Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:STA handled the pandemic far better than Sidwell.

Indeed, not even close.

Unless you expect to have another, different pandemic next year, both schools will be fully in person this spring and presumably next fall.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Even without a shadow day, I'm surprised he doesn't have an opinion between all boys and coat-and-tie formality vs coed and less formality.

That’s a pretty superficial basis, but I guess if you don’t have a child at STA or NCS you wouldn’t have more to say than that

What do you think the major differences are?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Even without a shadow day, I'm surprised he doesn't have an opinion between all boys and coat-and-tie formality vs coed and less formality.

That’s a pretty superficial basis, but I guess if you don’t have a child at STA or NCS you wouldn’t have more to say than that

What do you think the major differences are?

OK, here’s a few:

Saint Albans has a culture of being unapologetically- high standards with swift enforcement: class prefects vote on disciplinary cases, vestry members address their peers on moral topics in chapel - beginning in ? Late MS/ HS ( basically weekly public speaking on deeply felt topics to 150 plus service of your peeers, the administration and your teachers . They volunteer for this . Participation in , dedication towards and, yes, competition in a sport each season is mandatory- because the school places a high value on developing perseverance, sportsmanship and team work

100 hours of Arts classes/ Theatre are required to graduate as are 60 hrs of community service

There is a Prize Day with awards and, no , everyone doesn’t get one and that’s more than OK. At the same time self deprecating is expected and grade begging shame inducing - and a firm no go zone for any parent

Sidwell:

Community meeting is meditation in silence, sports participation is completely optional and there are no academic awards at all

Oh yeah, and each class is evenly split by gender as opposed to just mixing with girls in honors Classes or theatre and some sports on the STA/ NCS campus

Sidwell claims open mindedness, free thinking “ embracing all “ , but is more monolithic Dem elite

Saint Albans parent community might actually have 15 percent Romney type Republicans- so real diverse with students expected to be able to form a debate argument independent of their own personal views

Being Sophomoric is looked down upon

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Even without a shadow day, I'm surprised he doesn't have an opinion between all boys and coat-and-tie formality vs coed and less formality.

That’s a pretty superficial basis, but I guess if you don’t have a child at STA or NCS you wouldn’t have more to say than that

What do you think the major differences are?

OK, here’s a few:

Saint Albans has a culture of being unapologetically- high standards with swift enforcement: class prefects vote on disciplinary cases, vestry members address their peers on moral topics in chapel - beginning in ? Late MS/ HS ( basically weekly public speaking on deeply felt topics to 150 plus service of your peeers, the administration and your teachers . They volunteer for this . Participation in , dedication towards and, yes, competition in a sport each season is mandatory- because the school places a high value on developing perseverance, sportsmanship and team work

100 hours of Arts classes/ Theatre are required to graduate as are 60 hrs of community service

There is a Prize Day with awards and, no , everyone doesn’t get one and that’s more than OK. At the same time self deprecating is expected and grade begging shame inducing - and a firm no go zone for any parent

Sidwell:

Community meeting is meditation in silence, sports participation is completely optional and there are no academic awards at all you skipped over the corresponding Honor Committee, which is student run and handles any disciplinary matters, you forgot the high standards at the school and you forgot the part about student and moral topics that happen at meeting for worship which can be silent meditation but can also end up being a town meeting

Oh yeah, and each class is evenly split by gender as opposed to just mixing with girls in honors Classes or theatre and some sports on the STA/ NCS campus

Sidwell claims open mindedness, free thinking “ embracing all “ , but is more monolithic Dem elite there are plenty of conservative families at Sidwell, but not Trumpy families

Saint Albans parent community might actually have 15 percent Romney type Republicans- so real diverse with students expected to be able to form a debate argument independent of their own personal views

Being Sophomoric is looked down upon

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:STA handled the pandemic far better than Sidwell.

Indeed, not even close.

Elaborate?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sidwell or STA for overall quality of experience and quality of life? Kid is smart, funny, kind and sporty but not a D1 recruit-to-be. Wants a great high school experience.

Very different communities. The parents and kids are very different. A family that is happy at one would not necessarily be happy at the other. There are threads on here about the communities and their differences and similarities.

