SSSAS Upper School

[Anonymous]

Considering for next year, DD will be freshman. Currently enrolled in a pvt school though smaller, we are attracted to the mid size and location. They seem really great aa not to high pressures, ability to cater to learning disabilities with the Academic Center. Some are saying it's not as good as it looks.

Can those with Freshman/Sophomores please share insights? specifically interested in how strong teachers are, daily schedules work well logistically, overall administration communications. Every class differs as we've discovered so I'm not as interested in whether the girls are mean or anything - I feel strongly if the overall structure and administration is strong, such issues can be resolved.

[Anonymous]

NP here. I’m also looking at SSAAS for 9th grade. Anyone with kids who graduated from the school and can say whether their kids were challenged by the curriculum without it being a pressure cooker? Also, were you happy with college acceptances for your children?

[Anonymous]

DC is a new 9th grader there. The transition has gone really well. DC likes all the teachers, although has a friend who is unexpectedly struggling in English (both DC and the friend were top students at their k-8) and says that no one in that class has higher than an 80 (different teacher for that section). I haven’t been able to get more info, so that’s very much third-hand information, take with a grain of salt.

DC absolutely LOVES the block schedule, so that newly assigned homework is never due the next day. Both math and science teachers allow and encourage students to do test corrections for partial credit of what they missed (about 1/3 of the missed points can be earned, so it’s not a retake, but it makes mistakes into opportunities to keep learning, which I think is great).

The schedule has 8 class periods divided across two days, and one period must be a study hall (required in 9th) or free period (higher grades), so 7 classes max, and 6 minimum (including arts, music, etc—not only academic subjects). There is free time at the end of every day when all teachers are available so kids can meet to ask questions or do homework. My DC does a great job of taking advantage of study/free time to get a jump on homework, which I highly recommend. Sports or being involved in the fall play/spring musical can keep kids at school until 5:30 or even later (the play is heading into tech next week, for example, so it’s 6:30 pickup for two weeks after that).

The little interaction we’ve needed to have with admin has been impressively responsive. There was a mix up with the schedule, and they fixed it within an hour of me emailing—and I emailed the advisor but it was the US head who responded to assure me it would be taken care of promptly, and it was. There’s less teacher/parent communication than in our k-8, but I would expect that—the students are the first line of communication now. But DC’s advisor reached out after the first marking period to say everything seemed to be going well and assure us that we can always contact her with questions, and I get the impression that had there been any concerns, academically or socially, we’d have been alerted.

DC is in the academic center for one period as well, and while it’s honestly not really needed at this point because our k-8 did a stupendous job of teaching study skills and helping kids learn to advocate for themselves, etc, it’s good for DC to get to know the staff there and the assigned advisor there, and to feel comfortable with the center as a resource for the next four years (even DC agrees, although sometimes grumbles at the “lessons” in note taking techniques, etc, that take away time from just doing homework). We expect that after the first semester DC will not need to be assigned an actual class period in the academic center, but we love it as a supportive resource.

Overall we (DC and parents) have been very happy with the first few months at the school.

[Anonymous]

We toured with our oldest a few years ago but they chose to enroll elsewhere. Just toured again recently with our youngest and still have trouble getting a read on this school and community. Can’t quite put my finger on it though. We will likely be deciding between SSSAS and BI.

[Anonymous]

Bump

[Anonymous]

Our child is in 9th grade at SSSAS and we are frustrated with our experience so far. As a previous poster mentioned, DC is in an English class where many bright students are getting bad grades. The school does not seem responsive to the idea that it may be the teacher and not the students who are the problem. DC also has another teacher in a core subject who is receiving a lot of complaints. It has been a tough start and we are reconsidering whether this was the right place for our child.

