What do you love/not love about SSSAS?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We're leaving at 8th for a number of reasons. College admissions for non-Lax athletes is dismal. We can get a similar or better result w the Catholic school DS is heading to.

I don't like the hard left shift of the past 5 years. White boys are no longer their desired demographic as evidenced by their recent Admissions promo video. Grading for equity is the #1 DEI policy and it bothers me. I'm not going to support it with $40k+ annually.

Lol. Oh you want a school that is more focused toward white boys. That’s interesting.

I want a school that doesn't promote white guilt at the Administration level, give higher grades based on skin color instead of ability/effort while charging me $40k for this social justice experiment. We're not the only ones. Lots of 8th graders left for other schools this year.

What are some examples of the administration promoting white guilt?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We're leaving at 8th for a number of reasons. College admissions for non-Lax athletes is dismal. We can get a similar or better result w the Catholic school DS is heading to.

I don't like the hard left shift of the past 5 years. White boys are no longer their desired demographic as evidenced by their recent Admissions promo video. Grading for equity is the #1 DEI policy and it bothers me. I'm not going to support it with $40k+ annually.

Why do you think this is? Lack of support from the administration or negative view of SSSAS by colleges? Just wondering as we have a 7th grader that may be interested in SSSAS for high school.

A couple of issues - college counseling office is poor. The few elite acceptances that are unrelated to athletics are a result of parents working that system and not SSSAS. The school is making no changes to the office, so I wouldn't expect any improvement in the coming years.

The other issue is that schools that are as academically rigorous as SSSAS tend to practice grade inflation giving their students a better GPA and with today's test optional Admissions, that's a big deal.

Not trolling but curious what you define as abysmal college admissions

https://www.sssas.org/academics/college-counseling#

It’s not world beating but if every college that isn’t elite is abysmal, then you are bound to be disappointed.

Wow, lots of lax brahs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We're leaving at 8th for a number of reasons. College admissions for non-Lax athletes is dismal. We can get a similar or better result w the Catholic school DS is heading to.

I don't like the hard left shift of the past 5 years. White boys are no longer their desired demographic as evidenced by their recent Admissions promo video. Grading for equity is the #1 DEI policy and it bothers me. I'm not going to support it with $40k+ annually.

Why do you think this is? Lack of support from the administration or negative view of SSSAS by colleges? Just wondering as we have a 7th grader that may be interested in SSSAS for high school.

A couple of issues - college counseling office is poor. The few elite acceptances that are unrelated to athletics are a result of parents working that system and not SSSAS. The school is making no changes to the office, so I wouldn't expect any improvement in the coming years.

The other issue is that schools that are as academically rigorous as SSSAS tend to practice grade inflation giving their students a better GPA and with today's test optional Admissions, that's a big deal.

I disagree about the grade inflation. Admissions officers know what schools do. This argument would also imply the top SSSAS kids are getting in and lower grades ones are not. In reality, none of the kids except athletes are getting in. College placement has been pour for years.

We also disliked how much time the lower grades spent on electronics. Look at the youngest grades - kids are literally staring at screens even during lunch. There’s also a superficial and competitive culture. Kids care too much about labels and are on their phones a ton, even during the school day. Some of the classes seem lovely, but a few have mean girls culture and the school does nothing to change that

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We're leaving at 8th for a number of reasons. College admissions for non-Lax athletes is dismal. We can get a similar or better result w the Catholic school DS is heading to.

I don't like the hard left shift of the past 5 years. White boys are no longer their desired demographic as evidenced by their recent Admissions promo video. Grading for equity is the #1 DEI policy and it bothers me. I'm not going to support it with $40k+ annually.

Lol. Oh you want a school that is more focused toward white boys. That’s interesting.

I want a school that doesn't promote white guilt at the Administration level, give higher grades based on skin color instead of ability/effort while charging me $40k for this social justice experiment. We're not the only ones. Lots of 8th graders left for other schools this year.

LOL “give higher grades based on skin color”. Try again, your kid is maybe just dumb, and I’m sure it just shocks you that little Timmy isn’t as smart as you think he is, so it must be something else, right? Nice ty.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We're leaving at 8th for a number of reasons. College admissions for non-Lax athletes is dismal. We can get a similar or better result w the Catholic school DS is heading to.

I don't like the hard left shift of the past 5 years. White boys are no longer their desired demographic as evidenced by their recent Admissions promo video. Grading for equity is the #1 DEI policy and it bothers me. I'm not going to support it with $40k+ annually.

Lol. Oh you want a school that is more focused toward white boys. That’s interesting.

