Hopkins School

Don't bother applying to this school if your not wealthy and or if your child is not super smart. My child has been an honor student, attended the jr . national leadership conference in DC, and is in the jr national honor society registry. All that doesn't matter if you don't score high on entrance exam. I would like to mention that my child has been accepted at 3 college prep high schools, but Hopkins determined my child to be an under achiever???? I think money talks, and the no so wealthy walks holds true here! So Notre Dame is where my child is going and guess what? 99% of students here go on to the same colleges that kids from Hopkins do.
—Submitted by a parent

Hopkins is extremly good school. We are very happy with the experience that we had there. It will not be too much to say that this school has changed his life in a positive way. Before coming to this school, he was in Wooster school -Danbury. NO opportunity for a gifted and talented child. We moved to this area just to go to Hopkins. That was a big move but I have to say it was perfect decision that we made. Money comes and goes but the time does not come back. Making right decision at right time is very important. We are glad that my son had an opportunity to go to Hopkins.They have very efficient school staff, involved parents and very focus students. This is the school for the students who really want to do something in life. Be prepared to work. Wish you all the best!!! Parent
—Submitted by a parent

Hopkins is no doubt one of the best college-prep schools in the nation. It provides an accelerated curriculum for its academically gifted students. Extra help is always available for those who are confused about a subject. While it is academically demanding, you never have to worry about social status. It is an extremely friendly environment. Swearing, bullying, or anything along those lines is absolutely not tolerated. It is not common anyways, since all students are hand-picked by the admissions committee to be "hopeful youths." There are no "cool kids" or "unpopular kids". Everyone is equal in social status. It was ranked #19 on Forbes Top college Prep schools, but I believe it deserves a much higher ranking. Its campus is absolutely gorgeous, located on a field overlooking the entire New Haven. The average class size is extremely small, just over ten students, so each teacher can focus on every student's strengths and weaknesses. Like the students, teachers are all hand picked to provide the best education. Still though, its courses are ultimately challenging. If you cannot adjust to having up to seven hours of homework a night, Don't apply.
—Submitted by a parent

Hopkins is one of the most academically rigorous schools in the country, and, no doubt, the best college preparatory school in CT, and maybe even in the country. (Was #19 on Forbes' Top Prep Schools List, beating out schools like Deerfield, Choate, Kent, Hotchkiss, etc.) The campus is gorgeous (the outdated building has since been replaced with Thompson Hall), the athletics program is top par, and while, yes, there are a few stinkers, the teachers are great. I assume most negative reviews are from kids and/or parents who could not keep up academically. A very competitive school strictly for the overachiever. Can't skate by on money or legacy here! A great school for any kid who wants an academically rigorous and challenging environment, as well as amazing college placement.

I liked the close-knit student body, the small class sizes and the personalized attention at Hopkins. The campus is great and not in a bad part of New Haven. The student body was driven but diverse

Hopkins is a small private school in New Haven, CT which is in the Westville section. The students here come from all over, mainly the shoreline of CT. The academics are on par with private high schools. Some of the facilities seem outdated. It is easy to get lost here if you are are not super competitive. Not a great fit for everyone.

small classes, academically challenging, beautiful facilities, lots of respect among a wide variety of gifted students, caring faculty and staff.
—Submitted by a parent

Definitely geared for students who are gifted and still prepared to work hard, athletics and the arts take a backseat. That said, the fencing, swimming, and football teams have produced a number of collegiate stars and a few students in my daughter's year went on to art schools. Some of the new faculty each year are not up to snuff, but the students do not tolerate incompetence and indirectly weed out the weakest links. The school forces students to build up a considerable work ethic- graduates often find the workload in freshman year of college easy by comparison.
—Submitted by a parent

After 4 years at Hopkins, the college placement was not great. The kids in my public school did better with similar grades. Alot of work and was it worth it in the end? The discipline also was an issue, for drinking especially. The athletics were ok , though. Consider Choate, Taft, Chase or public school instead. Also did not like the neighborhoods we had to go through to get to Hopkins, New Haven is really not safe (just look at how much crime Yale has).
—Submitted by a student

Hopkins is one of the best schools I've seen. It has a rigorous academic program designed to help the best succeed. A necessary corollary of this is that if you are one of the great majority that is not in the top few percent, the academics are tough. There is, however, an exemplary system in place to keep the bottom levels from completely collapsing. Howard Roark would be proud.
—Submitted by a student

I mostly want to respond to the reviewer who thought Hopkins is in a 'terrible neighborhood', 'rough neighborhood surround'. That is a bizarre description of the part of Westville in which Hopkins is located. The surrounding streets consist exclusively of single-family homes selling in the $200-300K range. About 3 blocks away, you can find some single families in the $150K+ range mixed in with more expensive houses. About 1 mile away, you start to get some small multifamily bldngs with section 8 housing. If that's your definition of 'rough neighborhood' you must breath a very thin air indeed in your suburb! The school is academically excellent for ambitious, hard-working kids; not so good for kids needing academic support or just not interested in a highly competitive environment. Lots of great faculty, probably a few stinkers (our kid never had one, but I suppose there are some).
—Submitted by a parent

Hopkins does not provide athletic scholarships as none of the student athletes are on athletic scholarship (In response to the misinformed post from November 2008). The school is great but does lack some diversity. They have an updated athletic center and many updated academic facilities, with plans for more development of the giant campus. Best private school in Southern, CT.
—Submitted by a student

Hopkins has a great reputation and a beautiful campus. However, the faculty is very uneven, from great to absolutely inadequate. The school does not replace incompetent teachers, and the students all know who they are. The head of school does not know the kids and the entire administration seems more concerned in raising money for more bricks and mortar than with the education of its undeniably gifted student body. Parents are pretty apathetic and involved solely in fund raising. Coasting on a good reputation and lots of admisions via legacy and Yale connections wll only go so far.
—Submitted by a parent

Hopkins is a good school in a terrible neighborhood. The sports are not top notch. The students have largely Yale associated parents, hence the convenience of New Haven and the feeder school to Yale for the children. Overall it is a good day school with a rough neighborhood surround which caters to rich Yale families and scholarship inner city athletes. We did not have a good experience here. The facilities are small and outdated also.
—Submitted by a parent

Hopkins is a great school over all but i wish their was a little more diversity.
—Submitted by a student

selective school with strong academics. too pressured for some kids. i had 3 kids go through - 2 academic stars who went to ivies, one more laid back who did ok and is none the worse for wear. the strongest school in the region.
—Submitted by a parent

Hopkins selects from a relatively small applicant pool in comparison to other Northeast Prep Schools (i.e. Choate, Exeter, etc.) but easily compares in strengths to any of these schools. There a wide range of academic courses available to all students. Each course is rigorous and challenging in it s own, testing each student s ability. While the arts programs at the school may be lacking, their athletics are certainly not. Hopkins easily matches up to the most elite of the other prep schools, whose teams often are filled with post-grad athletes, while Hopkins school does not admit Post-graduate students. Parent Involvement is always high, as parents often want to know what they are spending their $25,000 dollars on each year. Overall, Hopkins school is a tremendous academic institution in southern Connecticut, and is arguably one of the best high schools in the country.
—Submitted by a parent

Our son comes home everyday with such a positive attitude from his daily experiences at Hopkins.
—Submitted by Carmen Pagliarella, a parent

It is an excellent school!
—Submitted by a student