All Boys Schools….

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Considering for next year. How do you rank these and what has been your experience - both good and bad?

St. Anselm, Landon, STA, GPrep and the Heights….

What are the governing boards like at these schools?

Can you only be on the governing board if you are in the same clubs? Who has the most diverse boards and PA appointments?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Considering for next year. How do you rank these and what has been your experience - both good and bad?

St. Anselm, Landon, STA, GPrep and the Heights….

What are the governing boards like at these schools?

Can you only be on the governing board if you are in the same clubs? Who has the most diverse boards and PA appointments?

Also which schools have “diverse” families ie: Black or Jewish on their boards that are NOT super wealthy big donors or part of the country club scene?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Considering for next year. How do you rank these and what has been your experience - both good and bad?

St. Anselm, Landon, STA, GPrep and the Heights….

What are the governing boards like at these schools?

Can you only be on the governing board if you are in the same clubs? Who has the most diverse boards and PA appointments?

Also which schools have “diverse” families ie: Black or Jewish on their boards that are NOT super wealthy big donors or part of the country club scene?

St. Anselms has a majority of their students on financial aid. Their approach is they have a highly selective process - not only grades and teacher recommendations (not just one, but from English and Math separately), and each student applicant must take the OLSAT and the SCAT administered by the school itself. The scores must be very high - not sure if there is a strict cut off, but I understand anecdotally in the 90s on both tests. The students are also required to write two personal statements. It was by far the most rigorous of all the student applications our son did for middle school. Once they choose, then they find a way to make it possible economically for that student to attend. The school started off with the philosophy that there are many gifted students in underprivileged communities who will never have the chance to get a superior education, and so they feel they have a special calling to make these students an integral part of the school - not just a "diversity" number. In that way, the school is very diverse not only racially but socio-economically. The rigor, the diversity, the humility (the facilities are not as "modern" as any of the other privates we visited - from the "Big 3" to the other area "elite" schools), and the approach to classical education are why we applied and what we found most attractive and unique about the school. We want our son to be not only intelligent and challenged but also grounded and of good character. We feel St. Anselms is the place most likely to offer our son an environment where that could become reality.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Considering for next year. How do you rank these and what has been your experience - both good and bad?

St. Anselm, Landon, STA, GPrep and the Heights….

What are the governing boards like at these schools?

Can you only be on the governing board if you are in the same clubs? Who has the most diverse boards and PA appointments?

Also which schools have “diverse” families ie: Black or Jewish on their boards that are NOT super wealthy big donors or part of the country club scene?

St. Anselms has a majority of their students on financial aid. Their approach is they have a highly selective process - not only grades and teacher recommendations (not just one, but from English and Math separately), and each student applicant must take the OLSAT and the SCAT administered by the school itself. The scores must be very high - not sure if there is a strict cut off, but I understand anecdotally in the 90s on both tests. The students are also required to write two personal statements. It was by far the most rigorous of all the student applications our son did for middle school. Once they choose, then they find a way to make it possible economically for that student to attend. The school started off with the philosophy that there are many gifted students in underprivileged communities who will never have the chance to get a superior education, and so they feel they have a special calling to make these students an integral part of the school - not just a "diversity" number. In that way, the school is very diverse not only racially but socio-economically. The rigor, the diversity, the humility (the facilities are not as "modern" as any of the other privates we visited - from the "Big 3" to the other area "elite" schools), and the approach to classical education are why we applied and what we found most attractive and unique about the school. We want our son to be not only intelligent and challenged but also grounded and of good character. We feel St. Anselms is the place most likely to offer our son an environment where that could become reality.

The majority are not on financial aid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Considering for next year. How do you rank these and what has been your experience - both good and bad?

St. Anselm, Landon, STA, GPrep and the Heights….

What are the governing boards like at these schools?

Can you only be on the governing board if you are in the same clubs? Who has the most diverse boards and PA appointments?

Also which schools have “diverse” families ie: Black or Jewish on their boards that are NOT super wealthy big donors or part of the country club scene?

In that way, the school is very diverse not only racially but socio-economically.

only this school is not racially diverse at all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Considering for next year. How do you rank these and what has been your experience - both good and bad?

St. Anselm, Landon, STA, GPrep and the Heights….

What are the governing boards like at these schools?

Can you only be on the governing board if you are in the same clubs? Who has the most diverse boards and PA appointments?

Also which schools have “diverse” families ie: Black or Jewish on their boards that are NOT super wealthy big donors or part of the country club scene?