To be fair, we’ve read posts comparing the two, and one thing that is often said is “the same kinds of kids go to both.” In fact, that might actually be a quote from one of the posts in the comparison threads, and it gets a lot of +‘s.

Big difference between the two. STA is far more conservative than Sidwell. Sidwell has to be one of the most liberal schools in the DC area that embraces diversity, social activism, and LGBTQ. You don't see the same at STA.

Sidwell's liberalness is overblown. Is it a place that is comfortable hiring, retaining and making Black/LGBTQ people feel welcome? Yes. Representation matters at Sidwell, but it is not otherwise a "left wing" school. In fact, it is a little conservative in that New England yankee way. If you want a school that promotes social activism, that is GDS.

To analogize these schools to Ivies, StA/NCS is Princeton, Sidwell is Yale and GDS is Brown.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sidwell or STA for overall quality of experience and quality of life? Kid is smart, funny, kind and sporty but not a D1 recruit-to-be. Wants a great high school experience.

Very different communities. The parents and kids are very different. A family that is happy at one would not necessarily be happy at the other. There are threads on here about the communities and their differences and similarities.

To be fair, we’ve read posts comparing the two, and one thing that is often said is “the same kinds of kids go to both.” In fact, that might actually be a quote from one of the posts in the comparison threads, and it gets a lot of +‘s.

Big difference between the two. STA is far more conservative than Sidwell. Sidwell has to be one of the most liberal schools in the DC area that embraces diversity, social activism, and LGBTQ. You don't see the same at STA.

Sidwell's liberalness is overblown. Is it a place that is comfortable hiring, retaining and making Black/LGBTQ people feel welcome? Yes. Representation matters at Sidwell, but it is not otherwise a "left wing" school. In fact, it is a little conservative in that New England yankee way. If you want a school that promotes social activism, that is GDS.

To analogize these schools to Ivies, StA/NCS is Princeton, Sidwell is Yale and GDS is Brown.

Nice try, but the analogy just doesn't work. StA/NCS is more like Dartmouth. Sidwell is closer to Brown. GDS is not in the Ivy league.

Anonymous wrote:The comparison PP has so many things flat wrong about Sidwell that I question their sincerity. For example, if you’re an actual Sidwell parent, you know full well that sports are not optional and that there are no gender quotas on classes. Take all such descriptions with some salt in admissions season.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The comparison PP has so many things flat wrong about Sidwell that I question their sincerity. For example, if you’re an actual Sidwell parent, you know full well that sports are not optional and that there are no gender quotas on classes. Take all such descriptions with some salt in admissions season.

Reread PP's post, and I don't see anything about optional sports or gender quotas. PP discusses college counseling, political discussion, viewpoint diversity, approach to rigor/attitudes about rigor, chapels...literally nothing about the two things you said. It's only 2 or 3 posts up. you should read it for yourself....

Anonymous wrote:I have children at both.

My daughter attends Sidwell, boys attend STA.

Admin at STA is night and day stronger than at Sidwell. Sidwell's HOS is very focused on prestige and influence, and gives preferential treatment to the well-connected. So much for Quaker values.

STA boys are encouraged to be supportive of one another, character education is integrated into the curriculum, chapel services where boys lead and speak encourage them to think about values. Sidwell does character education, too, but it seems more focused on wokeness.

Both schools have bright, intense students. Both are high pressure, but STA has more moderating elements. Faculty are very engaged and caring at STA; they are invested in the success of every student. Sidwell teachers on the whole seem more detached. At Sidwell if a child needs help, it's their job to reach out to the teachers. At STA if a child needs help, the teacher might reach out to the child.

Sidwell students are supportive but they almost seem to glorify suffering and try to outdo each other in all-nighters and other all-out efforts to achieve. STA has highly competitive kids, too, but you're not supposed to show the sweat. The boys are expected to be self-deprecating about achievements and to help others. Bragging about grades is a no-no. Everyone excels in something and they are encouraged to appreciate each others' strengths.

There are some very conservative families at STA. There are some very woke families at Sidwell. The conservative families at STA are quiet about it. The woke families at Sidwell are very loud about it.

Both communities have many normal people who are welcoming. On the whole, politics and wokeness is less in-your-face at STA, because there's an effort to build community across political beliefs, which is not as true at Sidwell. There is more diversity of thought at STA, because there are few conservative families at Sidwell. I'm not sure how comfortable they are at STA either, as the majority of the school despite rumors to the contrary skews moderate and liberal. However, there is a careful restraint at STA around politics, with the exception of a few people on both sides.

