Mass exodus from SSSAS Middle School

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:The people leave SSSAS in a huff are almost always conservative MAGA families because they think it’s a safe space for them and it’s not.

Good riddance to them

Yeah except I think these dress code changes are pissing off progressive families. The girls basically feel like they have to wear a dress to fit in.

Good riddance to anyone that doesn’t want to be there and leaves.

That's the attitude that supports a healthy environment at SSSAS! Don't review the reasons that families are leaving to try to improve SSSAS. It's clearly perfect.

I think this entire thread is bananas. The school does make changes where it sees fit and decides it is appropriate. Just because they don’t change whenever a parent asks doesn’t mean they are unresponsive. I personally know Trump families, independents and left democrats all happily coexisting because it was the right school for their kid(s). The one thing this thread is doing is making SSSAS look bad. To those of you who don’t think it is worth it, don’t come or leave. For those who hate diversity of view points, I mean ok. Just be prepared for a lonely life cuz you will encounter people who disagree with you and if you always make it an issue, they will leave you, not the other way around. It’s a nice school with tons of opportunities that many schools simply do not offer. Find me another school with wrestling, Latin Competitions, AP classes, almost a dozen international trips per year, and a Cappie nominated theater program. I’m waiting…

Waiting for what? Are you waiting for someone to summarize all of the valid but somewhat negative viewpoints from current and former parents? Or perhaps you are waiting for a grammar lesson?

I’ll ignore the snark about grammar. I’m not really waiting for anything. SSSAS offers my kid a lot of desirable things that are simply unavailable at other schools. So for us, we chose it for what it has. We didn’t look at the list of schools where kids were accepted to assess its “worth” based on T25 acceptances. From our K-8, those types of people went to Maret or GDS and good luck to them. Not my kettle of fish. We wanted our kids to have the best high school for them. They are at different schools. Different kids, different interests, different schools. I think it depends on whether value the journey or the destination. We value the journey.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have 1 in US and 1 in MS. I think teachers at both are outstanding for most part and the HOS US is terrific. I agree that if your kids are super motivated academically talented, the money at SSSAS is too much to spend. I'm not sure if you work, where more convenient you'd go if you lived in Alexandria or Arlington however unless you were OK with Catholic school or then public. That's Linda a huge problem for older kids. No way can we move but neither willing to commute and maid out kids rise at 5am to go to school daily - that is a torture in itself. We didn't want public HS in Alexandria for our kid with learning disabilities and honestly they will likely head to art school - we were never on the ivy track so it's less the ROI for college and more the culture fit for our kids. That's hard anywhere due to specific classes but on US, our kid and us are happy enough. In MS, I do think it could be a lot better. I agree as well that the admin is more interested in keeping a happy staff v kids but I understand - to me it's the practical approach. The customers are going to line up as long as the teachers are good and stable tenure. I think the dress code change is truly ridiculous this year and can't say I understand why! But if you're in Arl or Alex and need a private school for your kids who are middle of the road - looking for private non Catholic that works - despite price tag, SSSAS fits the bill

Thank you for acknowledging that if you have reasonably academic kids SSSAS is not worth it. We spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on our kids education there with the hope of solid college outcomes. They did okay but could have done the same at a less expensive privates (thinking Gonzaga, Stone Ridge, Visi, St Johns) or better at equally expensive privates. It’s not a bad education it’s just not 55k. We should have left earlier - by the time we realized this at Upper School it was too complicated to leave. Lesson learned.

This is so disappointing to hear. We have kids at the LS and have really found the school to be wonderful and the differentiation sufficient so far for our kids, who scored something like 97-99th percentile on the wisc. What happens at the middle or upper school that makes it not good for academically minded kids?

