Anonymous wrote:Interested in this school for a student who would enter at 8th grade. Are there ever openings? Would a new student feel welcome?

1) call the admissions office, only they'll know if there is space
2) likely - it is a welcoming community in general

Interested in this school for a student who would enter at 8th grade. Are there ever openings? Would a new student feel welcome?

MS kid at SSFS. MS has been wonderful. Teachers really know our child well, the community and campus-like feel have allowed our child to blossom and show his independence. The drive from Silver Spring is 30 minutes most days. DS takes bus in the morning departs 7 ish, we pick up in the evenings as he does after school activities. There is a late bus as well but have not used that yet, and there is aftercare to bridge the end of the school day, activities and our ability to pick up. Sure, I would prefer the school was closer to our house, but the reality of what my child is turning into out weights the drive. He is a happy kid, has meet a nice group of friends and is a compassionate personal learning to love learning. This was not what he was learning at MCPS. He was a number, teachers knew very little about him, he wasn't encourage to be compassionate and he was losing his interest in learning and exploring.

I agree with PP. Both my DCs were new 9th graders to SSFS and made friends and felt welcomed immediately. The 9th grade camping trip is a great first bonding step. It also helps that for some reason, about half the 9th grade class is new to the school. Trust me, your DC will find a group of friends - the HS culture is just so welcoming. If your DC doesn't reach out, they will reach out to him/her. It's just the culture of the school. SSFS HS was one of the best decisions my family has ever done.

We just put our DD on the bus at 7:30am this morning for the 9th grade camping trip. While we came in MS for reasons of lack of connection in MCPS, half of the class is new and Steff, head of 9th grade, had been doing this for many years and divides the groups into new to school and from the MS. There was definitely some anxious faces tomorrow but loved how students quickly introduced themselves.
PP, definitely call admissions and take a tour. It's a fabulous community and well worth the drive which is very easy despite what others have said. Takes us 20 mins from Silver Spring

Should say newcomers (not new movers).

Would love to hear more. We are interested in 9th grade. My child doesn't make friends very easily. (Has a few good friends, just doesn't have a huge circle and is somewhat reserved). Is it hard to for new movers in 9th grade?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can say that I've never heard someone say anything majorly negative about SSFS. Minor complaints like you'd have at all schools (not a fan of x teacher, questions about y curriculum), but people seem to love it.

Do you have experience with the school?

I have been involved in DC privates as an educator for the past 10 years. I have met people who have worked as SSFS and people who have had children attend SSFS and have attended workshops held there.

But I personally do not have a direct connection to it ...

This is ridiculous. She said she never heard. She didn't claim to be a person directly associated with the school. Did the OP say only people with direct experience should apply? I personally think a school's reputation is useful information.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can say that I've never heard someone say anything majorly negative about SSFS. Minor complaints like you'd have at all schools (not a fan of x teacher, questions about y curriculum), but people seem to love it.

Do you have experience with the school?

I have been involved in DC privates as an educator for the past 10 years. I have met people who have worked as SSFS and people who have had children attend SSFS and have attended workshops held there.

But I personally do not have a direct connection to it ...

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can say that I've never heard someone say anything majorly negative about SSFS. Minor complaints like you'd have at all schools (not a fan of x teacher, questions about y curriculum), but people seem to love it.

Do you have experience with the school?

I have been involved in DC privates as an educator for the past 10 years. I have met people who have worked as SSFS and people who have had children attend SSFS and have attended workshops held there.

I saw that they post the bus schedule online. Not sure how much it changes from year to year.

We went through the process for 9th and loved it. In the end it came down to distance. While only 30 minutes (and there is a bus from Bethesda), it made logistics of sport, after school clubs etc. more difficult. We were lucky to have options so we went to Burke. We have neighbors whose daughter started there in 11th (from BCC) and she is very happy. She drives herself/carpools with 2 friends and an 8th grader who rides with them. I think if there had been better communication around transportation options we would likely have explored further. Part of me regrets the decision but we are definitely not unhappy at Burke.

Anonymous wrote:I can say that I've never heard someone say anything majorly negative about SSFS. Minor complaints like you'd have at all schools (not a fan of x teacher, questions about y curriculum), but people seem to love it.

Do you have experience with the school?

I can say that I've never heard someone say anything majorly negative about SSFS. Minor complaints like you'd have at all schools (not a fan of x teacher, questions about y curriculum), but people seem to love it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:More affordable than $45000 that is for sure

If you can afford $30K, you can manage with $40K. I personally don't see the difference when you're paying those ridiculous rates in tuition. And teachers who work there may earn competitive wages across area privates, but there's no way they're earning close to what they can in the public system.

So they're either very dedicated, or they don't need the money - or perhaps both!

Our kids are in public now but we are thinking of private high school for one of them. The difference between 30 and 40k is meaningful for us. I don't know if we can swing 30k but I know we can't afford 40. It's significant.

Right. This sounds like one of those fallacies Daniel Kahneman is always pointing out. When monetary amounts get real high, people's critical thinking shuts down. The difference between 40k and 30k is every bit as real as the difference between 0 and 10k.

This relates to the cognitive disconnect most of us have -- we'll take the time to return a $40 item rather than just accept the loss, but we won't haggle over a $200 feature in a car purchase because there's so much money sunk in the car already. It's irrational, but it's what we humans do.

$10 K is $10 K regardless of how much one has already spent.