I want a school that doesn't promote white guilt at the Administration level, give higher grades based on skin color instead of ability/effort while charging me $40k for this social justice experiment. We're not the only ones. Lots of 8th graders left for other schools this year.

LOL “give higher grades based on skin color”. Try again, your kid is maybe just dumb, and I’m sure it just shocks you that little Timmy isn’t as smart as you think he is, so it must be something else, right? Nice ty.

+10000 lol

[Anonymous]

Love- kids live geographically close, many good teachers, Administration will at least hear you, 3 campuses make each time at school unique and easy to leave at the end of that chapter- relatively diverse group of children, but sadly as years go on they self segregate - size of classes is about perfect

Do not love
-used to emphasize “goodness in our heart,” have moved away from this to be more political. Kids asked to share parents income w school etc., sexual orientation and other private info. Person referencing white guilt is spot on, not racist. It’s overdone; leads to self segregation
-lax culture is alive and thriving. Kids apply/join as late as senior year to play lax at SSSAS. College admissions for lax is a result of the coach not school. Other non-lax kids are second tiered socially, but there is at least a place for them
- lots of sitting in LS/ devices. Not as interactive as it should be, not particularly academic, focus on whole child which is healthy to an extent
-about to do a huge renovation at the US that will put kids in trailers for at LEAST 18 months, US facilities are subpar
-curriculum not moving academically forward fast enough. Just added Coding in MS THIS year
-differentiation in learning non-existent until 7th grade math
-math may go deeper, but kids are behind in math compared to publics

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Love- kids live geographically close, many good teachers, Administration will at least hear you, 3 campuses make each time at school unique and easy to leave at the end of that chapter- relatively diverse group of children, but sadly as years go on they self segregate - size of classes is about perfect

Do not love
-used to emphasize “goodness in our heart,” have moved away from this to be more political. Kids asked to share parents income w school etc., sexual orientation and other private info. Person referencing white guilt is spot on, not racist. It’s overdone; leads to self segregation
-lax culture is alive and thriving. Kids apply/join as late as senior year to play lax at SSSAS. College admissions for lax is a result of the coach not school. Other non-lax kids are second tiered socially, but there is at least a place for them
- lots of sitting in LS/ devices. Not as interactive as it should be, not particularly academic, focus on whole child which is healthy to an extent
-about to do a huge renovation at the US that will put kids in trailers for at LEAST 18 months, US facilities are subpar
-curriculum not moving academically forward fast enough. Just added Coding in MS THIS year
-differentiation in learning non-existent until 7th grade math
-math may go deeper, but kids are behind in math compared to publics

Yikes this is quite damning

[Anonymous]

For the poste who said kids are behind in math, how do you know?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Love- kids live geographically close, many good teachers, Administration will at least hear you, 3 campuses make each time at school unique and easy to leave at the end of that chapter- relatively diverse group of children, but sadly as years go on they self segregate - size of classes is about perfect

Do not love
-used to emphasize “goodness in our heart,” have moved away from this to be more political. Kids asked to share parents income w school etc., sexual orientation and other private info. Person referencing white guilt is spot on, not racist. It’s overdone; leads to self segregation
-lax culture is alive and thriving. Kids apply/join as late as senior year to play lax at SSSAS. College admissions for lax is a result of the coach not school. Other non-lax kids are second tiered socially, but there is at least a place for them
- lots of sitting in LS/ devices. Not as interactive as it should be, not particularly academic, focus on whole child which is healthy to an extent
-about to do a huge renovation at the US that will put kids in trailers for at LEAST 18 months, US facilities are subpar
-curriculum not moving academically forward fast enough. Just added Coding in MS THIS year
-differentiation in learning non-existent until 7th grade math
-math may go deeper, but kids are behind in math compared to publics

Yikes this is quite damning

+1.

And for all the PPs making fun of OP, this is why you lost the governor's office. I’m black and would never put my kid in a school pushing the crap described above.