My gifted kid loves SSSAS US, is doing wonderfully, feels appropriately challenged, has had excellent teachers. We picked the school for fit (started in 9th) and it’s been great. We (and DC) are very happy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have 1 in US and 1 in MS. I think teachers at both are outstanding for most part and the HOS US is terrific. I agree that if your kids are super motivated academically talented, the money at SSSAS is too much to spend. I'm not sure if you work, where more convenient you'd go if you lived in Alexandria or Arlington however unless you were OK with Catholic school or then public. That's Linda a huge problem for older kids. No way can we move but neither willing to commute and maid out kids rise at 5am to go to school daily - that is a torture in itself. We didn't want public HS in Alexandria for our kid with learning disabilities and honestly they will likely head to art school - we were never on the ivy track so it's less the ROI for college and more the culture fit for our kids. That's hard anywhere due to specific classes but on US, our kid and us are happy enough. In MS, I do think it could be a lot better. I agree as well that the admin is more interested in keeping a happy staff v kids but I understand - to me it's the practical approach. The customers are going to line up as long as the teachers are good and stable tenure. I think the dress code change is truly ridiculous this year and can't say I understand why! But if you're in Arl or Alex and need a private school for your kids who are middle of the road - looking for private non Catholic that works - despite price tag, SSSAS fits the bill

Thank you for acknowledging that if you have reasonably academic kids SSSAS is not worth it. We spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on our kids education there with the hope of solid college outcomes. They did okay but could have done the same at a less expensive privates (thinking Gonzaga, Stone Ridge, Visi, St Johns) or better at equally expensive privates. It’s not a bad education it’s just not 55k. We should have left earlier - by the time we realized this at Upper School it was too complicated to leave. Lesson learned.

This is so disappointing to hear. We have kids at the LS and have really found the school to be wonderful and the differentiation sufficient so far for our kids, who scored something like 97-99th percentile on the wisc. What happens at the middle or upper school that makes it not good for academically minded kids?

My gifted kid loves SSSAS US, is doing wonderfully, feels appropriately challenged, has had excellent teachers. We picked the school for fit (started in 9th) and it’s been great. We (and DC) are very happy.

That’s great to hear!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:There was already a mass exodus for the class of 2029 with many now going somewhere else for high school. The new dean of the MS is awful (the prior one was great and is still there but now just teaches in the classroom vs being the dean). The dress code shenanigans are so ridiculous. The US dean is a nightmare and the HOS for the US is super goofy.

In what way is the US Dean of Students a nightmare? I’ve never heard my kid or any of their friend have issues, nor any of my parent friends say one word about her. She’s fine. And if by HOS for US you mean the director of US (there’s only one HOS, and she’s head of the whole school), he’s wonderful. Students love him, parents love him.

My kids are in the US. The US dean is extremely problematic and inserts herself to create drama among students, especially girls, while laughing off horrible behavior from boys. The consequences are not uniform and when there is actual conflict that should be addressed (pretty standard HS concerns, nothing extraordinary), she won't enforce rules if she doesn't feel like it. The US head is perfectly nice, but his #1 concern is the staff, not the students. He is just ok, but better than the dean, unless you have a problem with the dean and then forget it.

All students and all parents do not love him.

I agree with this. They are good at listening to your concerns, smiling, nodding - and then doing nothing. And dismissing a lot as “drama.” Instead of thinking, “wow we’ve heard these concerns before, we should do something” they seem to think, “we hear these things a lot, it’s the usual complaints, no big deal.” And yes, sometimes it just feels like staff retention is more important.

Bottom line: SSSAS' best days are in the distant past. The school is not worth $55K or whatever is the current cost. The ROI is just not worth it.

+1
We are a former family and wish we had left sooner. It’s easy to be swayed by the ok LS and proximity to Alexandria, Arlington, etc. We were intimidated by the process of trying to get multiple kids in to the same school at once as transfers when not all years are entry years, etc. We kind of ignored a lot of things that we disliked bc we didn’t have a great alternative. It got bad enough that we applied out and cannot believe how much better things are where we landed. I hear a lot of SSSAS friends saying things along the lines of all MS are bad, there’s bullying everywhere, always some bad admin, etc. This really just isn’t the case. I think they excuse a lot of things that shouldn’t be tolerated.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have 1 in US and 1 in MS. I think teachers at both are outstanding for most part and the HOS US is terrific. I agree that if your kids are super motivated academically talented, the money at SSSAS is too much to spend. I'm not sure if you work, where more convenient you'd go if you lived in Alexandria or Arlington however unless you were OK with Catholic school or then public. That's Linda a huge problem for older kids. No way can we move but neither willing to commute and maid out kids rise at 5am to go to school daily - that is a torture in itself. We didn't want public HS in Alexandria for our kid with learning disabilities and honestly they will likely head to art school - we were never on the ivy track so it's less the ROI for college and more the culture fit for our kids. That's hard anywhere due to specific classes but on US, our kid and us are happy enough. In MS, I do think it could be a lot better. I agree as well that the admin is more interested in keeping a happy staff v kids but I understand - to me it's the practical approach. The customers are going to line up as long as the teachers are good and stable tenure. I think the dress code change is truly ridiculous this year and can't say I understand why! But if you're in Arl or Alex and need a private school for your kids who are middle of the road - looking for private non Catholic that works - despite price tag, SSSAS fits the bill

