Fitzgabriels Schools

VERMONT INDEPENDENT SCHOOLS ASSOCIATION: GIVING A VOICE TO THE GREEN MOUNTAIN STATE’S PRIVATE SCHOOLS

Vermont boasts some of the oldest schools in the United States - schools which have been at the vanguard of transformative periods in the history of American education.

The Vermont Independent Schools Association (VISA) is the primary trade body for independent and private schools in Vermont. As the state’s leading independent school’s organisation, VISA represents a substantial number of the state’s private and alternative educational institutions, with more than a hundred operating in the Green Mountain State. VISA members range from the traditional private college-preparatory schools to faith schools, special educational needs schools, and alternative schools. If you are interested in exploring Vermont’s independent schools, VISA is a good place to begin, with a membership that includes some of the best that the state has to offer.

We explore the association and its history here.

READ MORE AND SEE A FULL LIST OF MEMBERS HERE:
https://fitzgabrielsschools.com/2021/09/16/vermont-independent-schools-association/

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INDEPENDENT SCHOOL INNOVATION CONSORTIUM: HOW AMERICA'S MOST PRESTIGIOUS AND INNOVATIVE PRIVATE SCHOOLS CAME TOGETHER TO REVOLUTIONIZE SCHOOL STANDARDS

When looking for the most prestigious and renowned independent college-preparatory schools in the United States, the Independent School Innovation Consortium is a good starting place. The consortium brought together 23 of the top-ranked private schools in the United States in the mid-1990s to create a peer-review facility to advance standards in cutting-edge, innovative educational methodologies...

The Independent School Innovation Consortium (ISIC) was founded in 1996 to bring together some twenty-three of the nation’s leading and most-celebrated private schools. The consortium was established to foster collaboration and knowledge-sharing between these schools to advance educational research, innovative educational methodologies and to define assessment criteria for new technological approaches and delivery methodologies such that college admissions professionals could better understand the impact of such an enhanced education on a candidate’s application. The consortium’s member schools are generally rated as the best schools in the United States and consistently feature at the top of prestige rankings and admissions to the most selective colleges and universities.

We explore the consortium and its impact here.

READ MORE AND SEE A FULL LIST OF MEMBERS HERE:
https://fitzgabrielsschools.com/2025/02/01/independent-school-innovation-consortium/

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CANFORD GROUP: THE LEADING INDEPENDENT SCHOOLS IN ENGLAND’S SOUTH WEST

The English Public Schools (the elite tier of private schools) work closely with one another to advance standards and to market their offer and stand out above their competitors. Some groups, like the Eton Group and the Rugby Group are comprised of the most famous of these schools. Others operate on a regional basis such as the Haileybury Group, the Monmouth Group and the Canford Group.

The Canford Group of Schools is an association of well-known Public Schools across the Southwest of England who share a common ethos, history and purpose. The organisation is comprised of 16 independent secondary schools that are all members of The Head’s Conference and who come together to discuss educational methodologies and matters of school management.

We explore the association and what it does here.

READ MORE AND SEE A FULL LIST OF MEMBERS HERE:
https://fitzgabrielsschools.com/2024/02/09/canford-group-of-schools/

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SEVEN SISTERS: THE ELITE, HISTORIC WOMEN’S COLLEGES THAT PARTNER THE IVY LEAGUE

Contrary to popular belief, the Seven Sisters colleges - some of the nation's most renowned, historically women's colleges, are not constituent counterparts to the historically men-only Ivy League universities, but were, in fact, members of a consortium by the same name that still exists today...

The Seven Sisters consortium is a collection of prestigious, highly selective liberal arts colleges from across the north-eastern United States that currently or historically have been exclusive to female students only. The seven member colleges came together in 1926 to begin an informal association that would meet annually thereafter. The association is comprised of those seven colleges that long considered themselves to be peer sister schools. These schools have also enjoyed a long, close relationship with Ivy League universities that, in the past, had been open only to male students. As such, the Seven Sisters are often perceived to be the sister schools to those Ivy League universities.

We explore their history of cooperation and similar examples across the United States here.

READ MORE AND SEE A FULL LIST OF MEMBERS HERE:
https://fitzgabrielsschools.com/2022/04/06/seven-sisters/

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IVY PLUS CONSORTIUM: AMERICA’S FINEST PRIVATE RESEARCH UNIVERSITIES

People often discuss the Ivy Plus colleges - a selection of nationally renowned, prestigious and selective universities. However, did you know that there is actually an Ivy Plus consortium arrangement?

The Ivy Plus (Ivy+) consortium is a formal grouping comprised of a core group of thirteen leading private research universities from across the United States. The consortium’s nexus is formed around the eight Ivy League universities, widely considered to be America’s elite universities collection. The five other universities that make up the Ivy Plus consortium are those equally prestigious, academically selective research universities that are regarded as the peer schools to the Ivy League.

READ MORE AND SEE A FULL LIST OF MEMBERS HERE:
https://fitzgabrielsschools.com/2024/07/08/ivy-plus/

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APPLEBY COLLEGE

Appleby College is one of Canada’s most famous boarding schools with a global reputation. The school, located approximately midway between Toronto and Hamilton on the shores of Lake Ontario, was established in 1911 and has been one of North America’s leading private schools since.

READ MORE:
https://fitzgabrielsschools.com/2020/04/23/appleby-college/

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VILLANOVA PREPARATORY SCHOOL

Villanova Prep is a highly-rated, popular co-educational boarding middle and high school in the Augustinian tradition in Ojai, California. The school welcomes pupils from the ages of 11 into the Wildcat family with a sizeable number choosing to reside on campus. Villanova’s student body includes students primarily from California and neighbouring states, together with a thriving international population and students from across North America.

READ MORE:
https://fitzgabrielsschools.com/2015/10/13/villanova-preparatory-school/

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WYCOMBE ABBEY SCHOOL

Wycombe Abbey is considered to be amongst the finest examples of girls’ boarding schools in the English Public School tradition. It is often considered to be the sister school to Eton College with a reputation on a similar par. Wycombe Abbey has, historically, been one of the preferred schools for the daughters of the English aristocratic classes, however, it is a modern dynamic school that offers a broad and varied education for young women leaders.

READ MORE:
https://fitzgabrielsschools.com/2015/10/14/wycombe-abbey/

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BLACKROCK COLLEGE

Ireland’s most storied and most famous school, Blackrock College has been the premier choice for the sons of Ireland’s professional elite since its foundation as the French College in 1860. Established in the grounds of Williamstown Castle looking out on Dublin Bay, Blackrock offers boarding and day places to boys from 12 – 18 and day places to boys over the age of 6 at the Willow Park School.

READ MORE:
https://fitzgabrielsschools.com/2021/05/21/blackrock-college/

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RUGBY SCHOOL

One of England’s most-celebrated schools, Rugby School is the prototype for the English Public School model. Under the illustrious Thomas Arnold, who was headmaster of the school between 1828 and 1841, Rugby embodied the concept of muscular Christianity and came to define what an English Public School should be. With that came, also, the creation of a code of football which came to be the sport of the English Upper and Upper Middle classes – namely rugby football.

READ MORE:
https://fitzgabrielsschools.com/2015/10/14/rugby-school/

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ACADEMY OF SAINT ELIZABETH

The Academy of Saint Elizabeth is a revered college-preparatory high school for girls located in Convent Station New Jersey, at the edge of the New York Metropolitan Area. It is a leading Catholic school for young women with a history that dates back to 1860. The school was initially founded as a boarding school and continued as such until 1870.

READ MORE:
https://fitzgabrielsschools.com/2015/10/20/academy-of-saint-elizabeth/

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