[Anonymous]

Chat GPT has messed up the entire upper school english protocol. In-class writing assignments are now the norm, and many students are having trouble adjusting to writing on the fly without the ability to really make edits. This is the norm for all four grades right now. A few bad apples last year have impacted the whole this year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Chat GPT has messed up the entire upper school english protocol. In-class writing assignments are now the norm, and many students are having trouble adjusting to writing on the fly without the ability to really make edits. This is the norm for all four grades right now. A few bad apples last year have impacted the whole this year.

This is a real frustration for our dyslexic child at SSSAS right now. DC can write great essays but it takes lots of time and repeated rounds of edits to focus on spelling and grammar and word choice. DC’s best work will never come from in-class writing.

I understand that teachers everywhere are struggling with how to handle the effects of ChatGPT, but switching entirely to in-class writing creates a greater hurdle for kids with learning differences. I don’t envy teachers as they figure this out, but as a parent, I hate the choice they’ve made for now.

[Anonymous]

What about the other departments? Are the math, science and language teachers strong? Ar they fair in their grading, or is this a school known for grade deflation and rigor to toughen them up before college?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our child is in 9th grade at SSSAS and we are frustrated with our experience so far. As a previous poster mentioned, DC is in an English class where many bright students are getting bad grades. The school does not seem responsive to the idea that it may be the teacher and not the students who are the problem. DC also has another teacher in a core subject who is receiving a lot of complaints. It has been a tough start and we are reconsidering whether this was the right place for our child.

Same here. We are so disappointed with our child’s English experience.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What about the other departments? Are the math, science and language teachers strong? Ar they fair in their grading, or is this a school known for grade deflation and rigor to toughen them up before college?

We are disappointed and frustrated with English so far, but math, science, and language have been good. History has been ok—but it’s also just a tougher subject for my kid, nothing to do with the school. We are hoping that things will shift into a better balance with English classes and aren’t willing to jump ship over it yet.

Overall the grading seems fair and I don’t believe there’s any goal to “toughen up” kids before college (what a weird concept—prepare, yes; toughen, really not what we’re looking for) or arbitrarily deflate (or, tbh, inflate) grades.

[Anonymous]

a parent of the current 9th grader here. we deliberately chose SSSAS over one of the DC top three schools for the environment, community, and administration. It is a good school but not a pressure cooker. Kids get to good colleges and those who work hard get into great ones (some via athletics, others through academic achievement). Not everyone is trying to get into Ivies elbowing each other out.
Mallet is great. Naturally, administration does not jump at every complaint from the parents but they do look into the issues and address them as needed. This is a college prep school. I remind my kid of that every day. In college, you would get all kinds of professors with all kinds of approaches and grading schemes, so you need to learn how to understand the issues, deal with your teachers, advocate for yourself, seek help. I also found advisory to be really good! Kids do feel like they can get to know each other and a place to go.

I am a fan of the block schedule. There is time for kids to get involve in other things, get the homework done and still get some sleep.
Schools are complicated organism, not mechanisms, and HS are especially so...there isn't a perfect one, but hopefully there is one that is perfect for your kid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:a parent of the current 9th grader here. we deliberately chose SSSAS over one of the DC top three schools for the environment, community, and administration. It is a good school but not a pressure cooker. Kids get to good colleges and those who work hard get into great ones (some via athletics, others through academic achievement). Not everyone is trying to get into Ivies elbowing each other out.
Mallet is great. Naturally, administration does not jump at every complaint from the parents but they do look into the issues and address them as needed. This is a college prep school. I remind my kid of that every day. In college, you would get all kinds of professors with all kinds of approaches and grading schemes, so you need to learn how to understand the issues, deal with your teachers, advocate for yourself, seek help. I also found advisory to be really good! Kids do feel like they can get to know each other and a place to go.

I am a fan of the block schedule. There is time for kids to get involve in other things, get the homework done and still get some sleep.
Schools are complicated organism, not mechanisms, and HS are especially so...there isn't a perfect one, but hopefully there is one that is perfect for your kid.

nope

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DC is a new 9th grader there. The transition has gone really well. DC likes all the teachers, although has a friend who is unexpectedly struggling in English (both DC and the friend were top students at their k-8) and says that no one in that class has higher than an 80 (different teacher for that section). I haven’t been able to get more info, so that’s very much third-hand information, take with a grain of salt.

DC absolutely LOVES the block schedule, so that newly assigned homework is never due the next day. Both math and science teachers allow and encourage students to do test corrections for partial credit of what they missed (about 1/3 of the missed points can be earned, so it’s not a retake, but it makes mistakes into opportunities to keep learning, which I think is great).

The schedule has 8 class periods divided across two days, and one period must be a study hall (required in 9th) or free period (higher grades), so 7 classes max, and 6 minimum (including arts, music, etc—not only academic subjects). There is free time at the end of every day when all teachers are available so kids can meet to ask questions or do homework. My DC does a great job of taking advantage of study/free time to get a jump on homework, which I highly recommend. Sports or being involved in the fall play/spring musical can keep kids at school until 5:30 or even later (the play is heading into tech next week, for example, so it’s 6:30 pickup for two weeks after that).

The little interaction we’ve needed to have with admin has been impressively responsive. There was a mix up with the schedule, and they fixed it within an hour of me emailing—and I emailed the advisor but it was the US head who responded to assure me it would be taken care of promptly, and it was. There’s less teacher/parent mmunication than in our k-8, but I would expect that—the students are the first line of communication now. But DC’s advisor reached out after the first marking period to say everything seemed to be going well and assure us that we can always contact her with questions, and I get the impression that had there been any concerns, academically or socially, we’d have been alerted.

DC is in the academic center for one period as well, and while it’s honestly not really needed at this point because our k-8 did a stupendous job of teaching study skills and helping kids learn to advocate for themselves, etc, it’s good for DC to get to know the staff there and the assigned advisor there, and to feel comfortable with the center as a resource for the next four years (even DC agrees, although sometimes grumbles at the “lessons” in note taking techniques, etc, that take away time from just doing homework). We expect that after the first semester DC will not need to be assigned an actual class period in the academic center, but we love it as a supportive resource.

Overall we (DC and parents) have been very happy with the first few months at the school. [/quote

We are also a new 9th grade family and would echo the sentiments of this poster. Our DC came out of a local k-8 and has had a fantastic transition. We were definitely a little anxious, but it has gone better than any of us expected. DC really loves the school and is doing very well academically, although it really has been an adjustment with the work load and rigor of the classes. DC likes all of their teachers and will readily tell you the classes are hard, but good. They are having a fantastic English class experience, unlike some of the posters. FWIW - they are in physics and geometry for the science and math tracks. DC doesn't participate in the Academic Center program. They love the block schedule, the extracurriulars, the study hall, and STAT. Says all the kids are nice and has made friends quickly

We had a little apprehension about the school based on some of the things we had heard about the middle school, but honestly so far our entire family is very happy with all aspects of the school

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:a parent of the current 9th grader here. we deliberately chose SSSAS over one of the DC top three schools for the environment, community, and administration. It is a good school but not a pressure cooker. Kids get to good colleges and those who work hard get into great ones (some via athletics, others through academic achievement). Not everyone is trying to get into Ivies elbowing each other out.
Mallet is great. Naturally, administration does not jump at every complaint from the parents but they do look into the issues and address them as needed. This is a college prep school. I remind my kid of that every day. In college, you would get all kinds of professors with all kinds of approaches and grading schemes, so you need to learn how to understand the issues, deal with your teachers, advocate for yourself, seek help. I also found advisory to be really good! Kids do feel like they can get to know each other and a place to go.

I am a fan of the block schedule. There is time for kids to get involve in other things, get the homework done and still get some sleep.
Schools are complicated organism, not mechanisms, and HS are especially so...there isn't a perfect one, but hopefully there is one that is perfect for your kid.

+1