Thank you for acknowledging that if you have reasonably academic kids SSSAS is not worth it. We spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on our kids education there with the hope of solid college outcomes. They did okay but could have done the same at a less expensive privates (thinking Gonzaga, Stone Ridge, Visi, St Johns) or better at equally expensive privates. It’s not a bad education it’s just not 55k. We should have left earlier - by the time we realized this at Upper School it was too complicated to leave. Lesson learned.

So what if you had spent less and gotten the same results? Or had spent the same at a supposedly “worth it” school and gotten the same results? I think that there so many factors in college applications and acceptances that to lay the blame (or credit) for each child’s college results solely on the school is really unfair. Each school has a different mix of kids applying to a different mix of schools. I think 9 going to W & M from SSSAS is amazing. But hey, maybe those kids wanted UVA so they feel let down. Or maybe they wanted Harvard. There is a very well regarded school in the area that has many going to UVA but couldn’t get a single one accepted at Florida. Those kids were disappointed! I bet their parents were relieved! Point is that the school your kids attend is only one piece of the pie. Maybe blaming SSSAS for disappointing results help avoid accepting reality. Reality is that even awesome kids sometimes don’t get the best college results. And people cannot endlessly ask for equity and diversity in schools and then squawk when the white kid who plays soccer doesn’t get into the primo schools. Doesn’t work that way.

Then you have very low expectations. And 9 to one school most likely means some kind of connection between schools that provides normally rejected kids with an acceptance.

[Anonymous]

We did ACPS for 5 years and then switched our family to SSSAS. We tried and failed for years to get into elite schools. My kids had excellent test scores, grades, and interview well. We even had board connections at one school. We are not special enough to get into elite schools. It’s possible we could get into one of the independents in DC but it would involve a very, very annoying commute. I don't want a same sex school and I don't want a catholic school. As parents, we have family money but no local family connections. We went to top colleges but not ivies. There is no way we are getting our kids into another school. Alexandria is one of the top places to live in the country. We don’t want to move. We’re walking distance to the metro, 20 restaurants, and have a sizable yard and a 1% mortgage rate. We’re not moving. We don’t want our kids to go to a high school with 5,000 kids at ACHS. SSSAS is not super liberal, but every single teacher I’ve met is. They are a little conservative with this dress code but it’s impossible to set a dress code for middle schoolers these days that isn’t a uniform, isn’t a double standard for diff genders, and allows for kids to wear clothes that are in style. We are not leaving and it’s not perfect but it’s all we’ve got. The new upper school campus is gorgeous. Alexandria is not getting less popular, DC privates are not getting less exclusive, and ACPS is not adding a second high school so SSSAS is on track to attract more great candidates as time passes by. This is very obviously a troll post. 99% of the families I’ve met at SSSAS are happy. Lots of kids (10-15) leave for high school for cost or legacy to go to single sex Catholic schools, sometimes boarding.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have 1 in US and 1 in MS. I think teachers at both are outstanding for most part and the HOS US is terrific. I agree that if your kids are super motivated academically talented, the money at SSSAS is too much to spend. I'm not sure if you work, where more convenient you'd go if you lived in Alexandria or Arlington however unless you were OK with Catholic school or then public. That's Linda a huge problem for older kids. No way can we move but neither willing to commute and maid out kids rise at 5am to go to school daily - that is a torture in itself. We didn't want public HS in Alexandria for our kid with learning disabilities and honestly they will likely head to art school - we were never on the ivy track so it's less the ROI for college and more the culture fit for our kids. That's hard anywhere due to specific classes but on US, our kid and us are happy enough. In MS, I do think it could be a lot better. I agree as well that the admin is more interested in keeping a happy staff v kids but I understand - to me it's the practical approach. The customers are going to line up as long as the teachers are good and stable tenure. I think the dress code change is truly ridiculous this year and can't say I understand why! But if you're in Arl or Alex and need a private school for your kids who are middle of the road - looking for private non Catholic that works - despite price tag, SSSAS fits the bill

