St. Andrews: Don't Buy The "Happy Kids" Marketing

[Anonymous]

OP -- There is so much hurt and anger in your post it cannot all be unpacked here to let any of us offer any specific, helpful suggestions. My own kids attended a "progressive" private that aimed to focus on the individual child, often with unfortunate consequences not only for the children who needed extra supports that it couldn't quite provide, but also for the rest of the class as well. Your disappointment does not sound to me like an issue of traditional or nontraditional schooling, but one of mismatched expectations. Work with them as best you can, and if it just can't be done you'll have to change schools for your child, but it is still only a few weeks into the school year so hopefully things will improve.

As for St. Andrew's, my sense is that they have been moving away from their appeal to "different kinds of learners" to focus more on improved teaching through evidence based research for most students. While there is some overlap, these are different missions. I have known a number of families who have children in the upper school there who have dyslexia or other mild LDs and others whose children have no identified learning differences, and heard that the school holds all the kids to high standards while showing flexibility and support. St. Andrew's has gone from a great school no one heard of that did no marketing, to one that may have let the pendulum swing a bit too far the other way as you note re marketing -- I am sure you are not the only family annoyed by it. But the middle and high school remain great options for a wider range of kids -- and I mean to both ends of the academic spectrum as reflected in the consistently wide range of college placements -- than at just about any school its size in the area. I wish you all the best OP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This was my experience too. They have this Center for Learning that they set up with Hopkins and they market that they can handle different types of learners, but it's not true. They are VERY mainstream.

This is the crux of the matter. It's disappointing that they set this expectation on their website and then fail to live up to it. This is more than happy faces and a diverse student body. It's representing that they have set up a system for different learners. If it's just promotional pablum that doesn't really happen, that's a shame.

[Anonymous]

OP, thanks for your post. I hope things improve for your and your child- wherever you end up.

I appreciate your post because there are a lot of SAES boosters on DCUM. As the parent of a GTLD child, I am trying to find the right school for him and am frustrated with the marketing at private schools as well. Thanks to all the parents for any/all feedback on schools that helps us find the best fit for our kids.

[Anonymous]

I can echo some of this, because we looked at St. Andrews for our child last year but decided against it. We were looking for a long-term option, so we visited both campuses. It’s a generally small school with small classes (there is usually one class per grade), but we’d heard some of the teachers were a bit old school. We visited, spoke to an education consultant, talked with staff at our current school, and talked with local families who were familiar with it through family or friends. The OP talked about body control, which hit me because during one visit, we noticed a preschool teacher telling a toddler who could not have been more than 2-3 years old, that if he did not control his body he was going to see the principal. Who knows what was going on, but it just seemed kind of over the top. One of our friends, who works with local private schools, told us girls tend to do better at St. Andrew's than boys. Another family that applied last year told us that their son was denied access to the bathroom during his visit. We will not go into the details here but thought that was wrong. They require uniforms in lower grades, which is okay I guess but on top of what we heard and observed, it just left us with the impression this was a pretty strict place. Every kid is different and they say you should go with your gut, but I also agree with the poster who said you have to ask about specifics and get past the marketing. Also ask around. Our experience told us this school wasn’t for us.

[Anonymous]

Wow, OP, that's a pretty damming review.

[Anonymous]

I'm the parent of a son with ADHD and high-functioning ASD. He's verbal, intelligent, and gets along well in a mainstream environment with some supports. No behavior concerns. I looked at a bunch of the schools that claim to be able to accommodate different types of learners. During tours and after meeting my family, we were told EVERY SINGLE TIME that the school was a great fit for my family. Some of it felt earnest, like they really wanted to be able to accommodate us. But with most, it was absolute bull. It's all a sales pitch to get families of children who actually have learning differences to consider privates, which are notorious for ignoring the needs of unconventional students. They want your money. The other families don't want those kids at the school either, because they don't want the school to be known as accommodating to kids they may consider stupid.

OP, I'm sorry your family had to go through this. It's really disingenuous for a lot of these schools to market themselves as welcoming. We've found a wonderful place for my son at a DC charter, and I don't see us considering private again for a long time. Best of luck finding the right place!

[Anonymous]

It is a waste of staff time and energy for a school to accept a child who will not be a good fit. PP, school's want success stories and not statistics about how many kids they have to counsel out because they fed them a bunch of "bull". Your statements are misguided and not based on anything g factual. Plus, it's not helpful to OP.

[Anonymous]

Quick summation from a current parent:

The school is committed to keeping its students grounded and happy. I've witnessed this from the youngest level at the village campus to the way that all teachers truly know and respect the students at Postoak (middle/upper school campus).

The school is growing at an exponential rate. They've been around for a little more than 35 years. They're still refining their mission, and it can get a bit choppy, but I have been comforted as a parent to witness the school's true effort to be the most welcoming and helpful establishment for its students. The new student center is great.

The CTTL (the Learning Center, as some other posts have referred to it) has grown equally quickly. They seem to be focused on St. Andrew's students at their core but definitely seem to be reaching out to other schools/non-profits for extra exposure. If they can manage to organize their vision, I think they'll accomplish great things for this school in the next half decade and perhaps beyond.

The MS head is a leading voice in topics of diversity and has been a tremendous win for the school.

Whenever I visit, the kids do seem happy. Take that with a grain of salt, if you need to; I realize that parents are not privy to all aspects of the school day. Still, what I have taken away from every experience at that school is gratitude for a place that is growing, and trying, every day alongside of their students.

