Thoughts on St. Andrew's in Potomac or Sheridan? For "average" upper middle class athletic AA boy?

[Anonymous]

We really like the conceptual learning process of Sheridan, and the two daily recess periods w/ PE four times a week. Our son would love that. He may not get in, though, because of really really low WPPSI scores. We are looking at St. Andrews as a back up plan. We really need small classroom sizes and as much "movement" time as possible. He's gotten great recommendations from his teachers, and has a really great personality, but would love any suggestions for schools that would be good for him. We are working with an educational consultant, and everyone keeps pointing to St. Andrews, but we aren't sure as we haven't heard much about it.

[Anonymous]

Sheridan is not very diverse. I know one AA family whose kids went there, and they liked it, but even they will admit it's not very diverse.

[Anonymous]

OP, decisions have already been made, right, for 2011/12. Why are you still wondering if he may get in?

Or were you talking about next year ('12-13), in which case your child will take the WPPSI again and perhaps get a different score to use.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sheridan is not very diverse. I know one AA family whose kids went there, and they liked it, but even they will admit it's not very diverse.

Thanks for the reply. Sheridan is quite similar to the environment he's in now, and the environment I grew up in. I think for parents that don't understand the dynamic or don't know how to handle certain situations that are most likely to come up would be a little scared. He doesn't even pay attention to it, though. And we would very much like him to continue to grow up color blind.. until he inevitably has to study the Civil Rights Movement. Hopefully his confidence will always be based off of his character and the school he ends up going to won't suggest otherwise.

Having two parents that grew up in the independent school system here, I think we can handle it and he'll flourish.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, decisions have already been made, right, for 2011/12. Why are you still wondering if he may get in?

Or were you talking about next year ('12-13), in which case your child will take the WPPSI again and perhaps get a different score to use.

We've managed to catch quite a few schools with several openings for next year (2011/2012). Most schools have received all of their enrollment contracts and tend to have one or two spots available. We will see what they say! Hopefully they'll see past the scores and rely more on his visit, how they interacted with him and his teacher recommendations.

We are worried about Sheridan, but think St. Andrews is good bet.

Thanks for the reply!

[Anonymous]

What do you mean by "really really low WPPSI scores"?

As a special educator in a public schools, I'd consider a "really really low WPPSI score" to be one that's below the average range, that is under 85 (Standard Score, not percentile). However you also used the term "average" elsewhere to describe your son. Can you give us a basic idea where he fell?

[Anonymous]

Verbal Scaled Scores
8 - Information
12 - Vocabulary
7 - Word Reasoning

Performance Scaled Scores
8 - Block Design
9 - Matrix Reasoning
11 - Picture Concepts

93 - Verbal Score (32%)
96 - Performance Score (39%)
119 - Processing Speed (90%)
99 - Full Scale Score (47%)

She said that he got almost everything correct on the second try. I said average again because that what his teachers have said in parent teacher conferences. He's in MCPS and they are using the 1st grade curriculum for Kindergarten, and they've said that he's exactly where he should be academically.

I think he did poorly on the test because unlike some other children, he really feeds off of social interaction. I thought she was a little too playful with him, and he might not have understood that this was a serious thing, and may have been trying harder to have a good time. He's extremely independent, very extroverted.

At home, when we do homework or review work.. I sometimes have to have a beginning conversation with him so that he understands not to rush through things and thinks about what he says. 99.9% of the time, when working with me (on the 1st grade curriculum) he knows the right answer, but at times he just spits out whatever comes to his mind. I'm not sure what that means or if it compensates for the low scores.. but I know he knows way more than he lets on.. especially in a "no-parents" and seemingly playful environment. Not sure what to do, but we'll see what Sheridan and St. Andrews say. We really like Sheridan, and the time he would get to spend outside in between study time. Hopefully they'll be able to see past the test results.

I've read that some people re-test or prepare their children for the WPPSI. Is that common? As much as I would normally want to prep him for something like that, it seemed completely unethical. We'll see.

Thanks for the reply.

[Anonymous]

My DS never got off the waitlist this year for Sheridan. I'm assuming there are no open spots unfortunately.

[Anonymous]

I'm the 18:45PP. Ooops sorry. I thought you were referring to K and I just read your prior post and it looks like you are applying for 1st grade.

[Anonymous]

Those scores are not poor at all. They are solidly average. In the world of everyone saying their child got 99.9th percentile I can see how you would be concerned, but there's nothing wrong with average scores unless you are trying to get into one of the most competitive private schools. Good luck!

[Anonymous]

17:23 here. I agree that those aren't poor scores. They're solid, right where a child his age should be. There also aren't huge gaps in scores as you would expect with an LD. If his academics are on target too, then you've got a nice even profile.

[Anonymous]

Good luck OP. His scores seem solid and his behavior is so very typical for his age and to be expected. I have a older 3rd grader and we still have those conversations before starting work!

[Anonymous]

St. Andrews is a wonderful school with a nurturing, healthy environment, great teachers and community. You should have no qualms about sending him there if Sheridan doesn't have a spot.

[Anonymous]

I know that St. Andrews does not ring a bell when it comes to private schools but I would not underestimate their ranking as not being a top tier private school. If you research the bio's of the faculty and administration at St. Andrews they are IVY League educated and incorporate teaching methods and strategies that most private schools would not take a chance on. Every since I've been in the DC area its so terrible how people obsess about their kids getting into these elite schools and when you step out of the DMV no one knows anything about these schools. The only thing that these schools gaurantee is that you will be paying college tuition for your kids formal education. In terms of an AA male attending these schools well you must accept that these schools still look like student bodies during desegregation. These schools are not designed to lead AA males into success. Just know what you are getting into but do not underestimate St. Andrews as a back up but consider it as one of the best.

[Anonymous]

St. Andrews for an athletic, not overly intellectually-inclined boy is a pretty good fit. The PP says they have a great faculty, and I think that is true. But the student body is perhaps not as strong as the faculty - really smart kids there are a little like fish out of water (though I don't think that was always the case). But it is a warm place, and he won't be out of his element.