SSSAS Upper School

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:SSSAS CC office really encourages students to explore a wide variety of colleges and helps them find the right fit, whether that’s Harvard, U Michigan, St Andrews Scotland, Skidmore, NC State, Savannah Art and Design, or dozens of others every year, and the matriculation lists reflect that. It’s not about showing off how many kids matriculate to HYPs (although some do every year). If it’s HYP or die for you, your kid is probably better off packing in the APs in public school anyway.

Good job school spokesperson

As a parent of a recent alum who is very happy at her chosen school, I can attest to the truth of the above (even if it was authored by a school spokesperson).

[Anonymous]

Great robotics program.
I think it’s one of the things they do best.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:SSSAS appears to be a very lower middle tier private. It’s academically worse than the good MoCo, FCPS, N Arlington schools, meaning it’s not tempting to many many families. Of course, there are kids with LDs, etc, who may need a different environment or families who crave religiosity. But they are the minority. And also let’s all acknowledge that the facilities are terrible. The nice publics around here are better than the old cinderblock hallways. Bullis/Landon/HA would at first blush appear to be sortof in the same tier and academically competitive but for whatever reason they have pulled ahead of SSSAS. It’s unclear to me why exactly that has happened but I suspect it’s likely management/endowment. Finally, it’s not priced at catholic school level and so you’ve got a big price tag for what?

Lots of inaccuracies here. I suspect this person doesn’t have a child at SSSAS.
Look at the comparative curriculum choices at a place like O’Connell or Bullis and then look at SSSAS.
While those two schools have their strong points for sure, a challenging academic curriculum isn’t one of them. If you have an academically talented student, look closely at the course offerings for 10-12th grade. You will see that SSSAS offerings are far more robust. And the classes are small and the faculty is passionate and devoted - this is one of the real areas of strength for SSSAS.

[Anonymous]

How would a smart, nice dyslexic girl do here?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How would a smart, nice dyslexic girl do here?

My smart, nice, dyslexic girl is doing great, and so are the other smart, nice, dyslexic girls and boys she’s met in her classes.

[Anonymous]

May be great for smart, nice, dyslexic girls, but examine the US curriculum especially English. My child has been reading the same book since the beginning of the year and after this they move to a Graphic Novel…. in 9th grade. At this pace and depth they might be reading coloring books by spring.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:May be great for smart, nice, dyslexic girls, but examine the US curriculum especially English. My child has been reading the same book since the beginning of the year and after this they move to a Graphic Novel…. in 9th grade. At this pace and depth they might be reading coloring books by spring.

It’s an autobiographical graphic novel about a second-generation Vietnamese-American teenager coming to terms with being gay and learning about his own identity (identity being the overarching theme of 9th grade English). It’s not a discussion of the Marvel universe or something. And it will be followed by Sing, Unbroken, Sing and Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing. And the first novel (about a Latina teen’s personal struggle with identity) is taking longer because they are reading other smaller essays and stories and comparing the themes in them—i.e., depth.

You may personally not appreciate that graphic novels are becoming a mainstream genre, *especially* for telling very personal stories about identity, but lots of high schools are including them in their English departments.

[Anonymous]

Interesting about 9th English...my child (current 8th grader looking at 9th) had a shadow day a few weeks ago and was sent to a 10th grade English class, as well as a 10th grade chemistry class. Left some questions about what the 9th grade classes were like and not sure how it was decided to send a visiting student to sophomore classes and not the year they will be entering.

[Anonymous]

If you want to get a feel for the culture of the place, swing through Sleepy Thompson basketball tournament soon!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:a parent of the current 9th grader here. we deliberately chose SSSAS over one of the DC top three schools for the environment, community, and administration. It is a good school but not a pressure cooker. Kids get to good colleges and those who work hard get into great ones (some via athletics, others through academic achievement). Not everyone is trying to get into Ivies elbowing each other out.
Mallet is great. Naturally, administration does not jump at every complaint from the parents but they do look into the issues and address them as needed. This is a college prep school. I remind my kid of that every day. In college, you would get all kinds of professors with all kinds of approaches and grading schemes, so you need to learn how to understand the issues, deal with your teachers, advocate for yourself, seek help. I also found advisory to be really good! Kids do feel like they can get to know each other and a place to go.

I am a fan of the block schedule. There is time for kids to get involve in other things, get the homework done and still get some sleep.
Schools are complicated organism, not mechanisms, and HS are especially so...there isn't a perfect one, but hopefully there is one that is perfect for your kid.

nope

very informative and helpful to the OP. thank you for your contribution.

