in your mind, is STA worth it for high school?

[Anonymous]

Anyone looking at STA seriously please don’t take people’s opinions as literal truth. It is so a matter of perspective. I am always amazed when I talk with other parents how we all see things differently, particularly when talking about different grades. I was talking to a mom of a kid in a different grade and her take on things was completely different than mine. She has a kid who plays different sports and runs in different circles.

In general, the sta boys I know are bright, motivated and pretty happy. Some study more, some are more athletic. Most are pretty well rounded and fun to talk with. They really like their school. Yes, a lot of them work really hard. They do make mistakes.

If the traditions, strong relationships with faculty, band of good buddies, beautiful campus, and religious background appeal to you, STA is a great choice. There are other great choices too. Do what feels right to you and your son.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Anyone looking at STA seriously please don’t take people’s opinions as literal truth. It is so a matter of perspective. I am always amazed when I talk with other parents how we all see things differently, particularly when talking about different grades. I was talking to a mom of a kid in a different grade and her take on things was completely different than mine. She has a kid who plays different sports and runs in different circles.

In general, the sta boys I know are bright, motivated and pretty happy. Some study more, some are more athletic. Most are pretty well rounded and fun to talk with. They really like their school. Yes, a lot of them work really hard. They do make mistakes.

If the traditions, strong relationships with faculty, band of good buddies, beautiful campus, and religious background appeal to you, STA is a great choice. There are other great choices too. Do what feels right to you and your son.

+1000

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Incoming 9th grade class does not seem to be overly sporty at all. No lax players that I can tell. Lots of academics.

Huh? A few of them have already been told they will likely start varsity for the next 4 years. One of them is the best player on a great travel team (not Next Level). Beyond that, they are the only lower school class to beat Mater DEI in hoops (you should have seen Coach Green) in years and their best player was playing up a year and winning the MVP with the older class. If they had all played together, they would have been able to beat anyone. There are kids whose parents played professional sports in the class. When they played football with the class ahead of them, the 25s started over the 24s at every spot that matters. I think you are confusing classes.

No, I'm talking about the NEW 9th graders. The incoming 20 boys. They are not a super sporty group.

If that is the case that is an opportunity missed. There were a couple adds over the last few years that are excellent athletes and great students. A to A plus grades and D-1 potential types.

Yes, because d1 athletes who have perfect sat scores are just a dime a dozen. Silly sta for not picking those guys; they’re everywhere!

These elite schools can’t stay elite and charge super high tuition if college placement and scores aren’t of paramount concern. Sta, like other elite schools, knows how to keep their numbers high and meet their marks with outplacement. Of course academics are going to be primary. They should be. Families don’t send kids to sta so they can peak in high school and look back on the glory days of their football seasons as the pinnacle of their lives. Academics are first. If a kid’s a great athlete, that’s gravy. It’s not easy to make a’s and a+‘s at a school like sta while being a true d1 recruit. Sorry, but even an unfair God doesn’t stack the deck so unevenly that often.

It’s hard but they can be found as they have already been found and are at the school. There are a bunch of boys who get top grades whose parents or a parent played college sports. Not all D-1 but many could have and went to HYP instead. The boys are competitive across many fields. I think it’s the goal from the number of them.

[Anonymous]

The current Director of Admissions at STA is Dr. Joseph Viola who is/was the school's on-site counselor/psychologist.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Incoming 9th grade class does not seem to be overly sporty at all. No lax players that I can tell. Lots of academics.

Huh? A few of them have already been told they will likely start varsity for the next 4 years. One of them is the best player on a great travel team (not Next Level). Beyond that, they are the only lower school class to beat Mater DEI in hoops (you should have seen Coach Green) in years and their best player was playing up a year and winning the MVP with the older class. If they had all played together, they would have been able to beat anyone. There are kids whose parents played professional sports in the class. When they played football with the class ahead of them, the 25s started over the 24s at every spot that matters. I think you are confusing classes.

No, I'm talking about the NEW 9th graders. The incoming 20 boys. They are not a super sporty group.

If that is the case that is an opportunity missed. There were a couple adds over the last few years that are excellent athletes and great students. A to A plus grades and D-1 potential types.

Yes, because d1 athletes who have perfect sat scores are just a dime a dozen. Silly sta for not picking those guys; they’re everywhere!

