 The board, under the direction of president Grace Easterby, claimed that they voted for these names to minimize rivalry between the schools.Several months later, after much persuasion, the board voted to change the name of the two schools to Fairfield Ludlowe and Fairfield Warde, keeping the names from before the 1987 consolidation but also maintaining the reputation of the Fairfield name.In 2012, the school debuted in the rankings for the U.S. News & World Report Best High Schools ranking.