[Anonymous]

Every year there are children who enter at 9th who are more advanced mathematically than homegrown students. For example they are placed in different math classes

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Love- kids live geographically close, many good teachers, Administration will at least hear you, 3 campuses make each time at school unique and easy to leave at the end of that chapter- relatively diverse group of children, but sadly as years go on they self segregate - size of classes is about perfect

Do not love
-used to emphasize “goodness in our heart,” have moved away from this to be more political. Kids asked to share parents income w school etc., sexual orientation and other private info. Person referencing white guilt is spot on, not racist. It’s overdone; leads to self segregation
-lax culture is alive and thriving. Kids apply/join as late as senior year to play lax at SSSAS. College admissions for lax is a result of the coach not school. Other non-lax kids are second tiered socially, but there is at least a place for them
- lots of sitting in LS/ devices. Not as interactive as it should be, not particularly academic, focus on whole child which is healthy to an extent
-about to do a huge renovation at the US that will put kids in trailers for at LEAST 18 months, US facilities are subpar
-curriculum not moving academically forward fast enough. Just added Coding in MS THIS year
-differentiation in learning non-existent until 7th grade math
-math may go deeper, but kids are behind in math compared to publics

I’m sorry- am I reading this correctly? KIDS are asked to share private information about their families with the school? Who in their right mind would put up with that?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Love- kids live geographically close, many good teachers, Administration will at least hear you, 3 campuses make each time at school unique and easy to leave at the end of that chapter- relatively diverse group of children, but sadly as years go on they self segregate - size of classes is about perfect

Do not love
-used to emphasize “goodness in our heart,” have moved away from this to be more political. Kids asked to share parents income w school etc., sexual orientation and other private info. Person referencing white guilt is spot on, not racist. It’s overdone; leads to self segregation
-lax culture is alive and thriving. Kids apply/join as late as senior year to play lax at SSSAS. College admissions for lax is a result of the coach not school. Other non-lax kids are second tiered socially, but there is at least a place for them
- lots of sitting in LS/ devices. Not as interactive as it should be, not particularly academic, focus on whole child which is healthy to an extent
-about to do a huge renovation at the US that will put kids in trailers for at LEAST 18 months, US facilities are subpar
-curriculum not moving academically forward fast enough. Just added Coding in MS THIS year
-differentiation in learning non-existent until 7th grade math
-math may go deeper, but kids are behind in math compared to publics

Yikes this is quite damning

+1. “Whole child” emphasis is total BS and an excuse for laziness and sub par academics

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Love- kids live geographically close, many good teachers, Administration will at least hear you, 3 campuses make each time at school unique and easy to leave at the end of that chapter- relatively diverse group of children, but sadly as years go on they self segregate - size of classes is about perfect

Do not love
-used to emphasize “goodness in our heart,” have moved away from this to be more political. Kids asked to share parents income w school etc., sexual orientation and other private info. Person referencing white guilt is spot on, not racist. It’s overdone; leads to self segregation
-lax culture is alive and thriving. Kids apply/join as late as senior year to play lax at SSSAS. College admissions for lax is a result of the coach not school. Other non-lax kids are second tiered socially, but there is at least a place for them
- lots of sitting in LS/ devices. Not as interactive as it should be, not particularly academic, focus on whole child which is healthy to an extent
-about to do a huge renovation at the US that will put kids in trailers for at LEAST 18 months, US facilities are subpar
-curriculum not moving academically forward fast enough. Just added Coding in MS THIS year
-differentiation in learning non-existent until 7th grade math
-math may go deeper, but kids are behind in math compared to publics

I’m sorry- am I reading this correctly? KIDS are asked to share private information about their families with the school? Who in their right mind would put up with that?

+2 PP, can you explain this or give an example of what happened?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We're leaving at 8th for a number of reasons. College admissions for non-Lax athletes is dismal. We can get a similar or better result w the Catholic school DS is heading to.

I don't like the hard left shift of the past 5 years. White boys are no longer their desired demographic as evidenced by their recent Admissions promo video. Grading for equity is the #1 DEI policy and it bothers me. I'm not going to support it with $40k+ annually.

Why do you think this is? Lack of support from the administration or negative view of SSSAS by colleges? Just wondering as we have a 7th grader that may be interested in SSSAS for high school.

A couple of issues - college counseling office is poor. The few elite acceptances that are unrelated to athletics are a result of parents working that system and not SSSAS. The school is making no changes to the office, so I wouldn't expect any improvement in the coming years.

The other issue is that schools that are as academically rigorous as SSSAS tend to practice grade inflation giving their students a better GPA and with today's test optional Admissions, that's a big deal.

I'm confused by this statement. By definition, if a school is academically rigorous, then it does NOT practice grade inflation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We're leaving at 8th for a number of reasons. College admissions for non-Lax athletes is dismal. We can get a similar or better result w the Catholic school DS is heading to.

I don't like the hard left shift of the past 5 years. White boys are no longer their desired demographic as evidenced by their recent Admissions promo video. Grading for equity is the #1 DEI policy and it bothers me. I'm not going to support it with $40k+ annually.

Parent of a graduating senior and this is 100% not our experience. Our non-athlete loved it and did very well for admissions. Several top schools for her desired program. We loved our time there.