These elite schools can’t stay elite and charge super high tuition if college placement and scores aren’t of paramount concern. Sta, like other elite schools, knows how to keep their numbers high and meet their marks with outplacement. Of course academics are going to be primary. They should be. Families don’t send kids to sta so they can peak in high school and look back on the glory days of their football seasons as the pinnacle of their lives. Academics are first. If a kid’s a great athlete, that’s gravy. It’s not easy to make a’s and a+‘s at a school like sta while being a true d1 recruit. Sorry, but even an unfair God doesn’t stack the deck so unevenly that often.

It’s hard but they can be found as they have already been found and are at the school. There are a bunch of boys who get top grades whose parents or a parent played college sports. Not all D-1 but many could have and went to HYP instead. The boys are competitive across many fields. I think it’s the goal from the number of them.

You must be exaggerating. It cannot possibly be the goal of any school to have a class full of D-1 caliber athletes who also are academic superstars. The reason those kids really stand out is because *they stand out.* Even the most powerhouse athletic programs in the very large schools country (and academics be damned) don’t produce more than 8-10 D1 athletes a year. Those kids are great to have, of course. But so is the chess whiz. So are the choristers. So are the playwrights and dramatists. So are the debate champions.

If anyone is considering STA, please come look for yourself. Don’t read this and think if you didn’t play D-1 in college and/or your kid has other goals and talents besides D-1 sports that STA isn’t a possible good fit for your kid.

—Parent of a boy who is perfectly good at sports, makes great grades, plays an instrument, and loves the school

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Incoming 9th grade class does not seem to be overly sporty at all. No lax players that I can tell. Lots of academics.

Huh? A few of them have already been told they will likely start varsity for the next 4 years. One of them is the best player on a great travel team (not Next Level). Beyond that, they are the only lower school class to beat Mater DEI in hoops (you should have seen Coach Green) in years and their best player was playing up a year and winning the MVP with the older class. If they had all played together, they would have been able to beat anyone. There are kids whose parents played professional sports in the class. When they played football with the class ahead of them, the 25s started over the 24s at every spot that matters. I think you are confusing classes.

No, I'm talking about the NEW 9th graders. The incoming 20 boys. They are not a super sporty group.

If that is the case that is an opportunity missed. There were a couple adds over the last few years that are excellent athletes and great students. A to A plus grades and D-1 potential types.

Yes, because d1 athletes who have perfect sat scores are just a dime a dozen. Silly sta for not picking those guys; they’re everywhere!

These elite schools can’t stay elite and charge super high tuition if college placement and scores aren’t of paramount concern. Sta, like other elite schools, knows how to keep their numbers high and meet their marks with outplacement. Of course academics are going to be primary. They should be. Families don’t send kids to sta so they can peak in high school and look back on the glory days of their football seasons as the pinnacle of their lives. Academics are first. If a kid’s a great athlete, that’s gravy. It’s not easy to make a’s and a+‘s at a school like sta while being a true d1 recruit. Sorry, but even an unfair God doesn’t stack the deck so unevenly that often.

It’s hard but they can be found as they have already been found and are at the school. There are a bunch of boys who get top grades whose parents or a parent played college sports. Not all D-1 but many could have and went to HYP instead. The boys are competitive across many fields. I think it’s the goal from the number of them.

You must be exaggerating. It cannot possibly be the goal of any school to have a class full of D-1 caliber athletes who also are academic superstars. The reason those kids really stand out is because *they stand out.* Even the most powerhouse athletic programs in the very large schools country (and academics be damned) don’t produce more than 8-10 D1 athletes a year. Those kids are great to have, of course. But so is the chess whiz. So are the choristers. So are the playwrights and dramatists. So are the debate champions.

If anyone is considering STA, please come look for yourself. Don’t read this and think if you didn’t play D-1 in college and/or your kid has other goals and talents besides D-1 sports that STA isn’t a possible good fit for your kid.

—Parent of a boy who is perfectly good at sports, makes great grades, plays an instrument, and loves the school

Agree with this 100%. I'm an NCS mom and well connected on the Close and I can't for the life of me figure out who this flock of rock-star-genius-future-D1-athletes are in the current 8th grade. I can think of ONE. There is some gross exaggeration going on here.
Also, I will say that getting A's at the Cathedral schools takes some discipline but is not impossible and not limited to only academic superstars.

I swear if a new family just blindly read these posts they might go running for the hills. The reality is that it's very possible to succeed at these schools as a bright, normal kid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Incoming 9th grade class does not seem to be overly sporty at all. No lax players that I can tell. Lots of academics.

Huh? A few of them have already been told they will likely start varsity for the next 4 years. One of them is the best player on a great travel team (not Next Level). Beyond that, they are the only lower school class to beat Mater DEI in hoops (you should have seen Coach Green) in years and their best player was playing up a year and winning the MVP with the older class. If they had all played together, they would have been able to beat anyone. There are kids whose parents played professional sports in the class. When they played football with the class ahead of them, the 25s started over the 24s at every spot that matters. I think you are confusing classes.

