Reply to St. Andrew's Questions

Forum Index » Private & Independent Schools

Reply to "St. Andrew's Questions"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous]   Current upper school parent -- will take a stab at each of the questions from 13:17 through 16:37.

1.   Integration of the new and old kids generally goes very well.   Our DC''s transition to St. Andrew's was surprisingly smooth from Day 1, and that is much more typical than not.   Obviously, the more things a student is involved in the quicker it goes - kids who play a fall sport actually sometimes meet new classmates during late August practices before school starts in 9th grade.  Kids in band, etc. connect with each other on that level outside of academic classes early in the school year.  The musical (discussed below) in the second trimester is a great way to solidify one's integration into the class, and the school organizes other activities each year (I believe early in the year but don't recall details) to build class spirit.  We have always been pleased that the St. Andrew's culture seems to promote a cohesive -- not divisive -- class.

2)   My DC isnt' a singer, but I have heard the chorus  perform on performing arts night and the high school a cappella group at homecoming -- both very impressive.  The upper school puts on a musical every year -- a very big deal -- and a very significant number of students participate in it -- either as performers, musicians, set builders or the tech crew.  The performing arts generally are alive and well at the school.  Last year, we had a few seniors attend some very strong colleges to follow those passions (Eastman school of music, Oberlin conservatory, etc.) and I know several keep singing and doing musical theatre in college while majoring in non-artsy subjects.  For more details thought, need a more knowledgeable parent to weigh in.

3) Lacrosse.  Lacrosse has ramped up some.  I have talked to students who were on the team both before and after the new coach arrived they are really positive on him -- a real coach/teacher type of guy.    St. Andrew's is feeling its way through a bit in other sports.  On the one hand, many families like the fact that it is not an over-the-top sports-centric school and that a good student who likes to play historically could get much more playing time there than at a big public school or the elite Catholic sports schools.  On the other hand, there are some who feel they want more competitive teams because everyone who plays prefers to win more than not and they have pushed some sports in that direction (e.g. basketball).  In some other sports (golf, cross country, etc.) the school has been historically pretty strong without making any changes in its practices.  I think girls soccer has picked up quite a bit recently.  So the answer depends on which sport you're talking about and what one's starting perspective is on the sports issues.   Kids who don't play sports at all or who don't play well, have no problem fitting in at St. Andrew's side by side with the kids who win individual or team sports awards at the league or state-wide level.

Hope that helps.       [/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics