SSSAS Upper School

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

a very telling comment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our child is in 9th grade at SSSAS and we are frustrated with our experience so far. As a previous poster mentioned, DC is in an English class where many bright students are getting bad grades. The school does not seem responsive to the idea that it may be the teacher and not the students who are the problem. DC also has another teacher in a core subject who is receiving a lot of complaints. It has been a tough start and we are reconsidering whether this was the right place for our child.

I have a student with the same English teacher others are referring to and after many happy years with multiple children at this school, the issues with this class and teacher have negatively impacted my opinion to the point that I can no longer in good faith recommend this school. You can send your kid to public school where they will get straight A's. Or you can pay hundreds of thousands of dollars to go to this school where the teachers seem to have free reign.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:NP here.
I have also heard about that bad English teacher but my children aren’t in that class.

I have two children at the school. Here is what they do well :
1. Differentiation. They can accommodate top students in very accelerated classes that go on to top universities. But they also welcome children who are still taking geometry in 10th. I think that’s a strength.
2. Well roundedness. Sports, theater, robotics - lots to do and they do it well.

Here is what they are bad at:
1. Discipline. It’s inconsistent and arbitrary and they have some real problem kids that they haven’t managed to get rid of. Yet they waste time and energy on useless dress code violations and other petty infractions.
2. Encouraging a challenge - more kids should be encouraged to take harder classes and not just accept As in easy classes. Their college list would likely improve if they did this.
3. They need to get rid of bad teachers. If lots of parents complain, let the person go.

100%

[Anonymous]

Us too. We are so sad about the situation. Our complaints to the administration have fallen on deaf ears and it’s truly alarming.

[Anonymous]

Stumbled across this thread and feel relieved to hear other children having such a challenging time in English with this new teacher. The school said to us basically we know and we’re “trying” to work on it. Nobody wants to participate in the class and they all just sit in the class not talking while the teacher sucks the air out of the room. It’s so bad we’ve even discussed moving mid- year.

[Anonymous]

I have a sophomore at SSSAS and she absolutely loves it. She’s challenged academically, plays sports, has good friends, and is supported by the admin. She went to a small k-8 and was well prepared. We were not impressed with a few of her 9th teachers. We navigated that - switched a couple classes and rode one out. 10th grade had some exemplary teachers and I’m thoroughly impressed (I’m an educator myself). As I’m involved with where our 8th graders go, everyone who has gone to SSSAS has been very happy. Many of my current 8th students have visited this year and are putting it as a top choice. The new buikding is going to be gorgeous! It’s a great choice for many - especially if the DC privates are too difficult of a commute which is a factor for us.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Stumbled across this thread and feel relieved to hear other children having such a challenging time in English with this new teacher. The school said to us basically we know and we’re “trying” to work on it. Nobody wants to participate in the class and they all just sit in the class not talking while the teacher sucks the air out of the room. It’s so bad we’ve even discussed moving mid- year.

My DC likes the English teacher and is doing quite well. Just because your DC is getting a bad grade doesn’t mean the teacher is bad. And move mid-year? Please.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Stumbled across this thread and feel relieved to hear other children having such a challenging time in English with this new teacher. The school said to us basically we know and we’re “trying” to work on it. Nobody wants to participate in the class and they all just sit in the class not talking while the teacher sucks the air out of the room. It’s so bad we’ve even discussed moving mid- year.

My DC likes the English teacher and is doing quite well. Just because your DC is getting a bad grade doesn’t mean the teacher is bad. And move mid-year? Please.

+ 1

[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?

LOL. I’m a parent of two SSSAS kids. Thanks for the laugh. “Religiosity” tells all of us in the know you’re either a troll or a…..troll. Would love to hear you do a deep dive into why Bullis and Landon are better. I’m getting my popcorn.

[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

There’s like 12 DC kids and about 20 ACDS kids out of 472 students at the US. Do better sweetheart.

[Anonymous]

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

Amen Sister!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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

There’s like 12 DC kids and about 20 ACDS kids out of 472 students at the US. Do better sweetheart.

Yeah there are very few kids from DC because they have so many better options for the same cost. SSSAS' biggest attraction for a lot of parents is proximity. It is not quality or value.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our child is in 9th grade at SSSAS and we are frustrated with our experience so far. As a previous poster mentioned, DC is in an English class where many bright students are getting bad grades. The school does not seem responsive to the idea that it may be the teacher and not the students who are the problem. DC also has another teacher in a core subject who is receiving a lot of complaints. It has been a tough start and we are reconsidering whether this was the right place for our child.

I have a student with the same English teacher others are referring to and after many happy years with multiple children at this school, the issues with this class and teacher have negatively impacted my opinion to the point that I can no longer in good faith recommend this school. You can send your kid to public school where they will get straight A's. Or you can pay hundreds of thousands of dollars to go to this school where the teachers seem to have free reign.

To be fair, you just described every private school in the DMV. We know our kids would make better grades at public schools than they do at a Big 3. We don’t care, because they are actually receiving an education.

[Anonymous]

What exactly is the issue with this new English teacher??

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Stumbled across this thread and feel relieved to hear other children having such a challenging time in English with this new teacher. The school said to us basically we know and we’re “trying” to work on it. Nobody wants to participate in the class and they all just sit in the class not talking while the teacher sucks the air out of the room. It’s so bad we’ve even discussed moving mid- year.

My DC likes the English teacher and is doing quite well. Just because your DC is getting a bad grade doesn’t mean the teacher is bad. And move mid-year? Please.

It is a lot more nuanced than just a bad grade. Numerous parents are complaining about this teacher.