St. James Academy - What you may want/need to know

[Anonymous]

There is more information out there now that St. James Academy is in their second year, however it seems there is a decent amount of misinformation/assumptions for people that may be considering enrolling. Hopefully this information will help.

Cost for 2025-2026 - $35,000, plus uniforms and lunch

This includes 5 days a week of one hour of high performance training, one-two hours of sport specific training and FREE TO ANYONE online public school. It is important to note, the academic platform SJA uses is not exclusive to SJA, any student can attend the online school for free.

The consensus is to not enroll anyone that is in 5th, 6th and possibly even 7th grade at SJA, unless your student is recruited and paying no more than $10,000.

If you have an older student, 8th grade and up, IMO I would not pay more than $15,000. There are other Academies that charge far less than $35,000 and you receive more training time. Some also offer in person teaching, SJA provides NO in person teaching. Teachers are available to help, but they do not teach any types of live lessons.

If you are looking for an alternative to regular school, because your student has a hard time focusing/ADHD/on the spectrum, SJA is not the answer. The classroom environment is extremely chaotic, loud and with students constantly coming and going.

I don't know specifics about every sport specific training but following is what I have heard.

Hockey - Last year SJA was under the TPH Academy umbrella, but now it is not. TPH dropped without notice or notification at the beginning of this year. MS only has an hour of ice time, the lowest of any sport. Many hockey students from last year left SJA.

Baseball - I have heard the baseball training is good, however there are only a few baseball students so not nearly enough to field a team which means joining a SJ Club team, and those teams are known to not perform all that well.

Wrestling - The numbers are also low so you have to hope that someone in, or close to, your weight class is also enrolled. HS and MS all train together on one mat.

Boys Basketball - Walt Webb is running the MS program, so as everyone in the area knows, he is running it for, and around, his twins. The HS program seems to be fine, but they do not seem to have a lot of players from the DMV.

Girls Basketball - MS has low numbers and cannot field a team on their own. I believe HS has several Durant girls on the team.

Football - Darryl Overton is the head coach and brought his assistants with him. IMO your player would have to be exceptional to get playing time on a team where Overton brings players with him. 40% of the students at SJA are football players.

Track and Field - The majority of track and field students are girls, so apparently there is a lot of "mean girl" behavior going on. There is not a track at SJ so they have to bus to other locations to practice. 15% of the students are T&F.

Soccer - Low numbers here as well, they have traveled to the UK, the program seems to be decent.

SJ is an amazing facility, there is no doubt about that, but look closely when your visit. The couches outside of the hockey rinks are in terrible condition, the bathrooms are sometimes clean, other times not, also keep in mind your student is in a PUBLIC building, the locker rooms and bathrooms your student is using can also be used at the same time by anyone walking in off the street.

Academics - as noted above, SJA uses a Free Online Public School for their academics. This is available to anyone in the state of VA or MD, it is not exclusive to SJA. There are three "teachers" in the middle school that are available if a student needs help, but there is no live teaching and the classroom areas are loud and chaotic.

Your tuition fee is going towards your students' training, so you will want to make sure the training is outstanding. Your student is likely going to pressure you to enroll and it makes sense, playing their sport in the middle of the day seems a lot better than sitting in a classroom. But $35,000 is a lot of money for most people, and the academic side is really what your student makes of it based on their, and your, effort.

I hope this helps, and I would appreciate not being blasted for anything written, this is information received from multiple people provided here to help someone who may be trying to consider whether or not to enroll.

[Anonymous]

They need to get rid of Walt Webb.

[Anonymous]

Girls HS basketball is run by the former Sidwell head coach. I assume they will have the best team in the DMV this year.

[Anonymous]

Big scam

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Girls HS basketball is run by the former Sidwell head coach. I assume they will have the best team in the DMV this year.

Especially if they are in the Nike Scholastic league, like the boys are. The boys will without a doubt, have the best team in the DMV.

[Anonymous]

Tuition is extra high to be able to comp the recruited players. But that’s how is works in dmv travel /aau sports… most pay more so others play for free!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Tuition is extra high to be able to comp the recruited players. But that’s how is works in dmv travel /aau sports… most pay more so others play for free!

Not really. The kids recruited to St James have sponsors. These are Nike kids. They have NIL deals. They don’t need the unrecruited players to pay their way.

[Anonymous]

The younger students and non-recruited players are definitely paying for the others to be there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The younger students and non-recruited players are definitely paying for the others to be there.

It’s okay if their parents can afford it

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Big scam

I think it’s a good opportunity for athletes with the potential to play college sports. However they should already have a strong academic foundation because you want them to be able to survive college academics.

[Anonymous]

Imagine thinking this is a good idea.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Imagine thinking this is a good idea.

It’s already proven to be a good idea. What’s your point exactly?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Imagine thinking this is a good idea.

It’s already proven to be a good idea. What’s your point exactly?

Proven by ????

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Imagine thinking this is a good idea.

It’s already proven to be a good idea. What’s your point exactly?

Proven by ????

By the fact they already have what is likely the #1 football team in the area in its first year, and likely will have top men’s and women’s basketball teams.

That’s what determines if a sports academy is a good idea.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Imagine thinking this is a good idea.

It’s already proven to be a good idea. What’s your point exactly?

Proven by ????

By the fact they already have what is likely the #1 football team in the area in its first year, and likely will have top men’s and women’s basketball teams.

That’s what determines if a sports academy is a good idea.

I wouldn’t have expected them to be this strong in their first year. Football and basketball are so strong, I think it’s likely that the sports that are not as strong this year will become stronger soon. Let’s give them a chance to build.