College counseling is 1000X better at STA. Read some of the past threads on the DCUM issues with college counseling at Sidwell. It would never have been allowed to deteriorate to that extent at STA, because the school is better managed and the morale among faculty/admin is higher. I've heard STA teachers are the best paid among private schools in the DC area. Most of the teachers seem genuinely happy and that's reflected in their work with the students.

Both schools are excellent schools. As a parent I'm happier with STA. IMO it's better in terms of overall student experience, parent community, and administrative stability and strength. If you send your child to Sidwell, hire a private admissions counselor as soon as your child enters 9th grade.

Anonymous wrote:I have children at both.

My daughter attends Sidwell, boys attend STA.

Admin at STA is night and day stronger than at Sidwell. Sidwell's HOS is very focused on prestige and influence, and gives preferential treatment to the well-connected. So much for Quaker values.

STA boys are encouraged to be supportive of one another, character education is integrated into the curriculum, chapel services where boys lead and speak encourage them to think about values. Sidwell does character education, too, but it seems more focused on wokeness.

Both schools have bright, intense students. Both are high pressure, but STA has more moderating elements. Faculty are very engaged and caring at STA; they are invested in the success of every student. Sidwell teachers on the whole seem more detached. At Sidwell if a child needs help, it's their job to reach out to the teachers. At STA if a child needs help, the teacher might reach out to the child.

Sidwell students are supportive but they almost seem to glorify suffering and try to outdo each other in all-nighters and other all-out efforts to achieve. STA has highly competitive kids, too, but you're not supposed to show the sweat. The boys are expected to be self-deprecating about achievements and to help others. Bragging about grades is a no-no. Everyone excels in something and they are encouraged to appreciate each others' strengths.

There are some very conservative families at STA. There are some very woke families at Sidwell. The conservative families at STA are quiet about it. The woke families at Sidwell are very loud about it.

Both communities have many normal people who are welcoming. On the whole, politics and wokeness is less in-your-face at STA, because there's an effort to build community across political beliefs, which is not as true at Sidwell. There is more diversity of thought at STA, because there are few conservative families at Sidwell. I'm not sure how comfortable they are at STA either, as the majority of the school despite rumors to the contrary skews moderate and liberal. However, there is a careful restraint at STA around politics, with the exception of a few people on both sides.

College counseling is 1000X better at STA. Read some of the past threads on the DCUM issues with college counseling at Sidwell. It would never have been allowed to deteriorate to that extent at STA, because the school is better managed and the morale among faculty/admin is higher. I've heard STA teachers are the best paid among private schools in the DC area. Most of the teachers seem genuinely happy and that's reflected in their work with the students.

Both schools are excellent schools. As a parent I'm happier with STA. IMO it's better in terms of overall student experience, parent community, and administrative stability and strength. If you send your child to Sidwell, hire a private admissions counselor as soon as your child enters 9th grade.

Anonymous wrote:We have two sons, one who went to Sidwell and the other went to STA (more than a handful of years ago). My oldest went to Sidwell and responded well to the community. While there are many students who are hyper-competitive (as there are at all schools), my kid was a little more laidback, but definitely engaged and a bit of a smart ass (in the best way possible). He enjoyed going to a coed school and made many friendships with people of all genders. My youngest went to STA and enjoyed it also. Like at Sidwell, academics at STA are great. However, as a mother, I did not like some of the attitudes my youngest son learned about women at STA. Although there are many nice students at the school, there is a culture of misogyny there. When Obama first ran for the Democratic presidential nominee, many of my son's friends used to joke around with each other by saying "bros before hoes" (is that how you spell the plural, or is that just for the gardening implement?). I was glad when my son was able to take a class at NCS so he had some exposure to girls in the classroom. I am very feminist-identified, so hearing my son tell me some of the horrible things he heard go around the school disappointed me. I think that the new head is trying to change the culture, but I also have read and heard (on this site and among alums) that the school has its fair share of Trump-identified people (I won't dare call them Republicans). This is just my family's experience, and I know that YMMV, but I wanted to share our story. Good luck!