New STA parent seeking advice, suggestions, or just plain "I wish I had known X" info

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I just think it's wrong to fuel false expectations that STA is a ticket to admission to a Top 20 college. No college admission officer has ever gone on record to say that they favor students from STA over other schools. Moreover, once you take away legacies, affirmative action beneficiaries and athletes, the odds are quite long.

Choose STA for the right reasons, but don't be tricked into thinking STA is a ticket to the Top 20.

Your points are generally valid, but I think you are overestimating the difficulty of getting into a top 20 college from St. Albans. It's not "a ticket," but lots of the students go to very strong schools -- I think you risk making people needlessly anxious about college admissions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Tell me anything and everything about the transition from middle school to upper school, please.

The biggest issue is how long the day is with Upper School athletics compared to the Lower School day, which ends at 3:30 pm most days. Upper School interscholastic practices run to 6 pm and on a game day students might not get back until later. The 9th grade students generally have a study hall during the day -- it is a 6 period day and they have only 5 core courses -- so students who are disciplined can get work done during that time period and really make a dent on homework. This year the schedule is changing and there will be longer periods (65 minutes instead of 50), so trying to use the study hall is even more important. Of course, your typical 9th grader may be more interested in hanging out with friends or playing a video game during free time during the day, but if your student appears to be struggling with getting homework done at night it might be worth a conversation about whether they can shift gears and use the time during the day productively.

[Anonymous]

I have a question. I was shocked to hear that almost 25% of my son's class belong to the same country club and spend a lot of time together socializing etc there. I have hears it is kind of a cliquey group. Joining a club is not an option for us. Has anyone else experienced any negative issues from this? With such a small grade size I am concerned that my son will feel left out.

[Anonymous]

^ I feel sorry for those lads. The cool kids don't hang there.

[Anonymous]

You should identify the country club.

[Anonymous]

The Country Club is probably Chevy Chase, but your son will not feel left out if he is not a member. There are boys of all types at STA, not just clubbers.

[Anonymous]

We certainly do not belong to a country club. During my son's earlier years at STA his entire class was invited to birthday parties held at Chevy Chase Country Club.

PP, don't worry about it.

[Anonymous]

PP, isn't that club (and/or the Columbia Country Club just down the road) still lily white? As in no blacks or Jews allowed? If so, 25% of a given class is a lot and gives me pause. I hope you are wrong.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:PP, isn't that club (and/or the Columbia Country Club just down the road) still lily white? As in no blacks or Jews allowed? If so, 25% of a given class is a lot and gives me pause. I hope you are wrong.

Well...that's roughly 11 boys. It's disgusting that some families belong to such clubs; however, there are some pleasantly decent families in the grade. There are about 11 boys in my AA son's form that he doesn't know, he just doesn't have anything in common with them.

Not fun to attend a form-wide cocktail party with the "club" set.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have a question. I was shocked to hear that almost 25% of my son's class belong to the same country club and spend a lot of time together socializing etc there. I have hears it is kind of a cliquey group. Joining a club is not an option for us. Has anyone else experienced any negative issues from this? With such a small grade size I am concerned that my son will feel left out.

I don't doubt this 25% number. What I do doubt (based on personal experience) is that such families are all so "cliquey." At least among the boys, their friendships have nothing to do whether your family is at Chevy or Congressional or what have you . . .

[Anonymous]

By the time they are 16 they are not going to want to spend time with any of their parents anyway, so they can't be coerced into going to the club.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:PP, isn't that club (and/or the Columbia Country Club just down the road) still lily white? As in no blacks or Jews allowed? If so, 25% of a given class is a lot and gives me pause. I hope you are wrong.

Not true. There are members at Chevy who are both Black and Jewish and have sons at STA. I know these various families. Nice people as are most of the. Chevy members. I know lots of families who belong to Columbia. Also nice people. Columbia is largely made up of Catholic families who kids go to Mater Dei, Blessed Sacrament, Gtown Prep, Visi etc... I am sure there are so Columbia members who have kids at STA but I can't think of any I know myself.

Lots of Congressional members too - a club which is also inclusive of blacks and Jews. The only folks excluded are the ones who can't afford them. It's classism these days not race or religion. I don't think that old school lily white country club exists in Washington anymore. Baltimore, yes, but not Washington.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:By the time they are 16 they are not going to want to spend time with any of their parents anyway, so they can't be coerced into going to the club.

They don't need to be with their parents to hang out at the club. That is just stupid. Of course teenagers hang out at their family's clubs, just with other teenagers, not their parents, kind of like anywhere.

[Anonymous]

It is a club clique, but there are many other boys who aren't part of it, so it's ok.

[Anonymous]

How are boys with food allergies treated?