No, I'm talking about the NEW 9th graders. The incoming 20 boys. They are not a super sporty group.

If that is the case that is an opportunity missed. There were a couple adds over the last few years that are excellent athletes and great students. A to A plus grades and D-1 potential types.

Yes, because d1 athletes who have perfect sat scores are just a dime a dozen. Silly sta for not picking those guys; they’re everywhere!

These elite schools can’t stay elite and charge super high tuition if college placement and scores aren’t of paramount concern. Sta, like other elite schools, knows how to keep their numbers high and meet their marks with outplacement. Of course academics are going to be primary. They should be. Families don’t send kids to sta so they can peak in high school and look back on the glory days of their football seasons as the pinnacle of their lives. Academics are first. If a kid’s a great athlete, that’s gravy. It’s not easy to make a’s and a+‘s at a school like sta while being a true d1 recruit. Sorry, but even an unfair God doesn’t stack the deck so unevenly that often.

It’s hard but they can be found as they have already been found and are at the school. There are a bunch of boys who get top grades whose parents or a parent played college sports. Not all D-1 but many could have and went to HYP instead. The boys are competitive across many fields. I think it’s the goal from the number of them.

You must be exaggerating. It cannot possibly be the goal of any school to have a class full of D-1 caliber athletes who also are academic superstars. The reason those kids really stand out is because *they stand out.* Even the most powerhouse athletic programs in the very large schools country (and academics be damned) don’t produce more than 8-10 D1 athletes a year. Those kids are great to have, of course. But so is the chess whiz. So are the choristers. So are the playwrights and dramatists. So are the debate champions.

If anyone is considering STA, please come look for yourself. Don’t read this and think if you didn’t play D-1 in college and/or your kid has other goals and talents besides D-1 sports that STA isn’t a possible good fit for your kid.

—Parent of a boy who is perfectly good at sports, makes great grades, plays an instrument, and loves the school

Our kids years saw little if any overlap between Cum Laude kids and those who played sports in college. Not to say the athletes were not super students but it’s a stretch to say they were a bunch of them.

[Anonymous]

STA students may dream about getting recruited by high D1 schools. But the moms reign in such fantasies and ensure any recruitment is by the Ivies or top liberal art schools like Amherst and Swarthmore. Perhaps once in a generation there's a football player who might be able to ride the bench for Alabama but really, which STA parent would want their son there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:STA students may dream about getting recruited by high D1 schools. But the moms reign in such fantasies and ensure any recruitment is by the Ivies or top liberal art schools like Amherst and Swarthmore. Perhaps once in a generation there's a football player who might be able to ride the bench for Alabama but really, which STA parent would want their son there.

This still paints a really inaccurate picture of sta as a school bursting at the seams with athletic recruits. There is a sports requirement. Many of the boys become pretty good at sports. Sta is not a place where the future of Alabama sports happens, but got ambitious moms. A few sta kids here and there play in college, but these posters who are making it sound like anything approaching a critical mass of kids are sports recruits are just exaggerating (at best). As one poster said, these posts would make anyone reading them run for the hills.

I don’t know how this thread got so hyperbolic, but it's creating a pretty distorted and dishonest picture of the school.

[Anonymous]

Not bursting at the seams. About 15% of each year's graduating class are recruited. Still a surprisingly large number.

[Anonymous]

I only know about football recruits this year. 2 going to well known D1 programs. 1 going Ivy. 2 to elite SLACs. That might not be a lot compared to sports schools like SJC or Bullis, but I thought it was a respectable number.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The current Director of Admissions at STA is Dr. Joseph Viola who is/was the school's on-site counselor/psychologist.

What is your point? Is this a negative or positive?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The current Director of Admissions at STA is Dr. Joseph Viola who is/was the school's on-site counselor/psychologist.

What is your point? Is this a negative or positive?

I think the poster was just stating a fact as Tyler was mentioned above.

[Anonymous]

https://www.stalbansschool.org/news-detail?pk=1387734

Here is the link to the signing day on the STA public site.

I think if your kid is involved/interested in playing sports in high school, then it feels very important. If your kid isn’t in that world, then it doesn’t feel like a focus.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The current Director of Admissions at STA is Dr. Joseph Viola who is/was the school's on-site counselor/psychologist.

What is your point? Is this a negative or positive?

It seems pp was just answering a question about who was the ad now.

Dr. Viola is great.