Flint Hill vs. SSSAS for high school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can you elaborate on the sssas math program?

Most students don’t take multivariable calculus and most students don’t participate in math modeling.

Am very confident the schools are on par through BC Calculus.

[Anonymous]

Flint Hill is the top choice for our daughter, who currently is in third grade. The website says there are entry points in grades 5 and 7. Which is a better time for a child to enter?

[Anonymous]

SSSAS is also weirdly restrictive about BC calc. I was told that everyone who took the exam last year got a 5. That COULD mean the preparation is out of this world (and it is probably very good) but more likely, everyone who might score a 4 is just being filtered down to AB.

That's not necessarily a bad philosophy, but it might differ from Flint Hill's. Worth asking about at both schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Pros of SSSAS:

Small class sizes and great teachers

Athletics (although you did not mention your student is into sports, so may not be an issue)

Wide range of performing arts (band, chorus, theater)

Post-construction, the facilities will have a very nice upgrade, almost all of which is happening this academic year (so you miss the mess)

Wide range of classes available for varying student academic levels (you can be on an AP track or take all non-Honors classes)

Kids are nice and versatile (mostly). Everyone can find their tribe.

It leans liberal (are you comfortable with that?). If you are, you will be among like-minded people.

+1.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Don’t know much about SSSAS,
But no to Flint Hill!


I have seen the student body at a few football and basketball games. Kids were rude, yelling and swearing. No administration there to deal with it. Even had onetheir kids throw a bottle at an opposing payer during a basketball game. Got escorted out by security.

It doesn’t represent all of the kids there, but when we play against other schools like Landon, GDS, Maret, Bullis, we see nothing like the horrible Flint Hill behavior of their student bodies that show up at the games.

I have two kids at Flint Hill and we go to a lot of basketball games. Never saw any bad sportsmanship by the FH players or any bad behavior by the fans.

Idk what pp is talking about. Maybe they are talking about the school in Flint, Michigan because FH in Oakton is phenomenal. Great academics and good kids who get along well with each other.

You missed the game against Potomac where a FH student threw a full water bottle in the court during active play during the game. Security had to escort him out.

Fans and parents were cursing at Potomac players and many parents were sitting next to FH parents.

Oh, after the game FH refused to shake hands with the Potomac players. And then the team and students who came to the game stormed the court after FH won. Stomped on the Potomac logo and then ran over to the other side the bleachers and taunted the Potomac students who were just standing at the bleachers watching this behavior. None of them stepped on court. Security had to force the FH kids off the court. Potomac had administrators there while it seemed FH did not.

So yeah, you missed that nice display of sportsmanship by FH…

OH, so your kids are at Potomac. That explains it all.

Don’t know about any kid throwing a water bottle, but the basketball coaches would not allow any player to refuse to shake hands.

The schools are rivals so I can understand the student body getting excited over a win, but I hate when parents try to bash another school out of jealousy. As long as good sportsmanship is shown and the game is played safe. Winning or losing is okay. Flint Hill competes with integrity.

Yep my kids go to Potomac and I think you’d be mortified if you had seen the FH behavior at a football game, too. The FH parents we were standing near apologized and were even embarrassed

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:SSSAS is also weirdly restrictive about BC calc. I was told that everyone who took the exam last year got a 5. That COULD mean the preparation is out of this world (and it is probably very good) but more likely, everyone who might score a 4 is just being filtered down to AB.

That's not necessarily a bad philosophy, but it might differ from Flint Hill's. Worth asking about at both schools.

WHAT?? This is the silliest thing I've ever heard. They don't filter out kids they THINK will get 4s on BC Calc exams so they can keep their numbers up? Those aren't reportable anyway.

SSSAS math has multiple tiers and tracks They have a really good flow chart you can ask to see which explains which math classes put you into which tracks. Kids move in and out of these tracks as their grades necessitate. A very simplistic way of looking at it is this: Geometry (9), Alg 2/Trig (10), Pre-Calc (11) and Calc (12). There are many levels within each of these, and we have known some kids who have started 9th grade at Alg 1 and others who took Geometry in 8th and went straight into Alg 2/Trig. They work with your student.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:SSSAS is also weirdly restrictive about BC calc. I was told that everyone who took the exam last year got a 5. That COULD mean the preparation is out of this world (and it is probably very good) but more likely, everyone who might score a 4 is just being filtered down to AB.

That's not necessarily a bad philosophy, but it might differ from Flint Hill's. Worth asking about at both schools.

WHAT?? This is the silliest thing I've ever heard. They don't filter out kids they THINK will get 4s on BC Calc exams so they can keep their numbers up? Those aren't reportable anyway.

SSSAS math has multiple tiers and tracks They have a really good flow chart you can ask to see which explains which math classes put you into which tracks. Kids move in and out of these tracks as their grades necessitate. A very simplistic way of looking at it is this: Geometry (9), Alg 2/Trig (10), Pre-Calc (11) and Calc (12). There are many levels within each of these, and we have known some kids who have started 9th grade at Alg 1 and others who took Geometry in 8th and went straight into Alg 2/Trig. They work with your student.

Yeah, take a look at that flow chart. All but the very top track lead to calc AB. There are many opportunities to move down but it's hard to move up. SSSAS maintains a very strong BC program by weeding out/filtering.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Don’t know much about SSSAS,
But no to Flint Hill!