Thank you for acknowledging that if you have reasonably academic kids SSSAS is not worth it. We spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on our kids education there with the hope of solid college outcomes. They did okay but could have done the same at a less expensive privates (thinking Gonzaga, Stone Ridge, Visi, St Johns) or better at equally expensive privates. It’s not a bad education it’s just not 55k. We should have left earlier - by the time we realized this at Upper School it was too complicated to leave. Lesson learned.

So what if you had spent less and gotten the same results? Or had spent the same at a supposedly “worth it” school and gotten the same results? I think that there so many factors in college applications and acceptances that to lay the blame (or credit) for each child’s college results solely on the school is really unfair. Each school has a different mix of kids applying to a different mix of schools. I think 9 going to W & M from SSSAS is amazing. But hey, maybe those kids wanted UVA so they feel let down. Or maybe they wanted Harvard. There is a very well regarded school in the area that has many going to UVA but couldn’t get a single one accepted at Florida. Those kids were disappointed! I bet their parents were relieved! Point is that the school your kids attend is only one piece of the pie. Maybe blaming SSSAS for disappointing results help avoid accepting reality. Reality is that even awesome kids sometimes don’t get the best college results. And people cannot endlessly ask for equity and diversity in schools and then squawk when the white kid who plays soccer doesn’t get into the primo schools. Doesn’t work that way.

Then you have very low expectations. And 9 to one school most likely means some kind of connection between schools that provides normally rejected kids with an acceptance.

This is just a dumb comment. W&M is not an easy school to get into and has no such relationship with any school. Make sense please.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have 1 in US and 1 in MS. I think teachers at both are outstanding for most part and the HOS US is terrific. I agree that if your kids are super motivated academically talented, the money at SSSAS is too much to spend. I'm not sure if you work, where more convenient you'd go if you lived in Alexandria or Arlington however unless you were OK with Catholic school or then public. That's Linda a huge problem for older kids. No way can we move but neither willing to commute and maid out kids rise at 5am to go to school daily - that is a torture in itself. We didn't want public HS in Alexandria for our kid with learning disabilities and honestly they will likely head to art school - we were never on the ivy track so it's less the ROI for college and more the culture fit for our kids. That's hard anywhere due to specific classes but on US, our kid and us are happy enough. In MS, I do think it could be a lot better. I agree as well that the admin is more interested in keeping a happy staff v kids but I understand - to me it's the practical approach. The customers are going to line up as long as the teachers are good and stable tenure. I think the dress code change is truly ridiculous this year and can't say I understand why! But if you're in Arl or Alex and need a private school for your kids who are middle of the road - looking for private non Catholic that works - despite price tag, SSSAS fits the bill

Thank you for acknowledging that if you have reasonably academic kids SSSAS is not worth it. We spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on our kids education there with the hope of solid college outcomes. They did okay but could have done the same at a less expensive privates (thinking Gonzaga, Stone Ridge, Visi, St Johns) or better at equally expensive privates. It’s not a bad education it’s just not 55k. We should have left earlier - by the time we realized this at Upper School it was too complicated to leave. Lesson learned.

So what if you had spent less and gotten the same results? Or had spent the same at a supposedly “worth it” school and gotten the same results? I think that there so many factors in college applications and acceptances that to lay the blame (or credit) for each child’s college results solely on the school is really unfair. Each school has a different mix of kids applying to a different mix of schools. I think 9 going to W & M from SSSAS is amazing. But hey, maybe those kids wanted UVA so they feel let down. Or maybe they wanted Harvard. There is a very well regarded school in the area that has many going to UVA but couldn’t get a single one accepted at Florida. Those kids were disappointed! I bet their parents were relieved! Point is that the school your kids attend is only one piece of the pie. Maybe blaming SSSAS for disappointing results help avoid accepting reality. Reality is that even awesome kids sometimes don’t get the best college results. And people cannot endlessly ask for equity and diversity in schools and then squawk when the white kid who plays soccer doesn’t get into the primo schools. Doesn’t work that way.

