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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]PP, where do you plan to send your A student for a more academically rigorous environment than St. Albans for high school?  That is what I am looking for for my A student son, as well (who is not at STA, but we were considering applying).  Getting so many mixed messages here about St. Albans.  Academically rigorous does not equal tons of homework.  That just breaks a kid's spirit.  I'm looking for a school that asks the kids to do a lot of writing, creative, independent, ciritical thinking -- work that encourages the kids to make the material their own rather than to memorize facts for tests and then promptly forget them.  Please share if you have selected another school for your son.  Thanks.[/quote]

Here's some food for thought from another thread:

[quote=Anonymous]As an alum, I can say STA is a great school, but it has some drawbacks as well.  A number of the teachers are hired first as coaches and then placed as teachers - often in 6-9th grade.   Their teaching ability is sometimes less than impressive.  The school also benefits from a "good in - good out" situation where bright kids getting in do well when they leave thereby enhancing the school's reputation.  (Think Thomas Jefferson in Fairfax County, a Public School that has higher SAT scores than St. Albans and is FREE).  If your son is in the top 20 percent of his STA class, the school will provide him some great benefits.   If not, be careful.  Finally, many of my friends complained that while they were well prepared academically for college, they were surprised at how many of their classmates from public school were as well.  We were told too often that we were "the best and the brightest" and some seemed a little surprised to find out how many other bright, competent, successful kids there are in the world.   Many also felt sheltered by the small school - some having the same set of friends for as many as 13 years.  They experienced some difficulty adjusting to college when they were exposed to the "bigger world".[/quote][/quote]

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