St. Anselms has a majority of their students on financial aid. Their approach is they have a highly selective process - not only grades and teacher recommendations (not just one, but from English and Math separately), and each student applicant must take the OLSAT and the SCAT administered by the school itself. The scores must be very high - not sure if there is a strict cut off, but I understand anecdotally in the 90s on both tests. The students are also required to write two personal statements. It was by far the most rigorous of all the student applications our son did for middle school. Once they choose, then they find a way to make it possible economically for that student to attend. The school started off with the philosophy that there are many gifted students in underprivileged communities who will never have the chance to get a superior education, and so they feel they have a special calling to make these students an integral part of the school - not just a "diversity" number. In that way, the school is very diverse not only racially but socio-economically. The rigor, the diversity, the humility (the facilities are not as "modern" as any of the other privates we visited - from the "Big 3" to the other area "elite" schools), and the approach to classical education are why we applied and what we found most attractive and unique about the school. We want our son to be not only intelligent and challenged but also grounded and of good character. We feel St. Anselms is the place most likely to offer our son an environment where that could become reality.

The majority are not on financial aid.

Correct, about 40%. But everything else PP said is accurate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Considering for next year. How do you rank these and what has been your experience - both good and bad?

St. Anselm, Landon, STA, GPrep and the Heights….

What are the governing boards like at these schools?

Can you only be on the governing board if you are in the same clubs? Who has the most diverse boards and PA appointments?

So you may decide on a school based on how people are selected to the board? Often they are donors or able to solicit a large amount of donations. That's a criteria at most any school board. It's not just picking random parents.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is why threads like this are useless. The rabid boosters (STA/GP) and detractors (SAAS) sniff it out and there’s nothing for a parent trying to identify a good school for their student. You’d get better info standing on a random street corner downtown and asking passersby. Useless.

Yes, I’ve read many Anselm’s parent’s posts that pressure, insult, and rage over any and every posts that gives information about concerns with the school. Which there are many.

Thank you, rabid SAAS detractor PP.

I rest my case. [/


You go, booster mom!

Actually not an SAAS parent but will be applying in the next few years. Hope you are still around so I can thank you (though I still haven’t figured out why you keep your son at a school for which you harbor such animus).

Sorry yet another thread got hijacked, OP. But I could have told how this would play out.

You have no child at the school, yet you tell another parent what they know about the school is wrong. Why would you bother and be so bothered? Very, very odd to harbor such feelings with no knowledge. By all means, go there in years, but before that, you wouldn’t know.
Yes, highjacked by you.

Nooo. My point was that, for parents like me looking for information about schools, these threads are not very useful because certain posters flood the threads with the same useless stuff. And then you found this thread…

Res ipsa.

Surrrree, except you’ve already decided therefore you are only looking for praise of the school. You provoked with your “wanting to meet comment.”

[Anonymous]

We could see the positive impact on our boys almost immediately after switching them from our local public school to an all boys private school.

They enjoyed their days at school much more. They were more happy and positive. They liked the cameraderie with their fellow students and with their male teachers. The sports teams and the coaching were in another universe from what we had seen at our public.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Dematha is not as competitive. Not as rigorous. Actually, probably the least rigorous of all the schools.

My rankings would be:

STA
GPrep
Landon
Gonzaga
The Heights
St. Anselms
Dematha

I don't have kids at each of these schools. Our family is not Roman Catholic, but we are Christian.
I have two at The Heights, and we have been really pleased.

I wouldn't know how to compare against all the other schools without being a parent of a student who attends. I'm sure they're all good schools, I've heard the most about Gonzaga and Georgetown Prep (reputation-wise)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Dematha is not as competitive. Not as rigorous. Actually, probably the least rigorous of all the schools.

My rankings would be:

STA
GPrep
Landon
Gonzaga
The Heights
St. Anselms
Dematha

I don't have kids at each of these schools. Our family is not Roman Catholic, but we are Christian.
I have two at The Heights, and we have been really pleased.

I wouldn't know how to compare against all the other schools without being a parent of a student who attends. I'm sure they're all good schools, I've heard the most about Gonzaga and Georgetown Prep (reputation-wise)

@ Heights parent: do you feel that the school is worth its price tag or is it similar to a parochial k-8 in terms of academic rigor? Also, did you start in lower school or middle school? thanks!

[Anonymous]

Bullying is definitely an issue at some of these schools. It does not get addressed. I would say least issues at Gonzaga and st anselms because their culture does not allow it as much.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Dematha is not as competitive. Not as rigorous. Actually, probably the least rigorous of all the schools.

My rankings would be:

STA
GPrep
Landon
Gonzaga
The Heights
St. Anselms
Dematha

I don't have kids at each of these schools. Our family is not Roman Catholic, but we are Christian.
I have two at The Heights, and we have been really pleased.

I wouldn't know how to compare against all the other schools without being a parent of a student who attends. I'm sure they're all good schools, I've heard the most about Gonzaga and Georgetown Prep (reputation-wise)

@ Heights parent: do you feel that the school is worth its price tag or is it similar to a parochial k-8 in terms of academic rigor? Also, did you start in lower school or middle school? thanks!

Heights parent here... I guess I feel that the school is worth the price tag, since I have two boys at the school. That being said, we do receive around 25% financial assistance. So, for what I pay, it is most definitely worth it.

So my boys did not go to a parochial k-8 Catholic school (we're not Catholic). I have heard that the academics are more rigorous than many parochial schools. But as I mentioned, I have no experience with my kids going to parochial k-8 schools. I believe The Heights has classes that are suited for kids at different levels academically. For example, my 9th grade son is taking Algebra II, but there is a student in his grade who is taking advanced Calculus. I think they have the classes to meet the advanced students where they're at, but they're not trying to sell themselves as a Catholic TJ. And probably like most of the good private schools in the area, they have kids that get accepted into a vast range of colleges (from Ivy League to

My kids went to a Protestant-led ecumenical k-8 school in Virginia. We actually found out about The Heights from other parents at that school. Initially, we were not interested, being that we're not Catholic, rumors about the Opus Dei, and the fact that the school is in MD and we're in VA. We're not a family that was looking into the prestigious private schools in the area. We were looking at Trinity Meadow View and Trinity Christian when we considered The Heights... After my sons's shadow days, they loved the school... And we really were impressed with the Admissions process.

So yes... We are one of the Virginia families who send our boys to The Heights (and I found those earlier comments on this thread to be hilarious)

There were earlier comments on this thread about the "they get boys" thing... I would agree with that. (But I don't know, maybe most of the all boys schools get boys, I would think?)

I guess my boys are stereotypical ADHD, my older son was getting in a lot of trouble at his previous school for being fidgety and blurting. We were getting calls almost daily. The way they disciplined at the other school, seemed to make it worse (he would miss recess as discipline); I don't know. Since he has been at The Heights these past two years, we never get calls, and we have actually gotten feedback of how well-behaved he is...

Also, I really enjoy the community of parents and faculty. In my opinion, it's a pretty awesome community.

My boys came into The Heights in 5th and 8th grade.

[Anonymous]

**(from Ivy League to Community College or gap year)**

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Dematha is not as competitive. Not as rigorous. Actually, probably the least rigorous of all the schools.

My rankings would be:

STA
GPrep
Landon
Gonzaga
The Heights
St. Anselms
Dematha

I don't have kids at each of these schools. Our family is not Roman Catholic, but we are Christian.
I have two at The Heights, and we have been really pleased.

I wouldn't know how to compare against all the other schools without being a parent of a student who attends. I'm sure they're all good schools, I've heard the most about Gonzaga and Georgetown Prep (reputation-wise)

@ Heights parent: do you feel that the school is worth its price tag or is it similar to a parochial k-8 in terms of academic rigor? Also, did you start in lower school or middle school? thanks!

Heights parent here... I guess I feel that the school is worth the price tag, since I have two boys at the school. That being said, we do receive around 25% financial assistance. So, for what I pay, it is most definitely worth it.

So my boys did not go to a parochial k-8 Catholic school (we're not Catholic). I have heard that the academics are more rigorous than many parochial schools. But as I mentioned, I have no experience with my kids going to parochial k-8 schools. I believe The Heights has classes that are suited for kids at different levels academically. For example, my 9th grade son is taking Algebra II, but there is a student in his grade who is taking advanced Calculus. I think they have the classes to meet the advanced students where they're at, but they're not trying to sell themselves as a Catholic TJ. And probably like most of the good private schools in the area, they have kids that get accepted into a vast range of colleges (from Ivy League to

My kids went to a Protestant-led ecumenical k-8 school in Virginia. We actually found out about The Heights from other parents at that school. Initially, we were not interested, being that we're not Catholic, rumors about the Opus Dei, and the fact that the school is in MD and we're in VA. We're not a family that was looking into the prestigious private schools in the area. We were looking at Trinity Meadow View and Trinity Christian when we considered The Heights... After my sons's shadow days, they loved the school... And we really were impressed with the Admissions process.

So yes... We are one of the Virginia families who send our boys to The Heights (and I found those earlier comments on this thread to be hilarious)

There were earlier comments on this thread about the "they get boys" thing... I would agree with that. (But I don't know, maybe most of the all boys schools get boys, I would think?)

I guess my boys are stereotypical ADHD, my older son was getting in a lot of trouble at his previous school for being fidgety and blurting. We were getting calls almost daily. The way they disciplined at the other school, seemed to make it worse (he would miss recess as discipline); I don't know. Since he has been at The Heights these past two years, we never get calls, and we have actually gotten feedback of how well-behaved he is...

Also, I really enjoy the community of parents and faculty. In my opinion, it's a pretty awesome community.

My boys came into The Heights in 5th and 8th grade.

So very helpful- thank you for sharing your experience!!