Then you have very low expectations. And 9 to one school most likely means some kind of connection between schools that provides normally rejected kids with an acceptance.

This is just a dumb comment. W&M is not an easy school to get into and has no such relationship with any school. Make sense please.

W&M has an in state acceptance rate of 44%, so not exactly difficult. And if you don't think some private high schools have special relationships with some colleges, then you are very naive. Oh, also, that was a very dumb reply.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have 1 in US and 1 in MS. I think teachers at both are outstanding for most part and the HOS US is terrific. I agree that if your kids are super motivated academically talented, the money at SSSAS is too much to spend. I'm not sure if you work, where more convenient you'd go if you lived in Alexandria or Arlington however unless you were OK with Catholic school or then public. That's Linda a huge problem for older kids. No way can we move but neither willing to commute and maid out kids rise at 5am to go to school daily - that is a torture in itself. We didn't want public HS in Alexandria for our kid with learning disabilities and honestly they will likely head to art school - we were never on the ivy track so it's less the ROI for college and more the culture fit for our kids. That's hard anywhere due to specific classes but on US, our kid and us are happy enough. In MS, I do think it could be a lot better. I agree as well that the admin is more interested in keeping a happy staff v kids but I understand - to me it's the practical approach. The customers are going to line up as long as the teachers are good and stable tenure. I think the dress code change is truly ridiculous this year and can't say I understand why! But if you're in Arl or Alex and need a private school for your kids who are middle of the road - looking for private non Catholic that works - despite price tag, SSSAS fits the bill

Thank you for acknowledging that if you have reasonably academic kids SSSAS is not worth it. We spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on our kids education there with the hope of solid college outcomes. They did okay but could have done the same at a less expensive privates (thinking Gonzaga, Stone Ridge, Visi, St Johns) or better at equally expensive privates. It’s not a bad education it’s just not 55k. We should have left earlier - by the time we realized this at Upper School it was too complicated to leave. Lesson learned.

So what if you had spent less and gotten the same results? Or had spent the same at a supposedly “worth it” school and gotten the same results? I think that there so many factors in college applications and acceptances that to lay the blame (or credit) for each child’s college results solely on the school is really unfair. Each school has a different mix of kids applying to a different mix of schools. I think 9 going to W & M from SSSAS is amazing. But hey, maybe those kids wanted UVA so they feel let down. Or maybe they wanted Harvard. There is a very well regarded school in the area that has many going to UVA but couldn’t get a single one accepted at Florida. Those kids were disappointed! I bet their parents were relieved! Point is that the school your kids attend is only one piece of the pie. Maybe blaming SSSAS for disappointing results help avoid accepting reality. Reality is that even awesome kids sometimes don’t get the best college results. And people cannot endlessly ask for equity and diversity in schools and then squawk when the white kid who plays soccer doesn’t get into the primo schools. Doesn’t work that way.

Then you have very low expectations. And 9 to one school most likely means some kind of connection between schools that provides normally rejected kids with an acceptance.

This is just a dumb comment. W&M is not an easy school to get into and has no such relationship with any school. Make sense please.

W&M has an in state acceptance rate of 44%, so not exactly difficult. And if you don't think some private high schools have special relationships with some colleges, then you are very naive. Oh, also, that was a very dumb reply.

It’s actually 34%.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have 1 in US and 1 in MS. I think teachers at both are outstanding for most part and the HOS US is terrific. I agree that if your kids are super motivated academically talented, the money at SSSAS is too much to spend. I'm not sure if you work, where more convenient you'd go if you lived in Alexandria or Arlington however unless you were OK with Catholic school or then public. That's Linda a huge problem for older kids. No way can we move but neither willing to commute and maid out kids rise at 5am to go to school daily - that is a torture in itself. We didn't want public HS in Alexandria for our kid with learning disabilities and honestly they will likely head to art school - we were never on the ivy track so it's less the ROI for college and more the culture fit for our kids. That's hard anywhere due to specific classes but on US, our kid and us are happy enough. In MS, I do think it could be a lot better. I agree as well that the admin is more interested in keeping a happy staff v kids but I understand - to me it's the practical approach. The customers are going to line up as long as the teachers are good and stable tenure. I think the dress code change is truly ridiculous this year and can't say I understand why! But if you're in Arl or Alex and need a private school for your kids who are middle of the road - looking for private non Catholic that works - despite price tag, SSSAS fits the bill