OP, I am so sorry that you have not had this experience. I hope that you can find the best fit for your child's happiness.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It is a waste of staff time and energy for a school to accept a child who will not be a good fit. PP, school's want success stories and not statistics about how many kids they have to counsel out because they fed them a bunch of "bull". Your statements are misguided and not based on anything g factual. Plus, it's not helpful to OP.

NP. I don't know pp, but her paragraph pretty much fits our story of a few years ago (at a different mainstream private).

[Anonymous]

I can echo a similar experience. We enrolled our child at a school which promised (all over its website) "child centered learning" and what we found was a very rigid curriculum and way of approaching it, and our child suffered as a direct consequence of this fabricated set up.

[Anonymous]

My son is currently at St. Andrews, and we love it. We are lucky that he's thriving and happy. Enrolling in a private school is not like enrolling in a public school. Public schools are required to accommodate everyone. I went to a public school in this area, and think they are great. However, my son does better in a small setting, so we've kept him in private schools. As parents, we all want our children to be happy and accepted, and do our best to provide that. Unfortunately, the world does not work that way. We all go through life looking for acceptance, and make our decisions to stay at jobs, frequent stores or restaurants, join gyms and make friends based on that feeling. It's important to teach a child how to handle these situations and remedy them. Instead of slamming one school over another because they didn't provide what your child needed, it's our responsibility as parents to keep looking for the best possible place. It's also our responsibility to teach children to be citizens of the world and understand that their interaction impact that world.

BTW, St Andrews Center for Learning is partnered with Harvard not Hopkins.

[Anonymous]

How is St Andrews at integrating new students into the different levels?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My son is currently at St. Andrews, and we love it. We are lucky that he's thriving and happy. Enrolling in a private school is not like enrolling in a public school. Public schools are required to accommodate everyone. I went to a public school in this area, and think they are great. However, my son does better in a small setting, so we've kept him in private schools. As parents, we all want our children to be happy and accepted, and do our best to provide that. Unfortunately, the world does not work that way. We all go through life looking for acceptance, and make our decisions to stay at jobs, frequent stores or restaurants, join gyms and make friends based on that feeling. It's important to teach a child how to handle these situations and remedy them. Instead of slamming one school over another because they didn't provide what your child needed, it's our responsibility as parents to keep looking for the best possible place. It's also our responsibility to teach children to be citizens of the world and understand that their interaction impact that world.

BTW, St Andrews Center for Learning is partnered with Harvard not Hopkins.

Just curious, you claim you are having a great experience, but you did not mention if your DC has any sort of learning differences. If not, then your post is useless to OP and does not apply on this thread. If your child is a mainstream learner, then he or she would likely do well in most settings.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My son is currently at St. Andrews, and we love it. We are lucky that he's thriving and happy. Enrolling in a private school is not like enrolling in a public school. Public schools are required to accommodate everyone. I went to a public school in this area, and think they are great. However, my son does better in a small setting, so we've kept him in private schools. As parents, we all want our children to be happy and accepted, and do our best to provide that. Unfortunately, the world does not work that way. We all go through life looking for acceptance, and make our decisions to stay at jobs, frequent stores or restaurants, join gyms and make friends based on that feeling. It's important to teach a child how to handle these situations and remedy them. Instead of slamming one school over another because they didn't provide what your child needed, it's our responsibility as parents to keep looking for the best possible place. It's also our responsibility to teach children to be citizens of the world and understand that their interaction impact that world.

BTW, St Andrews Center for Learning is partnered with Harvard not Hopkins.

Just curious, you claim you are having a great experience, but you did not mention if your DC has any sort of learning differences. If not, then your post is useless to OP and does not apply on this thread. If your child is a mainstream learner, then he or she would likely do well in most settings.

Not the PP, but I beg to differ. The above information is very helpful to some readers. I am applying to St. Andrew's and my son has no "diagnosed learning difference". But, he finds his public school too loud, annoying, distracting and he generally seems to get lost in the big class. I don't know if he has some undiagnosed sensory issue that makes him feel this way but I KNOW he learns completely differently from his older sibling who is thriving at the public school system.

So, to me learning differences mean more that something that is documented by development psychologist. When I took a tour of St. Andrews MS, btw, it was very clear to me that they hope to meet the needs of wider variety of kids than the public school's can because their smaller class size enables them to do things differently. They take their investment in the "community" very seriously. That said, they did not indicate to me that they could meet EVERYONE's needs. Also, as for the "happy kid" marketing, my take away from that was that they do not foster a zero-sum competitive environment that pits kids against each other, they recognize that stressing kids out is not productive to their learning. I don't think that means "anything goes."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My son is currently at St. Andrews, and we love it. We are lucky that he's thriving and happy. Enrolling in a private school is not like enrolling in a public school. Public schools are required to accommodate everyone. I went to a public school in this area, and think they are great. However, my son does better in a small setting, so we've kept him in private schools. As parents, we all want our children to be happy and accepted, and do our best to provide that. Unfortunately, the world does not work that way. We all go through life looking for acceptance, and make our decisions to stay at jobs, frequent stores or restaurants, join gyms and make friends based on that feeling. It's important to teach a child how to handle these situations and remedy them. Instead of slamming one school over another because they didn't provide what your child needed, it's our responsibility as parents to keep looking for the best possible place. It's also our responsibility to teach children to be citizens of the world and understand that their interaction impact that world.

BTW, St Andrews Center for Learning is partnered with Harvard not Hopkins.

This post tells prospective parents a lot about attitudes at St. Andrews. Choosing a school is like choosing a gym? Only those who "belong" are okay? Others need not stay? Yikes.