What do you love/not love about SSSAS?

[Anonymous]

The woke curriculum is not taken seriously by the students, as at most schools. The kids are accepting and welcoming on their own and all the social agenda material just gets a big eye roll - even from some of the minority students it purports to help.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The woke curriculum is not taken seriously by the students, as at most schools. The kids are accepting and welcoming on their own and all the social agenda material just gets a big eye roll - even from some of the minority students it purports to help.

Parent at another independent school, and I agree with this. I'm not sure that all of these programs and classes and curriculum changes are having the intended effect. (Although, if I was a parent at SSSAS, I would not be happy with the graphic displayed in this thread, and would speak out about it.)

I have older kids (MS/ US) and think that many of these administrators/ teachers would be shocked at the amount of chuckling and mocking that goes on behind their backs at this insane information.

[Anonymous]

I agree. Most of this “curriculum” has the opposite effect.

[Anonymous]

So do parents not want their kids to be aware of societal issues? I'm honestly at a loss here. Are we -- as a predominantly privileged group able to send our children to private schools -- supposed to just focus on happy positive things? I'm genuinely wondering what the issue is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So do parents not want their kids to be aware of societal issues? I'm honestly at a loss here. Are we -- as a predominantly privileged group able to send our children to private schools -- supposed to just focus on happy positive things? I'm genuinely wondering what the issue is.

NP. As a parent who is able to send kids to private schools, and is paying out the wazoo for the privilege of doing so, I want schools to focus on -- you know -- school. Math. Science. Art and music. Handwriting. Computer skills. Literature and foreign languages. Physics for the older kids. The list goes on and on.

Shocking to some, I know.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: All of you who are complaining about SSSAS seem like entitled white folks who are scared of being stripped of their white superiority and all that this entails.
SSSAS is open-minded, inclusive and progressive and you hate it. Go somewhere else. Please.

This

I’m black and this place sounds like an effing nightmare. Get over yourself with the anyone-who-disagrees-with-me-needs-to-check-their-white-privilege boring nonsense.

Sure you are 😆

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our DS attended SSSAS for 8 years. We were thrilled when we were accepted, and the school was fabulous for the first few years. Fabulous education, fabulous teachers, fabulous environment. I was an enthusiastic school volunteer. However, a few years in, the focus of the school started to change. Grades were eliminated until 6th grade, and even at that time, the teachers were very generous with their grading, and homework was minimal. (We all want to believe that our child is brilliant, but my child put in zero effort, rarely turned in assignments on time, and was on the honor roll.) I just expected a more rigorous curriculum from the school. The math curriculum is at the level (or below) of public schools, and the writing instruction is average. Bullying also became a problem in middle school (from students that had been attending the same school together for almost 7 years), and there were no consequences for extremely cruel children that went so far as to encourage self-harm. We had mixed feelings about leaving as we became close with many of the families, but we decided that the best choice for our child was to leave.

I call troll. There isn’t an “honor roll” at SSSAS.

There absolutely is an honor roll and has been for years. They don’t call it that but you obviously know what posters are referring to

This is from the "troll". My child's report card from SSSAS the first year they received grades. The header said Honor Roll, but technically it is the Dean's list. I'm tempted to post some of the screenshots from the bullying received, but I'm not technically savvy enough to remove the names and phone numbers...and it would show some very colorful language, some from staff members' kids.


History 6 Bryant A-
Religion 6 Cooper B+
Visual Art 6 Calabrese A
English 6 Silberberg B+
Math 6 Riedy B+
Spanish 6 McNear A
General Science 6 Ehrhardt A-
Physical Education 6 Jones A+
Honor Roll
2nd Trimester MS Tri 2 Deans List

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Love- kids live geographically close, many good teachers, Administration will at least hear you, 3 campuses make each time at school unique and easy to leave at the end of that chapter- relatively diverse group of children, but sadly as years go on they self segregate - size of classes is about perfect

Do not love
-used to emphasize “goodness in our heart,” have moved away from this to be more political. Kids asked to share parents income w school etc., sexual orientation and other private info. Person referencing white guilt is spot on, not racist. It’s overdone; leads to self segregation
-lax culture is alive and thriving. Kids apply/join as late as senior year to play lax at SSSAS. College admissions for lax is a result of the coach not school. Other non-lax kids are second tiered socially, but there is at least a place for them
- lots of sitting in LS/ devices. Not as interactive as it should be, not particularly academic, focus on whole child which is healthy to an extent
-about to do a huge renovation at the US that will put kids in trailers for at LEAST 18 months, US facilities are subpar
-curriculum not moving academically forward fast enough. Just added Coding in MS THIS year
-differentiation in learning non-existent until 7th grade math
-math may go deeper, but kids are behind in math compared to publics

I’m sorry- am I reading this correctly? KIDS are asked to share private information about their families with the school? Who in their right mind would put up with that?

