school enrollment in over 20 years - 855 students! And, over 13% of our new students are children of alumni. The Admission Office will reach out with additional ways you can help in our recruitment process over the next few months.

Join us at the Arts Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony!

To celebrate the strong and vibrant tradition in the arts at CCDS, the Arts Hall of Fame recognizes former Country Day students and community members for their contributions to the fine, musical, performing, and literary arts. We are pleased to announce that the following individuals have been selected as the 2023 Arts Hall of Fame honorees:

A faculty member at New York University and a Grammy-winning writer, music critic, and music historian, Ashley is widely recognized and honored for his books and other writing on jazz and rock and roll.

As managing director and CEO of The Children’s Theater of Cincinnati (TCT), Kim has overseen the growth and expansion of TCT into a top-ranked and award-winning theater and academy inspiring a love for the arts in children of all ages.

Guitarist, keyboardist, songwriter, producer, and curator of music festivals, Aaron is best known as a founding member of the Grammy-winning band The National, as the co-founder of the indie rock duo The Big Red Machine, and for his Grammy-winning collaboration with Taylor Swift, but his musical interests are wide ranging and his projects extend far beyond these efforts.

Guitarist, composer, producer, curator of music festivals, and a founding member of the Grammy-winning band The National, Bryce is a curious and adventurous musician whose work spans many genres and has earned much international acclaim.

An Emmy-winning champion of the arts in Cincinnati and a former CCDS teacher, Barbara has long showcased the movers and shakers of the Cincinnati arts scene on her TV show, SHOWCASE with Barbara Kellar, and has worked tirelessly to promote the arts in Cincinnati and at Country Day.

We hope you will join us in celebrating these incredible individuals at the Arts Hall of Fame Induction on Saturday, October 28 at 12:00 p.m. in the CCDS Dining Terrace. For more information or to RSVP, please contact Kathy Paff at paffk@countryday.net or 513-979-0285.

Save the Date!

Lights, Camera, CountryDate!

Lights, Camera, CountryDate 2024 will be held at the newly renovated 20^th Century Theater in Oakley on Saturday, March 2, 2024.

CountryDate is the school’s annual community fundraising gala. It is a huge amount of fun and is attended by parents, alumni, and other CCDS community members!

Event sponsorship is the principal fundraising component. By becoming a sponsor of this dazzling event, you’ll play a leading role in enhancing our students’ educational journey, empowering them to reach for the stars and achieve their dreams. Want to see your business or family’s name on event marketing, social media, in the lobby of school, and at the event itself? This is your chance! Sponsorships start at $750 and come with two tickets to the event (value: $100 each), plus an invitation to the exclusive sponsor cocktail hour, held before the curtain rises for other guests. Sponsorships are available for purchase now at www.countryday.net/go/countrydate.

If you have questions about CountryDate and the sponsorship opportunities available, please contact Sarah Snowden at snowdens@countryday.net or (513) 979-0282.

We had a wonderful evening celebrating our alumni families with current students at Country Day at Legacy Family Recognition Night!

The Upper School student council spent the day at Camp Joy for a leadership training day during which they had to refine communication skills, empower and trust one another, and work towards common goals. Leadership includes stepping out of your comfort zone, risk taking, and letting go, too, and this retreat gave them plenty of opportunities to do just that.

First graders headed to the pond at Greenacres to enhance their science study of water for their first field trip of the year! We love partnering with organizations whose missions align with ours, and at Greenacres our students get the opportunity to study plant and animal life in their natural settings...just like on our campus! 

7th-grade students finished up their unit learning about culture by bringing in one material item they felt represented their culture and who they were. Students brought in everything from vyshyvanka (a traditional Ukrainian traditional) to a Jewish prayer book, from a statue of Ganesha (Indian God of Travel) to a Dejembe Drum to a Muses shoe. They loved learning new things about each other and the world around us and what makes each of us unique.

Late summer hive check! Our Country Day honeybees are thriving thanks to our designated pollinator gardens on campus and our amazing resident beekeepers, like kindergarten teacher Lee Ann Bertsch! 

PreK II & Montessori students have been investigating what makes an insect an insect through observation, play, and learning the parts of an insect by exploring our beautiful campus and building our own ants...and then eating them!

Upper School students cheered the Nighthawks on to victory at the Homecoming football game.