SSFS Will Stay Open

[Anonymous]

SSSS currently has 110 students enrolled for next year. They hope/expect 275 students. What a fall. Tell me where they are going to find those extra students? The bleeding continues and the writing is on the wall people. I do not see a way forward for the school to stay open past next year if they have really made the commitment to stay open.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:SSSS currently has 110 students enrolled for next year. They hope/expect 275 students. What a fall. Tell me where they are going to find those extra students? The bleeding continues and the writing is on the wall people. I do not see a way forward for the school to stay open past next year if they have really made the commitment to stay open.

The lack of confidence is what makes the bleeding continue. School really needs to help allay concerns. I would re enroll DC who is in US in a heartbeat if I knew he could actually graduate from high school there. I don’t want to be stuck looking for a school next year. Most schools won’t even allow senior year transfers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:SSSS currently has 110 students enrolled for next year. They hope/expect 275 students. What a fall. Tell me where they are going to find those extra students? The bleeding continues and the writing is on the wall people. I do not see a way forward for the school to stay open past next year if they have really made the commitment to stay open.

Does SSSS = SSFS? And is this information from the meeting? Some of us were unable to attend and there is no recording of it posted online, which SSFS usually (but not always) does...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:SSSS currently has 110 students enrolled for next year. They hope/expect 275 students. What a fall. Tell me where they are going to find those extra students? The bleeding continues and the writing is on the wall people. I do not see a way forward for the school to stay open past next year if they have really made the commitment to stay open.

The lack of confidence is what makes the bleeding continue. School really needs to help allay concerns. I would re enroll DC who is in US in a heartbeat if I knew he could actually graduate from high school there. I don’t want to be stuck looking for a school next year. Most schools won’t even allow senior year transfers.

Oh come on, re-enrollment has been open for three business days. Before the closure notice there were around 500 students enrolled for next year. 275 is a very conservative and extremely doable number. The love that members of the community have for this school is pretty incredible. It’s a truly special place.

[Anonymous]

The number reported at the meeting yesterday was 110. The number they hope to get to is 275.

It was a talk to text error. SSFS

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:SSSS currently has 110 students enrolled for next year. They hope/expect 275 students. What a fall. Tell me where they are going to find those extra students? The bleeding continues and the writing is on the wall people. I do not see a way forward for the school to stay open past next year if they have really made the commitment to stay open.

The lack of confidence is what makes the bleeding continue. School really needs to help allay concerns. I would re enroll DC who is in US in a heartbeat if I knew he could actually graduate from high school there. I don’t want to be stuck looking for a school next year. Most schools won’t even allow senior year transfers.

Oh come on, re-enrollment has been open for three business days. Before the closure notice there were around 500 students enrolled for next year. 275 is a very conservative and extremely doable number. The love that members of the community have for this school is pretty incredible. It’s a truly special place.

Before the closure, only 34 students were enrolled for 9th grade which is a big entry year. I know of at least 4 rising 9th grade students who are not returning since the closure. Therefore, less than 30 students will be enrolled next year for 9th grade (again a point at which you expect and want enrollment to jump) and quite possibly significantly less. I'm not saying that 275 isn't doable but I beg to differ about it being conservative at this point. And yes, the love for this school is incredible even by those who feel compelled to leave. There comes a point where allowing hope to overshadow reality becomes dangerous. The significant drop in enrollment for next year means the student experience at SSFS will be much different. It can still be a great experience but it most certainly will be different. That reality is important to understand.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The number reported at the meeting yesterday was 110. The number they hope to get to is 275.

It was a talk to text error. SSFS

Thank you! And to be clear -- that is for the US, or the whole school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The number reported at the meeting yesterday was 110. The number they hope to get to is 275.

It was a talk to text error. SSFS

Thank you! And to be clear -- that is for the US, or the whole school?

Whole school

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The number reported at the meeting yesterday was 110. The number they hope to get to is 275.

It was a talk to text error. SSFS

Thank you! And to be clear -- that is for the US, or the whole school?

Whole school

Is there any news about how those kids are distributed across the grades?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:SSSS currently has 110 students enrolled for next year. They hope/expect 275 students. What a fall. Tell me where they are going to find those extra students? The bleeding continues and the writing is on the wall people. I do not see a way forward for the school to stay open past next year if they have really made the commitment to stay open.

The lack of confidence is what makes the bleeding continue. School really needs to help allay concerns. I would re enroll DC who is in US in a heartbeat if I knew he could actually graduate from high school there. I don’t want to be stuck looking for a school next year. Most schools won’t even allow senior year transfers.

Oh come on, re-enrollment has been open for three business days. Before the closure notice there were around 500 students enrolled for next year. 275 is a very conservative and extremely doable number. The love that members of the community have for this school is pretty incredible. It’s a truly special place.

Besides being a special place for some, I have to imagine geography and affordability coupled with hope and inertia are going to bring a bunch of families back.
But the events of the last few weeks will still be a dark cloud hanging over the school and effecting enrollment for a long time if it recovers enough to be viable beyond one to three years.

[Anonymous]

We are not returning but I think SSFS will get to 275.

[Anonymous]

I’m not part of SSFS but 275 is not a bad number. I know it’s a big drop from 500+ but it’s still bigger than several of the smaller/medium size schools in the area.

[Anonymous]

A school already set up to operate at a small size is not the same thing as taking a 700 student school and running it with a third of its size.

The extra buildings, staff, amenities like the cafeteria - all would need to run on donations since the income will not cover any of it.

Also a 275 school does not need 135 staff members. What are you proposing happens to the extra? They get paid to stay without students to teach? A already smaller sized school would have a smaller staff.

I don’t see how you compare the two situations.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A school already set up to operate at a small size is not the same thing as taking a 700 student school and running it with a third of its size.

The extra buildings, staff, amenities like the cafeteria - all would need to run on donations since the income will not cover any of it.

Also a 275 school does not need 135 staff members. What are you proposing happens to the extra? They get paid to stay without students to teach? A already smaller sized school would have a smaller staff.

I don’t see how you compare the two situations.

+1. A school of 275 spread across K-12, that used to have over 500-700 is trending in the wrong direction. Very very badly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A school already set up to operate at a small size is not the same thing as taking a 700 student school and running it with a third of its size.

The extra buildings, staff, amenities like the cafeteria - all would need to run on donations since the income will not cover any of it.

Also a 275 school does not need 135 staff members. What are you proposing happens to the extra? They get paid to stay without students to teach? A already smaller sized school would have a smaller staff.

I don’t see how you compare the two situations.

+1. A school of 275 spread across K-12, that used to have over 500-700 is trending in the wrong direction. Very very badly.

OR, it's no longer trending in the wrong direction. It hit it's low with the announced closure and lower enrollment, the community and alumni have rallied and found donors. The leaders are set to change. And now from this point forward it will begin to trend in the right direction.