Bishop Ireton vs. SSSAS

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My boy takes the yellow line to St. Anselms in NE DC. Take about 50 minutes door-to-door.

Ooph.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Looks like on average 4 graduates a year (out of a typical class of 115) get into an Ivy. Yea, that's worth $45k.

yup and I'll bet on average 2-3 of those are girl's lax players.

I cannot believe I’m on here correcting this because the attacks on St Stephens college list are so ridiculous, BUT…

Around 5% of the graduating class (looking at last 5 years) goes to an Ivy, Stanford, or MIT
Around 10% goes to Williams, Georgetown, John’s Hopkins, and similar top private schools
Around 20-25% goes to UVA, William and Mary, or other top public schools
The rest go to a mix of solid colleges and universities.

No one is going to argue that this compares to Sidwell, where something like 18% of kids go to an Ivy. But not all of us want an academically intense experience for our kids. And of course St Stephens sends more kids to top colleges than a local public school, mostly because the population of kids is richer.

? I looked at the matriculation a few years ago and it was nowhere near that. Are you sure you’re not confusing acceptances? They seem to publish that bc it’s the same lax girls getting accepted at multiple schools before commuting if they didn’t commit in 11th and the school always seems to have about 2 kids who get accepted into several good schools. Otherwise we found the college acceptances to be very weak. We didn’t base our decision on that, but it played a role in us sending our kids elsewhere, even though we live in Alexandria

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:“ My DD and her friends from their Catholic parochial K-8 are really excited to apply to Ireton, PVI and O'Connell for next year. But I know we would never apply to SSSAS and we live close by, “

You live near SSSAS and are applying to PVI? Isn’t that in Loudon County or something?

Yup, it's an option we're looking at. Ireton will probably be her 1st choice because of their art and music programs but if for some reason PVI is where she ends up wanting to go after her shadow day, we'd probably move out there since her current school location is the last thing keeping us close in. It would be a win-win for the rest of the family.

This makes sense. Good luck!

OMG! Between PVI and Ireton pick the closest. Those schools are not close and traffic is a nightmare. They are equivalent.

Alexandria to PVI commute makes my head hurt just thinking about it.

well after you get past 28 you will be going against the traffic

I plugged it into GPS this morning out of curiosity and it was a one hour ride. No thanks!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:“ My DD and her friends from their Catholic parochial K-8 are really excited to apply to Ireton, PVI and O'Connell for next year. But I know we would never apply to SSSAS and we live close by, “

You live near SSSAS and are applying to PVI? Isn’t that in Loudon County or something?

Yup, it's an option we're looking at. Ireton will probably be her 1st choice because of their art and music programs but if for some reason PVI is where she ends up wanting to go after her shadow day, we'd probably move out there since her current school location is the last thing keeping us close in. It would be a win-win for the rest of the family.

This makes sense. Good luck!

OMG! Between PVI and Ireton pick the closest. Those schools are not close and traffic is a nightmare. They are equivalent.

Alexandria to PVI commute makes my head hurt just thinking about it.

well after you get past 28 you will be going against the traffic

I plugged it into GPS this morning out of curiosity and it was a one hour ride. No thanks!

Goodness, I'm the one who mentioned PVI to begin with and also said we would move out there if we needed to, because yes that commute would be crazy. But sure, some people in this area do end up traveling long distances for private schools. There just aren't a lot them to choose from.

Sorry your thread went off-topic, OP. Good luck with your choice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:SSSAS is second tier private at best. Ireton is better.

NP. Looking at both because we don’t want to drive into DC for school. Why is BI better? Honestly, I thought they are both considered second tier?

What I mean here is that SSSAS has a reputation as one of the least academically rigorous and least prestigious of the independent schools in the DMV. It's for rich families in Arlington/Alexandria who aren't Catholic and whose kids can't get into the "real" private schools in this area but feel the need to escape public schools. Ireton is different; it's a Catholic school for Catholic families interested in Catholic education. It has a mission. SSSAS doesn't, or at least not a good one.

this is exactly what we were told by a SSSAS family. Academics are subpar @ SSSAS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have a spouse who teaches at BI and the staff there is very dissatisfied. The Catholicism is a huge part of things each day, naturally. They take a big group to the Right to Life March each year and many are Trump supporters. SSSA is equal in terms of academics and more laid back. I would never send my kid to BI.

My kid got into BI w/ a scholarship & decided to go to Gonzaga. So glad he made that decision!

[Anonymous]

Let’s say my DC is high achieving. If the end goal is UVA, where should by DC attend: BI, SSSAS or West Potomac?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
I have a spouse who teaches at BI and the staff there is very dissatisfied. The Catholicism is a huge part of things each day, naturally. They take a big group to the Right to Life March each year and many are Trump supporters. SSSA is equal in terms of academics and more laid back. I would never send my kid to BI.


My kid got into BI w/ a scholarship & decided to go to Gonzaga. So glad he made that decision!

I find these posts maddening.

If your spouse isn’t happy, why stay. There are open positions everywhere in education. We have friends at BI that, like every Catholic school, AND every private in this area, are Rs and Ds. Honestly, if that is how your teacher spouse interprets or defines her students, s/he should move along.

We are Catholic school family in Alexandria and my DC are elsewhere also, but BI is a great option. I have no idea how it compares to SSSA. I know families there that seem happy also.

DSs go to Gonzaga also, but I would be happy to support BI. There are other boys who got into Gonzaga but with the scholarship to BI, opted for that option. Why trash schools that your kids don’t attend? PP, it is not Jesuit way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:SSSAS is second tier private at best. Ireton is better.

