Saint Andrew’s Episcopal School Potomac “SAES “

[Anonymous]

Current or past SAES parents, please share your experiences and thought on the lower school? Thank you very much!

[Anonymous]

They no longer offer learning supports or want kids who need them.

[Anonymous]

Current lower school family and very happy. My child has amazing, caring teachers who support and enrich. Great after school activity options. My child loves school and comes home every day excited about new learning. Bus and lunch make things easier.

Extended day is done in house so children interact with teaching staff and high school student assistants before and after school.

Staff have all responded to my emails promptly and thoughtfully.

I love that they are all trained in the science of reading and OG trained. I also appreciate the emphasis on handwriting, cursive, and writing instruction. I love all the specials but I think many of those are common at other private schools as well.

The negatives I see are cost (but I've heard good things about the financial aid), lack of day off/half day extended day which I hope they will fix at some point soon, and the location can be difficult if you are not near a bus route.

I am happy to answer specific questions but also be aware that there has been a troll maligning the school over the past month or so.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They no longer offer learning supports or want kids who need them.

When did this change?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They no longer offer learning supports or want kids who need them.

When did this change?

They got an increase in applications when covid hit, so they moved away from accepting students that needed learning support. As more families go back to public schools now that classes are back to normal, they will have a drop in applications and will have to offering support to meet the needs of the reduced pool of applicants.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They no longer offer learning supports or want kids who need them.

When did this change?

They got an increase in applications when covid hit, so they moved away from accepting students that needed learning support. As more families go back to public schools now that classes are back to normal, they will have a drop in applications and will have to offering support to meet the needs of the reduced pool of applicants.

I don’t think it will ever change back. The pandemic created increased demand for private school and applications probably won’t ever go back to where they were pre-pandemic. Very few families that switched to private during COVID go back.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They no longer offer learning supports or want kids who need them.

Untrue. My kid is thriving there and gets a lot of support from their teachers. The school hasn’t changed; it is a loving and supportive atmosphere. There is one poster who keeps making this claim on every post for some reason; it doesn’t match our reality as a current family.

It’s not, and never has been, a school that says it specializes in supporting kids with LDs (like Lab or or McLean), but it’s a kind and lovely place and serves a range of kids including those who are high achieving and those who need a little more support/attention.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They no longer offer learning supports or want kids who need them.

What does this mean?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Current lower school family and very happy. My child has amazing, caring teachers who support and enrich. Great after school activity options. My child loves school and comes home every day excited about new learning. Bus and lunch make things easier.

Extended day is done in house so children interact with teaching staff and high school student assistants before and after school.

Staff have all responded to my emails promptly and thoughtfully.

I love that they are all trained in the science of reading and OG trained. I also appreciate the emphasis on handwriting, cursive, and writing instruction. I love all the specials but I think many of those are common at other private schools as well.

The negatives I see are cost (but I've heard good things about the financial aid), lack of day off/half day extended day which I hope they will fix at some point soon, and the location can be difficult if you are not near a bus route.

I am happy to answer specific questions but also be aware that there has been a troll maligning the school over the past month or so.

What sports does your child have as options, does he think the other students are friendly, are the teachers GOOD and experienced? Thanks.

[Anonymous]

One of my children who started in the Lower School is much older now. To this day, his LS teachers show to him and to us that they have fond memories of teaching him and are invested in his continued growth. It's a real community from LS through US -- much enhanced in my opinion since the two campuses were merged. Academically, he was really well prepared for the rigor of the older grades and he has a love of learning. Covid was a blip in his experience. His teachers knew him so well that remote learning was a non-issue during those early months of the pandemic when it was necessary.

Thank you, St. Andrew's!

[Anonymous]

Could not be happier with, truly, everything about it!!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Current lower school family and very happy. My child has amazing, caring teachers who support and enrich. Great after school activity options. My child loves school and comes home every day excited about new learning. Bus and lunch make things easier.

Extended day is done in house so children interact with teaching staff and high school student assistants before and after school.

Staff have all responded to my emails promptly and thoughtfully.

I love that they are all trained in the science of reading and OG trained. I also appreciate the emphasis on handwriting, cursive, and writing instruction. I love all the specials but I think many of those are common at other private schools as well.

The negatives I see are cost (but I've heard good things about the financial aid), lack of day off/half day extended day which I hope they will fix at some point soon, and the location can be difficult if you are not near a bus route.

I am happy to answer specific questions but also be aware that there has been a troll maligning the school over the past month or so.

What sports does your child have as options, does he think the other students are friendly, are the teachers GOOD and experienced? Thanks.

If you want competitive sports at school in lower school you might want a k-8. At SAES, kids have PE 3-5 times a week increasing as they get older. K-2 p.e. is about learning skills and teamwork and then 3-5 they learn more game rules and playing sports. Competitive teams start in middle school. The lower school after school offers beginning and advanced fencing as well as cooking, art, science, and other classes.

