Reply to SSSAS - what is the culture like currently?

Forum Index » Private & Independent Schools

Reply to "SSSAS - what is the culture like currently?"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous]An inclusive school where most of the students can afford to take an international beach week vacation. I wonder how the financial aid families feel about that.

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Regarding BI vs SSSAS, if 35K extra a year is going to mean the difference between taking out loans for college or not, and you don’t qualify for aid, I’d say yeah consider BI. But that really doesn’t make BI “better” and in fact
I think it’s not hard to argue that SSSAS is obviously “better” in terms of facilities and opportunities.

I know BI is a natural comparison to SSSAS because they’re both in Alexandria, but many of the families at the lower school didn’t necessarily start in Alexandria (and for obvious reasons didn’t look at BI, which starts in 9th). They looked at least casually at lots of schools in the DC area (in the 50K range that independent schools here cost) because they were willing to move to be near a school community. There are also a number of families who came from (to name a few I know personally) Beauvoir and NCS/STA, Potomac, St Pats, and Langley. So despite those who would argue otherwise, the natural comparison for most families is other independent schools in DC, not Alexandria Catholic or public schools.

It goes without saying that the independent schools I listed above (along with others like Sidwell) are fabulous schools. Some are probably more challenging than St Stephen’s because they primarily have highly intelligent and hard working kids whereas St Stephen’s has a real variety of students with different interests and abilities. Some have better facilities (like Potomac!) because they have more families happy to donate millions. Some (like the Cathedral schools) might be better for those who want to live in the district.

But what St Stephen’s has, I think, is a unique blend of rigor (not the most rigorous for all kids all the time but certainly enough for top notch performers), support (why it’s often identified as not being a pressure cooker), community (the size and scale of Alexandria City contributes to this I think), athletics (all kids participate and the school is small enough that all kids CAN participate, even if that means they aren’t the “best” at every sport), and tradition and history (an extremely active alumni community, lots of enduring traditions that builds bonds etc).

So if rigor were my sole criterion perhaps we would have sent our kids to Sidwell or a Cathedral school; if sports were all I cared about maybe Gonzaga or Visi would be a top pick; if community were the only thing I needed I’d probably be happy with a solid Montessori school for the lower grades and a Falls Church City or Bethesda public high school. If prestige were all I cared about frankly I should have moved to NYC, because no one outside DC cares about DC schools (yes, even Sidwell).

[b]But St Stephen’s is like the Goldilocks of DC schools. Enough rigor if my kid is ready for it; enough support if she needs it. Athletics for when my kid is in a sporty stage but a solid arts scene for when he suddenly wants to do musical theater. Community for me and my partner; tradition for when the kids are grown. 
[/b]
Plus, Alexandria is an awesome place to live. And perhaps the parent community at St Stephen’s is not as down to earth as public school parents (or so I hear) but they are SO much more down to earth than many of the aforementioned independent schools in DC (and I speak from experience).

Anyway we all just want the right fit for our kid and our family, and that means we’ll all want different things. But my family, and those of many of my friends, are extremely happy with the mix of rigor, support, community etc that St Stephen’s provides. [/quote]

I have a senior at SSSAS and the bolded part is spot on and very well said.  My son started in middle school and has had an overall really great experience.  The senior class is especially close, supportive and appreciative of each other. Their beach week is in the Dominican Republic next week and 85% of the class is going (along with more than 50 parents).

The kids are smart and they care about school without being overly competitive.  Teachers are always available for extra help and there is a dedicated STAT (student teacher appointment time) each day which really normalizes going to see your teachers.  (They start this in MS.) While my sons extracurricular activities lean more towards athletics and he will be playing a sport in college, but he has friends in his class that have all types of interests.

The parents in our class are also really great.  Everyone is friendly, down to earth and inclusive.

Saturday (graduation) will be hard for all of us. [/quote]
[/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