St. Albans lax

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes that's correct, you should NOT go to STA if the goal is to get higher grades in an easier manner to then use lax to get in to a better school than you would otherwise be academically suited for. Most kids are choosing STA for the academic reputation (which carries weight in the college admissions process on its own) and then happy to see they have a robust (albeit not top) athletics program.

Have you not read the earlier posts? Some - probably STA families - are claiming STA is about to challenge for league primacy in lacrosse, but others say that outcome is very unlikely, if not impossible, given STA academic rigor and lack of institutional interest in having an elite athletic program. Seems obvious that STA lax will be mediocre at best.

No one is claiming that STA is about to challenge for league primacy in lacrosse. Not even the most delusional lax parents I know. What they see, however, is for the first time a head coach who has a pipeline to a reputable club team and who has been successful in convincing some players to take a chance on the STA program rather than going to Prep or Landon or wherever. The new head of school is also fully behind "soft" recruiting especially for lacrosse and football as some of the schools biggest benefactors and loudest critics care most about the "helmet sports". So league primacy. No. A winning season. Probably not anytime soon. Playing top national teams close every once in a while. Now that's something achievable in the next few years.

[Anonymous]

I see nothing wrong with the above post.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I didn't realize STA still has such a small class size of about 75 boys. All the other schools have increased their enrollment to over 100. Wonder why STA hasn't. They have the room and the tuition money would be helpful.

Sta doesn’t need the tuition money at all, and increasing the size would go against the culture it tries to create. That’s also more kids to outplace for college. Not happening. Bad idea.

[Anonymous]

Pretty sure STA is closer to 78 - 85 kids in a graduating class.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Pretty sure STA is closer to 78 - 85 kids in a graduating class.

It’s usually around 80 but there was a lot of attrition for the current class.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I didn't realize STA still has such a small class size of about 75 boys. All the other schools have increased their enrollment to over 100. Wonder why STA hasn't. They have the room and the tuition money would be helpful.

Sta doesn’t need the tuition money at all, and increasing the size would go against the culture it tries to create. That’s also more kids to outplace for college. Not happening. Bad idea.

STA can always use more money, just like any school. Adding 20 more boys may change the culture a little bit, and probably for the better in terms of diversity. The college placement argument doesn't pass muster. AS an alum, i'd like to see the change.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I didn't realize STA still has such a small class size of about 75 boys. All the other schools have increased their enrollment to over 100. Wonder why STA hasn't. They have the room and the tuition money would be helpful.

Sta doesn’t need the tuition money at all, and increasing the size would go against the culture it tries to create. That’s also more kids to outplace for college. Not happening. Bad idea.

STA can always use more money, just like any school. Adding 20 more boys may change the culture a little bit, and probably for the better in terms of diversity. The college placement argument doesn't pass muster. AS an alum, i'd like to see the change.

Isn’t it more of a physical space issue? The tiny space the C Formers are sardined into is cozy at best and probably against code at worst.

[Anonymous]

I’d always heard that the constraint on adding more students was that the neighborhood imposed a cap on total enrollment somewhere along the line.

If they could add 10-15 kids per grade and even 3 of those per year were modestly skilled lacrosse athletes, it would make a big difference (maybe not to Prep/Landon/Bullis levels but at least solidly middle of the pack).

[Anonymous]

I don’t think they have the room to expand. As someone else said, the C Formers (4th graders) are already packed in like sardines in the attic. The campus is also not that big, especially compared to peer IAC schools. Athletic fields are nice, but few in number for the whole school (one full size field) and indoor athletic facilities are old, small, and run down.

[Anonymous]

There's always a creative way to expand if you really want.

[Anonymous]

No real room unless they tried to go up, but neighborhood would probably shut that down.

[Anonymous]

Back in the 1980s, STA had a very reputable athletics program. They had a top notch baseball team, gave Landon a run for the money in lacrosse (think Jesse Hubbard), and a decent football team (think Jonathan Ogden). In the late 80s, Prep started a lacrosse program, had a run of excellent football teams and now wins the Founders Cup (awarded annually to the top athletic program in the IAC) pretty much every year. Prep has about 125 kids per class, which is more than STA. While not quite up to the same level as STA, Prep does have a respectable average SAT score (1386) and the same ranking that deemed STA the smartest school in the country, ranked Prep a very respectable 20th. My point is that I think STA could offer an excellent athletics program without sacrificing the academics.

[Anonymous]

Prep is nowhere near STA in academics, and their obsession with sports was unmatched in the IAC until Bullis decided to try to buy a winning program.

But, I agree that STA should do better athletically. I always respected their program in the 90's. I think there are just so many decent private schools now and single sex schools aren't as attractive either. People aren't willing to send their kids there with the primary goal of college placement anymore if it's not a good fit.

[Anonymous]

Prep is not STA academically, but it is still very good by any objective measure. Prep does, however, offer more of an all-around experience when taking into account both athletics and academics if that matters to a prospective student. Prep is not at the level of Gonzaga in athletics but enjoys a higher academic reputation. STA has probably the most impressive list of notable alumni, but Prep pro a would come in second in that department. I know one young man who chose Prep over STA, even though he is a legacy, simply because of the athletics.

[Anonymous]

Looks like BK is back on this site. Get a life dude!