My child adores classmates and kids from other classes.

The teachers have been great so far. I was very impressed with the bios of the newly hired teachers and all of the teachers there currently have been great as far as I can tell. I am obviously not in the classroom all day every day and I'm sure there is variation because there is everywhere. However, conferences (twice a year) are thorough and the report card (3 x a year) is like 5 single spaced pages with both narrative comments and skills based checklists. I enjoy knowing what's going on with my child's learning. My child is excited by learning and constantly surprising me with new learning. Again, YMMV because kids are all different.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Current lower school family and very happy. My child has amazing, caring teachers who support and enrich. Great after school activity options. My child loves school and comes home every day excited about new learning. Bus and lunch make things easier.

Extended day is done in house so children interact with teaching staff and high school student assistants before and after school.

Staff have all responded to my emails promptly and thoughtfully.

I love that they are all trained in the science of reading and OG trained. I also appreciate the emphasis on handwriting, cursive, and writing instruction. I love all the specials but I think many of those are common at other private schools as well.

The negatives I see are cost (but I've heard good things about the financial aid), lack of day off/half day extended day which I hope they will fix at some point soon, and the location can be difficult if you are not near a bus route.

I am happy to answer specific questions but also be aware that there has been a troll maligning the school over the past month or so.

What sports does your child have as options, does he think the other students are friendly, are the teachers GOOD and experienced? Thanks.

If you want competitive sports at school in lower school you might want a k-8. At SAES, kids have PE 3-5 times a week increasing as they get older. K-2 p.e. is about learning skills and teamwork and then 3-5 they learn more game rules and playing sports. Competitive teams start in middle school. The lower school after school offers beginning and advanced fencing as well as cooking, art, science, and other classes.

My child adores classmates and kids from other classes.

The teachers have been great so far. I was very impressed with the bios of the newly hired teachers and all of the teachers there currently have been great as far as I can tell. I am obviously not in the classroom all day every day and I'm sure there is variation because there is everywhere. However, conferences (twice a year) are thorough and the report card (3 x a year) is like 5 single spaced pages with both narrative comments and skills based checklists. I enjoy knowing what's going on with my child's learning. My child is excited by learning and constantly surprising me with new learning. Again, YMMV because kids are all different.

OP here, thank you. Very helpful.

[Anonymous]

Rising 12th grade parent here. Applications for St. Andrews continue to rise, to record levels again this year, so the increases for the last 4 years were not a Covid blip. The school was founded in the 1970s to provide a co-ed alternative to St. Albans and NCS and, IMHO, is now realizing its potential.

Pros: My DC has greatly benefited from the high quality of teaching in the Upper School. As parents, we are also impressed by the extremely low level of faculty turnover in the Upper School - other private schools we have attended have had high levels of turnover (and blamed it on a nationwide shortage of teachers). Not a problem here, likely due to the focus on faculty professional development (with an in-house, world class program). The US Admin. team is also commendable - they communicate well, are responsive to questions and concerns, handle disciplinary issues appropriately and value community. We love how the US recognizes excellence in academics, athletics and the arts. It's always a pleasure to be a part of any activity at this school.

Cons: From our perspective, the extra-curricular activities are uneven. The US thrives in lacrosse and basketball but lacks a dedicated theater for performing arts (they use a multi-purpose room), a dedicated pool for their swim team, a dedicated coach for the robotics team, and an adequate coaching for the tennis team (but new coaches start in 2024). There may be other issues. Only one of these has been an issue for us. We know from experience that no one school is perfect and are very happy overall.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Rising 12th grade parent here. Applications for St. Andrews continue to rise, to record levels again this year, so the increases for the last 4 years were not a Covid blip. The school was founded in the 1970s to provide a co-ed alternative to St. Albans and NCS and, IMHO, is now realizing its potential.

Pros: My DC has greatly benefited from the high quality of teaching in the Upper School. As parents, we are also impressed by the extremely low level of faculty turnover in the Upper School - other private schools we have attended have had high levels of turnover (and blamed it on a nationwide shortage of teachers). Not a problem here, likely due to the focus on faculty professional development (with an in-house, world class program). The US Admin. team is also commendable - they communicate well, are responsive to questions and concerns, handle disciplinary issues appropriately and value community. We love how the US recognizes excellence in academics, athletics and the arts. It's always a pleasure to be a part of any activity at this school.

Cons: From our perspective, the extra-curricular activities are uneven. The US thrives in lacrosse and basketball but lacks a dedicated theater for performing arts (they use a multi-purpose room), a dedicated pool for their swim team, a dedicated coach for the robotics team, and an adequate coaching for the tennis team (but new coaches start in 2024). There may be other issues. Only one of these has been an issue for us. We know from experience that no one school is perfect and are very happy overall.

A co-ed alternative to St. Albans and NCS, you must be joking. It isn't even in the same league. Only a handful of St. Andrew's students would be accepted to either of those two schools.