Culture of St. Anselm’s Abbey school?
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Anonymous
| Interested in first hand experience about SAAS. |
Anonymous
| So many threads about this arleady just do a search OP . |
Anonymous
| Read on another thread that this school is for gifted boys. Is this correct? |
Anonymous
While there are undoubtedly gifted boys at SAAS, our DS goes there and we would not say he is gifted. Very bright, hard-working, loves learning, and intellectually curious is how I would describe him and many of his classmates. The school is a wonderful environment for smart boys who want to put in the hard work to succeed at SAAS. But for all the academic rigor, the school is not a pressure cooker, the school encourages fun, and there's lots of support. |
Anonymous
"Gifted" is a loaded term. SAAS administers admissions tests (the OLSAT and SCAT) that are quite different from the SSAT/HSPT that most private schools use in that they are more abstract and harder to prepare for. I don't konw what score they look for, but I think it is more about whether they think your DS is a good fit and can handle the rigor, with or without the gifted label. I think there is general consensus that the academics at SAAS are more rigorous than the other all-boys Catholic schools (e.g., Prep, Gonzaga and Heights) in that all classes are at least honors level and many are AP. It's also much smaller (about 40 per graduating class) so you probably get more homogeneity in terms of academic abilities ranges. That said, by all accounts it not a pressure-cooker, cutthroat atmosphere, and the boys there seem to be very bright and welcoming, if somewhat more inclined to march to the beat of their own drum. |
Anonymous
I have a son there. It is not a school only for gifted boys -- although there are some gifted boys enrolled there. Average SAT at SAAS is 1400 which is 95% and is very similar to the average SAT at other "rigorous" DMV private schools often discussed on this forum. |
Anonymous
| Would SAAS be a match for a very bright and curious boy but has (nondisruptive) ADHD. This mostly presents via executive functioning, slower speed on some tasks - but very high performing in work product. It might affect standardized testing but not sure yet as hasn't been exposed in almost 2 years due to COVID. (So far does well in regular class tests at school.) |
Anonymous
| Another thread mentioned how the counselor is not responsive and how students have to be fast processors to keep up with the rigor. But at the end of the day if you wanna give it a shot, go ahead. |
Anonymous
I’d call the school and ask. They will be straight with you and are not interested in collecting application fees just for fun. Lots of boys that age have EF issues and the study skills is part of what they instill there. |
Anonymous
| Honestly do you think a school will be able to tell you they will not be able to support your kid when they know they can easily get 30k a year from you in this era of diversity and inclusion? All private schools, whether parochial or not are run like businesses these days... sorry to say. |
Anonymous
What is this supposed to mean? I'm genuinely confused about how these things connect. Besides, even if we accept that private schools are businesses, they have an incentive to only accept kids who will be successful. They need to keep their average SAT and college admissions scores high enough to justify that tuition. |
Anonymous
| Isn’t SAT optional these days |
Anonymous
This is such a weird (and really negative) reply. I have an older child who doesn't have these issues and I am CERTAIN that there are plenty of highly competitive DMV schools that would not be a good match for this sort of student. Having gone through placement with the older child and knowing their classmates that have some hurdles and/or might need support - it was my experience that the competitive schools are up front in saying they don't provide support or accommodations (kid needs to work it out) and/or would just not accept the student. There are plenty of families to pay full tuition whose kids don't need support. |
Anonymous
| Unless your child has already been in a competitive middle school, I would be reluctant to send a child with executive function weakness to a tougher high school like SAAS. The workload at SAAS is challenging with a lot of memorization and short answer work every day. If he’s a better project kid, then look for that type of high school. |
Anonymous
| This! |