St. Anselm's Abbey High School

[Anonymous]

Can you tell me about your transition into SAAS at 9th grade? How does the school incorporate new students?

[Anonymous]

The transition was relatively easy on the social front. SAAS hosted a whole-school summer event in July, pre-season sports practice began in early August, and fall musical workshops occurred in August and September. DS had no issues meeting peers before school started. SAAS also has a cool house system -- think Hogwarts -- and the houses compete every week against each other. SAAS also sponsors a lot of social activities, like movie nights and dances. The academic transition for new students can be harder -- it is a rigorous school (but the kids are not cutthroat, uber competitive with each other). It took DS a few weeks to become accustomed to the workload and expectations. But honestly, because there are so many assignments and assessments, not one of them counts for too much in the grand scheme of things. In contrast, DD attends a non-parochial private, and while rigorous, there are far fewer assessments, which means that individual grades on those are more important. Ironically, at SAAS, the rigor makes each assessment less stressful. Counterintuitive, but just my observation.

[Anonymous]

About a 1/3 of freshman at SAAS are new to the school. My kid joined SAAS during Covid, and even then the school made a lot of efforts to welcome students.

The toughest thing is the academics, in that it is so many classes to manage. And your student will have to muscle through non-preferred subjects and teachers. But the kids learn to keep at it.

Academic and emotional support for students is not great. Teachers have great support from administration to grade and teach as they see fit. It keeps good teachers there. Your student and family will be the one adapting. But I found this a benefit of the school in teaching my son to adapt to circumstances.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The transition was relatively easy on the social front. SAAS hosted a whole-school summer event in July, pre-season sports practice began in early August, and fall musical workshops occurred in August and September. DS had no issues meeting peers before school started. SAAS also has a cool house system -- think Hogwarts -- and the houses compete every week against each other. SAAS also sponsors a lot of social activities, like movie nights and dances. The academic transition for new students can be harder -- it is a rigorous school (but the kids are not cutthroat, uber competitive with each other). It took DS a few weeks to become accustomed to the workload and expectations. But honestly, because there are so many assignments and assessments, not one of them counts for too much in the grand scheme of things. In contrast, DD attends a non-parochial private, and while rigorous, there are far fewer assessments, which means that individual grades on those are more important. Ironically, at SAAS, the rigor makes each assessment less stressful. Counterintuitive, but just my observation.

Super helpful! Thanks!