Thank you for acknowledging that if you have reasonably academic kids SSSAS is not worth it. We spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on our kids education there with the hope of solid college outcomes. They did okay but could have done the same at a less expensive privates (thinking Gonzaga, Stone Ridge, Visi, St Johns) or better at equally expensive privates. It’s not a bad education it’s just not 55k. We should have left earlier - by the time we realized this at Upper School it was too complicated to leave. Lesson learned.

So what if you had spent less and gotten the same results? Or had spent the same at a supposedly “worth it” school and gotten the same results? I think that there so many factors in college applications and acceptances that to lay the blame (or credit) for each child’s college results solely on the school is really unfair. Each school has a different mix of kids applying to a different mix of schools. I think 9 going to W & M from SSSAS is amazing. But hey, maybe those kids wanted UVA so they feel let down. Or maybe they wanted Harvard. There is a very well regarded school in the area that has many going to UVA but couldn’t get a single one accepted at Florida. Those kids were disappointed! I bet their parents were relieved! Point is that the school your kids attend is only one piece of the pie. Maybe blaming SSSAS for disappointing results help avoid accepting reality. Reality is that even awesome kids sometimes don’t get the best college results. And people cannot endlessly ask for equity and diversity in schools and then squawk when the white kid who plays soccer doesn’t get into the primo schools. Doesn’t work that way.

Then you have very low expectations. And 9 to one school most likely means some kind of connection between schools that provides normally rejected kids with an acceptance.

This is just a dumb comment. W&M is not an easy school to get into and has no such relationship with any school. Make sense please.

W&M has an in state acceptance rate of 44%, so not exactly difficult. And if you don't think some private high schools have special relationships with some colleges, then you are very naive. Oh, also, that was a very dumb reply.

It’s actually 34%.

People also ask
What is the acceptance rate for William and Mary in state?
The William and Mary acceptance rate for the class of 2025 was 37%. However, the William and Mary acceptance rate for in-state students was slightly higher at 44%, implying a preference for Virginia residents. In addition, the William and Mary average GPA for the middle 50% of enrolled students is a 4.1-4.5.
William & Mary has a higher acceptance rate for early decision applicants, which is around 52%.

So, nope, you are simply wrong. And it's is not hard to get into. Maybe it was harder a while back...kind of just like SSSAS!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There was already a mass exodus for the class of 2029 with many now going somewhere else for high school. The new dean of the MS is awful (the prior one was great and is still there but now just teaches in the classroom vs being the dean). The dress code shenanigans are so ridiculous. The US dean is a nightmare and the HOS for the US is super goofy.

In what way is the US Dean of Students a nightmare? I’ve never heard my kid or any of their friend have issues, nor any of my parent friends say one word about her. She’s fine. And if by HOS for US you mean the director of US (there’s only one HOS, and she’s head of the whole school), he’s wonderful. Students love him, parents love him.

My kids are in the US. The US dean is extremely problematic and inserts herself to create drama among students, especially girls, while laughing off horrible behavior from boys. The consequences are not uniform and when there is actual conflict that should be addressed (pretty standard HS concerns, nothing extraordinary), she won't enforce rules if she doesn't feel like it. The US head is perfectly nice, but his #1 concern is the staff, not the students. He is just ok, but better than the dean, unless you have a problem with the dean and then forget it.

All students and all parents do not love him.

I agree with this. They are good at listening to your concerns, smiling, nodding - and then doing nothing. And dismissing a lot as “drama.” Instead of thinking, “wow we’ve heard these concerns before, we should do something” they seem to think, “we hear these things a lot, it’s the usual complaints, no big deal.” And yes, sometimes it just feels like staff retention is more important.

Bottom line: SSSAS' best days are in the distant past. The school is not worth $55K or whatever is the current cost. The ROI is just not worth it.

