Reply to St. Andrews: Don't Buy The "Happy Kids" Marketing

Forum Index » Private & Independent Schools

Reply to "St. Andrews: Don't Buy The "Happy Kids" Marketing"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous]Our children have attended three different K-12 independent schools in the area, and I agree completely that parents of prospective students should look beyond the marketing efforts that all independent schools engage in.  So, in addition to viewing websites and attending open house events, it's a good idea to talk to parents of currently-enrolled students and alumni.  In that vein, I can offer my perspective as a parent of a current St. Andrew's student.  Our daughter entered St. Andrew's in middle school and is now in the upper school, so I can't comment at all on the lower school, but we've been very pleased with the middle school and upper school.

Overall, we have been impressed by the quality and creativity of teaching at St. Andrew's.  Our daughter's teachers have encouraged her to stretch and challenge herself.  As a result, she has grown as a student, taking intellectual risks, developing strong academic skills, and becoming ever more confident in her ability to learn and meet her goals.  We have found the vast majority of teachers, coaches and administrators to be friendly and warm in their manner, both toward students and parents.

Outside the classroom, the social vibe in the middle and upper school tends to be pretty much one of coexistence, rather than cliquishness or competitiveness.  For our daughter,  this works,  Since entering the middle school, she has made a really nice and supportive group of friends.  In addition, she plays two varsity sports and enjoys the camaraderie among her teammates.

St. Andrew's is traditional in some ways, though, in fairness it should be noted that the school doesn't hide these aspects at all.  Most notably, there is a dress code, which wasn't really a draw for our family, but neither is it something we have found to be intrusive or oppressive.  There is also weekly chapel, which is grounded in the Episcopal church's strong value of inclusiveness and love for all our neighbors.

I'm not one to gush -- I feel like superlatives are often overused when parents talk about schools, so I won't say St. Andrew's is amazing or fabulous or wonderful, but I will say that our daughter is happy at St. Andrew's -- and that means a lot to us.

[/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