You are very welcome! There is a lot of info on here about the poor college placement. it is easy to find and to confirm looking at the school's list.

so you base your comments on "lots of info here" and not on the personal experience? again, very useful. keep up the good work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:SSSAS CC office really encourages students to explore a wide variety of colleges and helps them find the right fit, whether that’s Harvard, U Michigan, St Andrews Scotland, Skidmore, NC State, Savannah Art and Design, or dozens of others every year, and the matriculation lists reflect that. It’s not about showing off how many kids matriculate to HYPs (although some do every year). If it’s HYP or die for you, your kid is probably better off packing in the APs in public school anyway.

Good job school spokesperson

As a parent of a recent alum who is very happy at her chosen school, I can attest to the truth of the above (even if it was authored by a school spokesperson).

Same.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:a parent of the current 9th grader here. we deliberately chose SSSAS over one of the DC top three schools for the environment, community, and administration. It is a good school but not a pressure cooker. Kids get to good colleges and those who work hard get into great ones (some via athletics, others through academic achievement). Not everyone is trying to get into Ivies elbowing each other out.
Mallet is great. Naturally, administration does not jump at every complaint from the parents but they do look into the issues and address them as needed. This is a college prep school. I remind my kid of that every day. In college, you would get all kinds of professors with all kinds of approaches and grading schemes, so you need to learn how to understand the issues, deal with your teachers, advocate for yourself, seek help. I also found advisory to be really good! Kids do feel like they can get to know each other and a place to go.

I am a fan of the block schedule. There is time for kids to get involve in other things, get the homework done and still get some sleep.
Schools are complicated organism, not mechanisms, and HS are especially so...there isn't a perfect one, but hopefully there is one that is perfect for your kid.

nope

very informative and helpful to the OP. thank you for your contribution.

You are very welcome! There is a lot of info on here about the poor college placement. it is easy to find and to confirm looking at the school's list.

so you base your comments on "lots of info here" and not on the personal experience? again, very useful. keep up the good work.

Did I say it was not personal? No, I did not. Keep up the good work on reading comprehension. Also, you table for one under the name "Bitter" is now ready.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s not a Catholic school. If you don’t even know that much, you clearly have no idea what you’re talking about.

Um, PP here. I clearly do know that. I’ve seen your cinder block walls. My point is that it’s expensive relative to other comparable schools, which happen to be Catholic. But, unfortunately, SSSAS is even losing the OConnell race which I find slightly hilarious. I mean, non-Catholics are sending their kids to (Catholic) OConnell over SSSAS. I think the school is filled with ACHS and DCPS fleers who can’t get in anywhere else/want to be close, some LD kids who need a different environment (and probably are super smart), and some drawn to the Episcopaleany things

For someone who does not have a child at SSSAS. you are spending a lot of time on this discussion board comparing SSSAS to other schools. Why? What's the point? You have seen the cinder block walls, did not like them, time to move on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:SSSAS appears to be a very lower middle tier private. It’s academically worse than the good MoCo, FCPS, N Arlington schools, meaning it’s not tempting to many many families. Of course, there are kids with LDs, etc, who may need a different environment or families who crave religiosity. But they are the minority. And also let’s all acknowledge that the facilities are terrible. The nice publics around here are better than the old cinderblock hallways. Bullis/Landon/HA would at first blush appear to be sortof in the same tier and academically competitive but for whatever reason they have pulled ahead of SSSAS. It’s unclear to me why exactly that has happened but I suspect it’s likely management/endowment. Finally, it’s not priced at catholic school level and so you’ve got a big price tag for what?

Lots of inaccuracies here. I suspect this person doesn’t have a child at SSSAS.
Look at the comparative curriculum choices at a place like O’Connell or Bullis and then look at SSSAS.
While those two schools have their strong points for sure, a challenging academic curriculum isn’t one of them. If you have an academically talented student, look closely at the course offerings for 10-12th grade. You will see that SSSAS offerings are far more robust. And the classes are small and the faculty is passionate and devoted - this is one of the real areas of strength for SSSAS.

I would hope that SSSAS has smaller classes than O'Connell- it costs more than twice as much

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:SSSAS CC office really encourages students to explore a wide variety of colleges and helps them find the right fit, whether that’s Harvard, U Michigan, St Andrews Scotland, Skidmore, NC State, Savannah Art and Design, or dozens of others every year, and the matriculation lists reflect that. It’s not about showing off how many kids matriculate to HYPs (although some do every year). If it’s HYP or die for you, your kid is probably better off packing in the APs in public school anyway.

Aren't the basically a pyramid scheme who will take anyone willing to pay?