NP. Looking at both because we don’t want to drive into DC for school. Why is BI better? Honestly, I thought they are both considered second tier?

What I mean here is that SSSAS has a reputation as one of the least academically rigorous and least prestigious of the independent schools in the DMV. It's for rich families in Arlington/Alexandria who aren't Catholic and whose kids can't get into the "real" private schools in this area but feel the need to escape public schools. Ireton is different; it's a Catholic school for Catholic families interested in Catholic education. It has a mission. SSSAS doesn't, or at least not a good one.

this is exactly what we were told by a SSSAS family. Academics are subpar @ SSSAS.

Totally ridiculous. Anyone considering these schools needs to speak to current families. SSSAS has a very clear mission - goodness as well as knowledge, which means academics are important but not the only thing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
I have a spouse who teaches at BI and the staff there is very dissatisfied. The Catholicism is a huge part of things each day, naturally. They take a big group to the Right to Life March each year and many are Trump supporters. SSSA is equal in terms of academics and more laid back. I would never send my kid to BI.


My kid got into BI w/ a scholarship & decided to go to Gonzaga. So glad he made that decision!

I find these posts maddening.

If your spouse isn’t happy, why stay. There are open positions everywhere in education. We have friends at BI that, like every Catholic school, AND every private in this area, are Rs and Ds. Honestly, if that is how your teacher spouse interprets or defines her students, s/he should move along.

We are Catholic school family in Alexandria and my DC are elsewhere also, but BI is a great option. I have no idea how it compares to SSSA. I know families there that seem happy also.

DSs go to Gonzaga also, but I would be happy to support BI. There are other boys who got into Gonzaga but with the scholarship to BI, opted for that option. Why trash schools that your kids don’t attend? PP, it is not Jesuit way.

+1 Thank you for this. My kids also attend a different school, but I know MANY families that are happy at SSSAS and BI. We are lucky there are many options around for everyone. Why are people talking poorly about a school they don’t even send their kids to? Be kind, DCUM

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Let’s say my DC is high achieving. If the end goal is UVA, where should by DC attend: BI, SSSAS or West Potomac?

Not enough information. Does DC have any special interests? Are you content with 30+ kids per class room?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Let’s say my DC is high achieving. If the end goal is UVA, where should by DC attend: BI, SSSAS or West Potomac?

Not enough information. Does DC have any special interests? Are you content with 30+ kids per class room?

Yeah, not enough information at all. Also, I don't think you should choose a school based on an "end goal" of XY university. It just doesn't work that way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have friends who went to SSSA starting in 9th. They said it was very hard to get into a friend group. Many of these kids have been together through yes and MS. Other than that I have heard great things about both schools.

Definitely something to consider, but they add a decent number in 9th so 2/3 of the incoming class are new to the school. Are a lot of incoming BI students peers from local Catholic k-8 schools like St. Mary’s?

I'm sure this varies by individual, but my son and daughter both started at SSSAS in 9th and the transition could not have gone better. The four-day orientation that SSSAS for new students only eases things, and it definitely helps to play a fall sport.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Looks like on average 4 graduates a year (out of a typical class of 115) get into an Ivy. Yea, that's worth $45k.

yup and I'll bet on average 2-3 of those are girl's lax players.

I cannot believe I’m on here correcting this because the attacks on St Stephens college list are so ridiculous, BUT…

Around 5% of the graduating class (looking at last 5 years) goes to an Ivy, Stanford, or MIT
Around 10% goes to Williams, Georgetown, John’s Hopkins, and similar top private schools
Around 20-25% goes to UVA, William and Mary, or other top public schools
The rest go to a mix of solid colleges and universities.

No one is going to argue that this compares to Sidwell, where something like 18% of kids go to an Ivy. But not all of us want an academically intense experience for our kids. And of course St Stephens sends more kids to top colleges than a local public school, mostly because the population of kids is richer.

? I looked at the matriculation a few years ago and it was nowhere near that. Are you sure you’re not confusing acceptances? They seem to publish that bc it’s the same lax girls getting accepted at multiple schools before commuting if they didn’t commit in 11th and the school always seems to have about 2 kids who get accepted into several good schools. Otherwise we found the college acceptances to be very weak. We didn’t base our decision on that, but it played a role in us sending our kids elsewhere, even though we live in Alexandria

Definitely not confusing acceptances - what's on their website is a list of the schools kids have attended in the last 5 years. I know there have been some years that have been much rougher than others (for nearly everyone!) so I think a 5 year list is more representative.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:SSSAS is second tier private at best. Ireton is better.

NP. Looking at both because we don’t want to drive into DC for school. Why is BI better? Honestly, I thought they are both considered second tier?

What I mean here is that SSSAS has a reputation as one of the least academically rigorous and least prestigious of the independent schools in the DMV. It's for rich families in Arlington/Alexandria who aren't Catholic and whose kids can't get into the "real" private schools in this area but feel the need to escape public schools. Ireton is different; it's a Catholic school for Catholic families interested in Catholic education. It has a mission. SSSAS doesn't, or at least not a good one.

this is exactly what we were told by a SSSAS family. Academics are subpar @ SSSAS.

Totally ridiculous. Anyone considering these schools needs to speak to current families. SSSAS has a very clear mission - goodness as well as knowledge, which means academics are important but not the only thing.

I've had kids at multiple private high schools, including a junior at SSSAS. Like just about all of them, SSSAS can be challenging if the student wants to be challenged. There is a limit on the number of APs you can take, which isn't a bad thing, and my son has been able to compile a challenging curriculum filled with AP and Honors classes.