Reply to SSSAS - what is the culture like currently?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]My daughter’s experience joining in middle school: if you are not from the same wealthy area of Alexandria and a Belle Haven member, your child will have a tough time becoming a member of the school community. It is not impossible, but the value system of many of the kids and their parents is pretty messed up. [/quote]

This checks out. I think there’s an effort for more types of kids and backgrounds but at $55,000/year ultimately the culture is very privileged and country club. [/quote]

Oddly, I don't know one family amongst my kid's friends who belong to a country club. I'm sure they're there but they're hardly pervasive.[/quote]

My child is in K, and we've met quite a few Belle Haven members. You have to listen for what they aren't saying, though, because Belle Haven seems to have this unwritten rule about actually referring to it in public. Most will simply call it the pool during the summer and discuss specific events they went to otherwise. It's an odd little quirk, but I have rarely heard members say anything about the club or mention it by name. [/quote]

People say “the pool” because it’s less obnoxious than saying “the club”. Most kids at SSSAS belong to a pool. Whether it’s Belle Haven, Army Navy, or one of the many community pools that cost a few hundred a summer. So saying “the pool” is a way of being more inclusive.

And for the record we belong to a community pool and I’ve never, not once, felt judged (or even left out!) by families that belong to another pool club like Belle Haven.[/quote]

The pool at Belle Haven isn’t even that nice or fancy. At all. And you hear constant Rt 1, Ft Hunt and Beltway traffic. It’s not the flex people think it is. [/quote]

I don’t know that people think it’s a flex (or at least they shouldn’t). Many of the wealthiest families at the school don’t belong to any country club, probably because they either have a pool or spend the summer elsewhere. And Army Navy has reduced and reasonable fees for many levels of military and government, so there are solidly not rich families (like, officer spouse and fed) who attend that club. It’s just not the class divide that some posters here act like.[/quote]
Not sure what pools have to do with this topic, but it comes down to whether or not SSSAS is worth $55K.  It seems like the answer is a definite no.  [/quote]

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