Burgundy parent hère. Over the years I’ve seen a number of kids graduate from Burgundy, go on to SSSAS, and be happy. When I talk with the kids, they enjoyed both experiences. This includes a few, though not many, children of color. Neither school comprises a monolithic culture. They both vary grade level to grade level, year to year. It may be right for your kid, it may not. Visit schools that interest you and investigate beyond stereotypes.

Anonymous wrote:The Bullis of VA

Hardly. The two are very different places. But I assume you were just going for the cheap dig at both.

If all the students at SSSAS are from the same area- why does the school have such an extensive bus service????? Huh?

The Bullis of VA

Anonymous wrote:Everyone looks and is basically the same at this school.

Only to the ignorant.

Everyone looks and is basically the same at this school.

Late chiming in. My child goes to SSSAS. We do not live in Alexandria. My child does not play lacrosse. My child started there in high school. My child is what I would consider"popular" and has lots of friends. Lots of those friends do live in Belle Haven, but lots of them live elsewhere - Falls Church, Arlington, McLean, other places in Fairfax County,PG County, etc.

The students at SSSAS were very welcoming to my child when we started there. I have other children - some go to other privates and some go to public school. SSSAS is the most welcoming and non-snobby of all of the schools my children have attended.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Huh? SSSAS' facilities are on par with any of the Big 3s (GDS, NCS/STA, Sidwell) at least for the lower and upper schools.

+ 1

The lower school is beautiful. Has OP actually seen SSSAS, and other DC privates??

The SSSAS facilities are not equivalent to at the Cathedral Schools. Have you been inside the athletic center, library and chapel at NCS?

GDS current LS/MS is awful, I know, my kids go there. SSSAS is 100x better in appearance.

SSSAS has announced in their strategic plan they will be doing major renovations at the US in 2020. So their facilities will be changing.

Such a long acronym. Now I know what it stands for.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Huh? SSSAS' facilities are on par with any of the Big 3s (GDS, NCS/STA, Sidwell) at least for the lower and upper schools.

+ 1

The lower school is beautiful. Has OP actually seen SSSAS, and other DC privates??

The SSSAS facilities are not equivalent to at the Cathedral Schools. Have you been inside the athletic center, library and chapel at NCS?

GDS current LS/MS is awful, I know, my kids go there. SSSAS is 100x better in appearance.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Obviously at least one person has had the experience of being excluded by a Belle Haven/Old Town crowd. Anyone with kids in school knows that every class is different so just because it didn’t happen to you doesn’t mean it didn’t happen.

The report does support what I have heard about and seen. I think you'll find some elements of bullying at a lot of schools but the dominance and pervasiveness of the lacrosse culture for the BH/OT crowd contributes strongly to the school's social dynamic and whether kids outside of that circle are happy. It isn't the only reason to make a choice for/against the school; however it should be a consideration.

What "report"?

Uh, the prior post. Report is used in the sentence as a synonym. Other synonyms would be: account, description, narrative, testimony, re-counting, statement, ...

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Obviously at least one person has had the experience of being excluded by a Belle Haven/Old Town crowd. Anyone with kids in school knows that every class is different so just because it didn’t happen to you doesn’t mean it didn’t happen.

The report does support what I have heard about and seen. I think you'll find some elements of bullying at a lot of schools but the dominance and pervasiveness of the lacrosse culture for the BH/OT crowd contributes strongly to the school's social dynamic and whether kids outside of that circle are happy. It isn't the only reason to make a choice for/against the school; however it should be a consideration.

What "report"?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Obviously at least one person has had the experience of being excluded by a Belle Haven/Old Town crowd. Anyone with kids in school knows that every class is different so just because it didn’t happen to you doesn’t mean it didn’t happen.

The report does support what I have heard about and seen. I think you'll find some elements of bullying at a lot of schools but the dominance and pervasiveness of the lacrosse culture for the BH/OT crowd contributes strongly to the school's social dynamic and whether kids outside of that circle are happy. It isn't the only reason to make a choice for/against the school; however it should be a consideration.

I’m sorry. I disagree. I think the parents worry about this “lacrosse culture” more than the kids. My son was an athlete in other sports, but many kids are not, and they do just fine. The school is big enough for many types of interests to co exist. DCs graduating class was very close and has kept in touch.

Anonymous wrote:Obviously at least one person has had the experience of being excluded by a Belle Haven/Old Town crowd. Anyone with kids in school knows that every class is different so just because it didn’t happen to you doesn’t mean it didn’t happen.

The report does support what I have heard about and seen. I think you'll find some elements of bullying at a lot of schools but the dominance and pervasiveness of the lacrosse culture for the BH/OT crowd contributes strongly to the school's social dynamic and whether kids outside of that circle are happy. It isn't the only reason to make a choice for/against the school; however it should be a consideration.

It is a good school, plain and simple. Whether it is worth the price tag is a different question.....but what school is really worth 45k