+1
We are a former family and wish we had left sooner. It’s easy to be swayed by the ok LS and proximity to Alexandria, Arlington, etc. We were intimidated by the process of trying to get multiple kids in to the same school at once as transfers when not all years are entry years, etc. We kind of ignored a lot of things that we disliked bc we didn’t have a great alternative. It got bad enough that we applied out and cannot believe how much better things are where we landed. I hear a lot of SSSAS friends saying things along the lines of all MS are bad, there’s bullying everywhere, always some bad admin, etc. This really just isn’t the case. I think they excuse a lot of things that shouldn’t be tolerated.

The MS is not great. I actually don’t understand how it could have such a great lower school and such a terrible MS.

I was hoping the new head of the MS would change the energy there but it seems like nothing has changed except the dress code, which no longer makes any sense to anyone and doesn’t seem to serve any purpose other than to annoy parents.

[Anonymous]

My kid started in 9th but found a friend group with several kids who came up through LS and MS. DC says that their friends thought MS was not great in general. But they all love US. So if you can tough it out, it’s worth it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The people leave SSSAS in a huff are almost always conservative MAGA families because they think it’s a safe space for them and it’s not.

Good riddance to them

Yeah except I think these dress code changes are pissing off progressive families. The girls basically feel like they have to wear a dress to fit in.

Good riddance to anyone that doesn’t want to be there and leaves.

That's the attitude that supports a healthy environment at SSSAS! Don't review the reasons that families are leaving to try to improve SSSAS. It's clearly perfect.

I think this entire thread is bananas. The school does make changes where it sees fit and decides it is appropriate. Just because they don’t change whenever a parent asks doesn’t mean they are unresponsive. I personally know Trump families, independents and left democrats all happily coexisting because it was the right school for their kid(s). The one thing this thread is doing is making SSSAS look bad. To those of you who don’t think it is worth it, don’t come or leave. For those who hate diversity of view points, I mean ok. Just be prepared for a lonely life cuz you will encounter people who disagree with you and if you always make it an issue, they will leave you, not the other way around. It’s a nice school with tons of opportunities that many schools simply do not offer. Find me another school with wrestling, Latin Competitions, AP classes, almost a dozen international trips per year, and a Cappie nominated theater program. I’m waiting…

There is truly nothing at SSSAS that other privates do not all offer. I guess other independents don’t go for CAPPIES bc the only other private school in the nations cap region that even submits for those is BI. Most independent schools have better theater programs. I’m the PP who pulled our kids out of SSSAS. We stayed out of sheer laziness and only wish we had left earlier.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The people leave SSSAS in a huff are almost always conservative MAGA families because they think it’s a safe space for them and it’s not.

Good riddance to them

Yeah except I think these dress code changes are pissing off progressive families. The girls basically feel like they have to wear a dress to fit in.

Good riddance to anyone that doesn’t want to be there and leaves.

That's the attitude that supports a healthy environment at SSSAS! Don't review the reasons that families are leaving to try to improve SSSAS. It's clearly perfect.

I think this entire thread is bananas. The school does make changes where it sees fit and decides it is appropriate. Just because they don’t change whenever a parent asks doesn’t mean they are unresponsive. I personally know Trump families, independents and left democrats all happily coexisting because it was the right school for their kid(s). The one thing this thread is doing is making SSSAS look bad. To those of you who don’t think it is worth it, don’t come or leave. For those who hate diversity of view points, I mean ok. Just be prepared for a lonely life cuz you will encounter people who disagree with you and if you always make it an issue, they will leave you, not the other way around. It’s a nice school with tons of opportunities that many schools simply do not offer. Find me another school with wrestling, Latin Competitions, AP classes, almost a dozen international trips per year, and a Cappie nominated theater program. I’m waiting…

There is truly nothing at SSSAS that other privates do not all offer. I guess other independents don’t go for CAPPIES bc the only other private school in the nations cap region that even submits for those is BI. Most independent schools have better theater programs. I’m the PP who pulled our kids out of SSSAS. We stayed out of sheer laziness and only wish we had left earlier.

Ok. So this is really just a giant complaint by one unhappy family. It’s ok for you not to have liked it but you don’t need to make it a personal mission to bring the school down. Lots of us are happy and I think you should try to be ok with that.

[Anonymous]

Also, other than Flint Hill and Gonzaga, not sure any others participate in the Certamen competitions. Lots don’t have AP or Wrestling. So you are both unhappy and wrong.