I have seen the student body at a few football and basketball games. Kids were rude, yelling and swearing. No administration there to deal with it. Even had onetheir kids throw a bottle at an opposing payer during a basketball game. Got escorted out by security.

It doesn’t represent all of the kids there, but when we play against other schools like Landon, GDS, Maret, Bullis, we see nothing like the horrible Flint Hill behavior of their student bodies that show up at the games.

I have two kids at Flint Hill and we go to a lot of basketball games. Never saw any bad sportsmanship by the FH players or any bad behavior by the fans.

Idk what pp is talking about. Maybe they are talking about the school in Flint, Michigan because FH in Oakton is phenomenal. Great academics and good kids who get along well with each other.

You missed the game against Potomac where a FH student threw a full water bottle in the court during active play during the game. Security had to escort him out.

Fans and parents were cursing at Potomac players and many parents were sitting next to FH parents.

Oh, after the game FH refused to shake hands with the Potomac players. And then the team and students who came to the game stormed the court after FH won. Stomped on the Potomac logo and then ran over to the other side the bleachers and taunted the Potomac students who were just standing at the bleachers watching this behavior. None of them stepped on court. Security had to force the FH kids off the court. Potomac had administrators there while it seemed FH did not.

So yeah, you missed that nice display of sportsmanship by FH…

OH, so your kids are at Potomac. That explains it all.

Don’t know about any kid throwing a water bottle, but the basketball coaches would not allow any player to refuse to shake hands.

The schools are rivals so I can understand the student body getting excited over a win, but I hate when parents try to bash another school out of jealousy. As long as good sportsmanship is shown and the game is played safe. Winning or losing is okay. Flint Hill competes with integrity.

Yep my kids go to Potomac and I think you’d be mortified if you had seen the FH behavior at a football game, too. The FH parents we were standing near apologized and were even embarrassed

I was at that game. It was a gross, rainy day with people standing around under umbrellas counting the seconds until the game ended. It was not crawling with spectators outside of the poor parents.

And maybe take a look at the barstool sport account the Potomac students run before you start talking about being mortified by behavior. All these kids have the potential to be crappy.

[Anonymous]

We made this same decision last year. The two were neck-and-neck top 2 choices throughout the process and in the end it came down mostly to location (we are much closer to SSSAS). We also had slightly better interactions with the academic center at SSSAS than at FH when looking into certain accommodations for DC’s learning difference. I think either choice would have been good.

[Anonymous]

Either will be a far better experience than any public hs in the area.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can you elaborate on the sssas math program?

Most students don’t take multivariable calculus and most students don’t participate in math modeling.

Am very confident the schools are on par through BC Calculus.

I don’t know about the SSSAS math program, but lots of FH kids take multivariable calculus and linear algebra. Fewer participate in math modeling. Also, the FH math tracking chart doesn’t clearly state this, but only the top math track gets to BC. Lots of kids will algebra 2/trig, which is a very difficult class at FH, then decide to drop to regular precalc because of how hard algebra 2 was. Regular precalc at FH is a joke (honors is better, but easier than algebra 2) and those kids tend to struggle even in calc AB. Students who do well in pre calc honors (the highest precalc) do fine in BC. The AB kids typically go on to linear algebra, and multi has BC as a prerequisite. They also have a regular calc class that I am not as familiar with.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can you elaborate on the sssas math program?

Most students don’t take multivariable calculus and most students don’t participate in math modeling.

Am very confident the schools are on par through BC Calculus.

I don’t know about the SSSAS math program, but lots of FH kids take multivariable calculus and linear algebra. Fewer participate in math modeling. Also, the FH math tracking chart doesn’t clearly state this, but only the top math track gets to BC. Lots of kids will algebra 2/trig, which is a very difficult class at FH, then decide to drop to regular precalc because of how hard algebra 2 was. Regular precalc at FH is a joke (honors is better, but easier than algebra 2) and those kids tend to struggle even in calc AB. Students who do well in pre calc honors (the highest precalc) do fine in BC. The AB kids typically go on to linear algebra, and multi has BC as a prerequisite. They also have a regular calc class that I am not as familiar with.

I think FH pulls from areas where there is more pressure math wise. SSSAS has a more liberal arts focus.

[Anonymous]

FH is more diverse than SSSAS if that matters

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:FH is more diverse than SSSAS if that matters

At times FH does not feel as diverse as it is.

Interesting bit of history is that FH was created as a white flight school. To their credit, they own this part of their history. Their DEI head MiaBurton is really great.

From their site:
"Our founding, like many other private schools that began in the 1950s, is complicated — a response to the desegregation of public schools led to the creation of many 'white flight' schools, including, at the time, Flint Hill Preparatory. And, while we have completely reorganized in structure, mission, and status — and have become a leader among independent schools for mission, vision, and core values — some of the seeds of that foundation remain paradoxical with the school we are and strive to be today and into the future. While we’re informed by and proud of many aspects of our past, we’re always striving to be better. I am proud to lead a community that has thoughtfully and meaningfully evolved embodying the growth mindset that we envision for our students."

- Patrick McHonett, Head of School

[Anonymous]

These schools are more alike than different. I would choose the school that is closer to your house.