Reply to Most down-to-Earth school community

Forum Index » Private & Independent Schools

Reply to "Most down-to-Earth school community"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I recommend Sandy Spring Friends School.[/quote]

Friends say academics there aren't necessarily high level. Yes, laid back - it's all about the laid back. It's also wickedly expensive [/quote]

Friends saying academics aren't at a high level isn't really reliable information. I've had three kids graduate from SSFS and it's like any school - the opportunities are presented to the kids and they can take advantage of them if they want to. My coworkers, friends, and family all put down different area private schools and I find it interesting the people who are putting the schools down can't afford them. [/quote]

Friends relative works at the school and friend loves the school. But for a child with some advanced skills she isn't getting the instruction or flexibility at that school. It's an issue for her.
For her other kids and in other subjects it's fine.

Many people have happily graduated from the school but that doesn't mean it's right for everyone[/quote]

SSFS wasn't initially on our radar because of some of the negative comments I had read in the archives----what a mistake that was!  I'm the earlier poster who said that I wish we had considered it sooner---and I want to help set the record straight in case others rely too heavily on outdated DCUM information or hearsay.  No school is the right fit for everyone----a hard lesson that we learned at our child's previous school(s), where other children may have excelled but our child suffered.  We have a pretty bright (98th percentile WISC-IV) but somewhat unmotivated learner.  SSFS is the first school to really hold our child accountable (and to have a learning specialist on staff to address both the giftedness AND the learning challenges).  Our solidly middle class family really has to scrimp and save to pay the school tuition----but it's no higher than many of the other DC metro independents---in fact, it's on the lower end of the schools we considered (SSFS is $27.5K for middle school and $30.5K for high school).  My child was slipping through the cracks (academically and emotionally) in the previous public and independent school environments.  Now I'm much more optimistic that our child is back on track toward eventual college acceptance---and that SSFS will help our child find the best fit in terms of colleges---even if that's not HYP (though they certainly send students to these schools).  More importantly, we have watched our child's self-esteem flourish, surrounded by very devoted/accepting teachers and a kind student/parent community---which wasn't our experience in other schools.  It's a very special but pretty unassuming place---in keeping with the Quaker tradition.  To us, it feels like they're more devoted to their mission than to establishing a "prestigious" reputation---and that's what makes it one of this area's best kept secrets.  [/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