Yes; you are reading this correctly. In 6th grade, my child was asked their socio-economic status, their gender identity, their sexual identity, etc., and it was recorded in a google document. I do not think this is the school's business. That was our last year at the school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our DS attended SSSAS for 8 years. We were thrilled when we were accepted, and the school was fabulous for the first few years. Fabulous education, fabulous teachers, fabulous environment. I was an enthusiastic school volunteer. However, a few years in, the focus of the school started to change. Grades were eliminated until 6th grade, and even at that time, the teachers were very generous with their grading, and homework was minimal. (We all want to believe that our child is brilliant, but my child put in zero effort, rarely turned in assignments on time, and was on the honor roll.) I just expected a more rigorous curriculum from the school. The math curriculum is at the level (or below) of public schools, and the writing instruction is average. Bullying also became a problem in middle school (from students that had been attending the same school together for almost 7 years), and there were no consequences for extremely cruel children that went so far as to encourage self-harm. We had mixed feelings about leaving as we became close with many of the families, but we decided that the best choice for our child was to leave.

I will never in a million years understand why parents don't raise hell about things like this (bolded). Grades eliminated for kids through 5th grade? Are you kidding me?

I did "raise hell" about this and many other things. I was usually told something along the lines of "I'm sorry you have a problem with this". It is hard to leave a school that your child has been attending for so long. We realize that no school is perfect, but when the bad outwieghs the good, it is time to leave, which we did.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wow this thread is full of misinformation I don’t even know where to start. The grading for equity thing is completely false and was NOT in the state of the school webinar. They have policies promoting diversity equity and inclusion - none of which entail grading a black student differently than a white student. Seriously that’s some Fox News propaganda. Ugh. I’m embarrassed parents that dumb are part of the school community and even more embarrassed one of them is actively posting here.

St Stephens is a fabulous school. Clearly not for those who want to live in a Trumpy, conservative bubble however.

The threads are not misinformation, but another viewpoint or experience. I am a parent of a former SSSAS student. We had a terrible experience and were forced to leave due to bullying. I can't speak to the grading for equity as my child always received high marks in middle school. I can speak to the "bubble" however. If living in a bubble includes not wanting the school to ask my 11-year-old child their sexual orientation, then I am guilty as charged!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We're leaving at 8th for a number of reasons. College admissions for non-Lax athletes is dismal. We can get a similar or better result w the Catholic school DS is heading to.

I don't like the hard left shift of the past 5 years. White boys are no longer their desired demographic as evidenced by their recent Admissions promo video. Grading for equity is the #1 DEI policy and it bothers me. I'm not going to support it with $40k+ annually.

Why do you think this is? Lack of support from the administration or negative view of SSSAS by colleges? Just wondering as we have a 7th grader that may be interested in SSSAS for high school.

A couple of issues - college counseling office is poor. The few elite acceptances that are unrelated to athletics are a result of parents working that system and not SSSAS. The school is making no changes to the office, so I wouldn't expect any improvement in the coming years.

The other issue is that schools that are as academically rigorous as SSSAS tend to practice grade inflation giving their students a better GPA and with today's test optional Admissions, that's a big deal.

Thank you for your honest reply. I'm sorry to hear about both issues, particularly the fact that the counseling office hasn't produced and the school isn't going to make changes. That is definitely something to keep in mind as we move forward.

I’m assuming the above reply is someone from the school given the “we” wording. So now that this board has your attention, could you say something about the honest reply of many parents that are concerned about bullying at the school? Are you you concerned about that? Or are you only concerned when certain groups of people are socially ostracized or verbally attacked? What about the constant cyber bullying? Anyone?? Bueller??

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We're leaving at 8th for a number of reasons. College admissions for non-Lax athletes is dismal. We can get a similar or better result w the Catholic school DS is heading to.

I don't like the hard left shift of the past 5 years. White boys are no longer their desired demographic as evidenced by their recent Admissions promo video. Grading for equity is the #1 DEI policy and it bothers me. I'm not going to support it with $40k+ annually.

Why do you think this is? Lack of support from the administration or negative view of SSSAS by colleges? Just wondering as we have a 7th grader that may be interested in SSSAS for high school.

A couple of issues - college counseling office is poor. The few elite acceptances that are unrelated to athletics are a result of parents working that system and not SSSAS. The school is making no changes to the office, so I wouldn't expect any improvement in the coming years.

The other issue is that schools that are as academically rigorous as SSSAS tend to practice grade inflation giving their students a better GPA and with today's test optional Admissions, that's a big deal.

Thank you for your honest reply. I'm sorry to hear about both issues, particularly the fact that the counseling office hasn't produced and the school isn't going to make changes. That is definitely something to keep in mind as we move forward.

I’m assuming the above reply is someone from the school given the “we” wording. So now that this board has your attention, could you say something about the honest reply of many parents that are concerned about bullying at the school? Are you you concerned about that? Or are you only concerned when certain groups of people are socially ostracized or verbally attacked? What about the constant cyber bullying? Anyone?? Bueller??

+1,000!!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We're leaving at 8th for a number of reasons. College admissions for non-Lax athletes is dismal. We can get a similar or better result w the Catholic school DS is heading to.

I don't like the hard left shift of the past 5 years. White boys are no longer their desired demographic as evidenced by their recent Admissions promo video. Grading for equity is the #1 DEI policy and it bothers me. I'm not going to support it with $40k+ annually.

Why do you think this is? Lack of support from the administration or negative view of SSSAS by colleges? Just wondering as we have a 7th grader that may be interested in SSSAS for high school.

A couple of issues - college counseling office is poor. The few elite acceptances that are unrelated to athletics are a result of parents working that system and not SSSAS. The school is making no changes to the office, so I wouldn't expect any improvement in the coming years.

The other issue is that schools that are as academically rigorous as SSSAS tend to practice grade inflation giving their students a better GPA and with today's test optional Admissions, that's a big deal.

Thank you for your honest reply. I'm sorry to hear about both issues, particularly the fact that the counseling office hasn't produced and the school isn't going to make changes. That is definitely something to keep in mind as we move forward.

I’m assuming the above reply is someone from the school given the “we” wording. So now that this board has your attention, could you say something about the honest reply of many parents that are concerned about bullying at the school? Are you you concerned about that? Or are you only concerned when certain groups of people are socially ostracized or verbally attacked? What about the constant cyber bullying? Anyone?? Bueller??

+1,000!!![/quote

If the reply was from someone at SSSAS, I certainly hope you will make changes. I will never forgive the school for the damage done to my child while attending SSSAS and the complete lack of concern after reporting the incidents to the administration.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We're leaving at 8th for a number of reasons. College admissions for non-Lax athletes is dismal. We can get a similar or better result w the Catholic school DS is heading to.

I don't like the hard left shift of the past 5 years. White boys are no longer their desired demographic as evidenced by their recent Admissions promo video. Grading for equity is the #1 DEI policy and it bothers me. I'm not going to support it with $40k+ annually.

Why do you think this is? Lack of support from the administration or negative view of SSSAS by colleges? Just wondering as we have a 7th grader that may be interested in SSSAS for high school.

A couple of issues - college counseling office is poor. The few elite acceptances that are unrelated to athletics are a result of parents working that system and not SSSAS. The school is making no changes to the office, so I wouldn't expect any improvement in the coming years.

The other issue is that schools that are as academically rigorous as SSSAS tend to practice grade inflation giving their students a better GPA and with today's test optional Admissions, that's a big deal.

Thank you for your honest reply. I'm sorry to hear about both issues, particularly the fact that the counseling office hasn't produced and the school isn't going to make changes. That is definitely something to keep in mind as we move forward.

I’m assuming the above reply is someone from the school given the “we” wording. So now that this board has your attention, could you say something about the honest reply of many parents that are concerned about bullying at the school? Are you you concerned about that? Or are you only concerned when certain groups of people are socially ostracized or verbally attacked? What about the constant cyber bullying? Anyone?? Bueller??

I took the “we” to mean an applicant family would move forward with the school but keep these issues in mind after enrolling.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our DS attended SSSAS for 8 years. We were thrilled when we were accepted, and the school was fabulous for the first few years. Fabulous education, fabulous teachers, fabulous environment. I was an enthusiastic school volunteer. However, a few years in, the focus of the school started to change. Grades were eliminated until 6th grade, and even at that time, the teachers were very generous with their grading, and homework was minimal. (We all want to believe that our child is brilliant, but my child put in zero effort, rarely turned in assignments on time, and was on the honor roll.) I just expected a more rigorous curriculum from the school. The math curriculum is at the level (or below) of public schools, and the writing instruction is average. Bullying also became a problem in middle school (from students that had been attending the same school together for almost 7 years), and there were no consequences for extremely cruel children that went so far as to encourage self-harm. We had mixed feelings about leaving as we became close with many of the families, but we decided that the best choice for our child was to leave.

Long time SSSAS family. I could have written this verbatim.

+1