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

[Anonymous]

Hi - I'm a new STA parent (as in my child will be starting Form C in the fall) and it occurred to me that this might be a good place to get information regarding a couple of things that I've been thinking about but have been to shy to ask anyone personally. So, here goes:

1) What advice do you wish someone had shared with you before your child began STA? For example, I've read about the blazer exchange that has happened in the past and I thought this was a great idea. However, but for this forum, I wouldn't have known about it at this point.
2) I'm curious how pick up happens at the end of school - do parents keep circling around the school until their kids appear or is it the sort of system where you can remain parked in your spot around the circle until your child appears?
3) After-school care - I know that there isn't anything formal and my understanding is that kids, at least in the lower grades, need to be picked up by 4:30 p.m. I've heard about some sort of study hall and/or something about kids hanging out in the library. I assume the former is supervised and the latter isn't - is this right?
4) How do you get to know the parents of the children in your son's class? Are there any school organized events?

I'd be happy to hear about anyone's experiences this year. Thanks for reading and sharing your experiences!

[Anonymous]

I wish I had known how difficult it was to transition to C Form from outside of Beauvoir. We're fine now, it just took much longer than I expected, and there were many speed bumps on that transition road.

[Anonymous]

Why? Just getting to know the new kids?

[Anonymous]

Useful tips:

(1) STA will give you a book list for next year. BUY NOTHING! In the end, they will take all the kids over to the bookstore to pick up everything they need, and the list of books will CHANGE between mid summer and the beginning of the year.

(2) Provided you do not buy books, your son will be able to carry everything they tell him to bring in on the first day, but if you have bought books, it is a physical impossibility. No one is checking off a list to see that you have given your son 3 packages of loose leaf paper and 2 graph paper pads. Send your son in with enough to start, and through the year you can restock him. They send a list of everything your son needs to bring in the first day and it is simply unnecessary to send them in with all of that stuff. They don't need gym clothes and a bathing suit and a towel and two pairs of underwear and indoor sneakers and about 45 pounds of supplies. Bring in enough to start.

(3) I was panic stricken about pick up but within 2 days you realize how easy it is. You drive in Pilgrim Road and park somewhere down the road (or parking lot) if you can. If your son sees you he'll run to the car. My son knows if I'm coming to pick up directly after school, in which case he should be outside looking for me. Someone it works smoothly.

(4) I wish I had known (and glad I found out quickly) that your son can stay after school up to 5 pm without having to pay for aftercare. Often I'll pick up at 4:30, and my son will go to the library and finish his homework. When I pull in it's easy to find parking on Pilgrim Road, and I either find him in the library, or more often he's moved outside and is playing in the prison yard.

Good luck. I'm sure you'll feel like a pro within a few days.

[Anonymous]

I wish NCS had the same no pay after school option.

[Anonymous]

same as pp but 15$ isnt bad for a snack and actual accountability. one of the sta boys could disappear for 2 hrs and no one would know.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:same as pp but 15$ isnt bad for a snack and actual accountability. one of the sta boys could disappear for 2 hrs and no one would know.

What are you talking about, "could disappear and no one would know?"

My son is in one of the lower forms and after school he's either studying in the library, in a class-room study group, STArtsmart, prison yard, hanging out in the lobby or getting a snack from Rob's. He contacts me by cell to let me know where to find him. Faculty members, staff, Cathedral police, form mates, older, lower school boys are all in the vicinity to some degree. Whenever I pick him up and he's not playing ball in the prison yard, I'm told where I can find him. I appreciate that STA has instilled an additional layer of confidence, observation, and independence in my boy.

Back when he was a c former sure I was really worried about his after school safety. Then, I realized that STA's after school alternatives were far, far more preferable to him walking alone over to NCS and then sitting in a room doing homework with a room full of girls and having a snack while he watched them playing 4-squares.

Within the first 2 months of school of his c form year, I realized that my son was no longer 7/8 y.o.

[Anonymous]

just saying at ncs you have teachers who are directly responsible. sta simply doesnt have a person who is officially watching them. yes adults and older boys are present but at ncs they know who the child is leaving with. that sits much better with me.

[Anonymous]

also my child is 9. really you cant be over careful in these days in times. there was a child molester at beauvoir for christ sake. sta is fabulous - my girls are at ncs, obviously I think the cathedral system is great, but the lack of supervision after school would make me a bit nervous. we are in the middle of a city.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:also my child is 9. really you cant be over careful in these days in times. there was a child molester at beauvoir for christ sake. sta is fabulous - my girls are at ncs, obviously I think the cathedral system is great, but the lack of supervision after school would make me a bit nervous. we are in the middle of a city.

True, but the child molester that you're referring to at Beauvoir was a third grade classroom teacher. Wasn't he "supervising" the children?

Just saying you have to teach your child to be observant and give them some confidence. If NCS aftercare works for your child, I'm glad. The after school walk over to NCS (alone) was a huge turnoff.

[Anonymous]

Besides, the Student Exchange any other tips on where to purchase blue blazers locally?

[Anonymous]

the country club gift shop

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:the country club gift shop

The one in Chevy Chase or Bethesda? Thanks!

[Anonymous]

I wish I had fully understood how athletics permeate nearly every aspect of life at STA, and if your DS is not "into sports," he's simply not going to fit in with his fellow-students, the faculty, and much to my horror, the other families.

[Anonymous]

Filenes basement or sears for blazers if you arent running with the country club set.