Anonymous wrote:We accepted a LS slot slot this year. On one hand, this thread gives me hope that it's a more progressive environment than I anticipated. On the other, the screen time issue in LS is a red flag as it the bullying in MS and LAX culture in HS. Thanks to everyone who has shared thoughts on here. I'll be sure to share mine when we've had some more experience with the school.

Anonymous wrote:We were a prospective family and ultimately declined admission after talking to a current family we know and trust. Their child is in 8th grade and dealing with real social challenges at SSSAS (so much do that the family applied out for high school). The school seems nice on the surface and we were impressed during the admissions process, but I think there are some real issues in terms of the school environment.

Anonymous wrote:Our DS attended SSSAS for 8 years. We were thrilled when we were accepted, and the school was fabulous for the first few years. Fabulous education, fabulous teachers, fabulous environment. I was an enthusiastic school volunteer. However, a few years in, the focus of the school started to change. Grades were eliminated until 6th grade, and even at that time, the teachers were very generous with their grading, and homework was minimal. (We all want to believe that our child is brilliant, but my child put in zero effort, rarely turned in assignments on time, and was on the honor roll.) I just expected a more rigorous curriculum from the school. The math curriculum is at the level (or below) of public schools, and the writing instruction is average. Bullying also became a problem in middle school (from students that had been attending the same school together for almost 7 years), and there were no consequences for extremely cruel children that went so far as to encourage self-harm. We had mixed feelings about leaving as we became close with many of the families, but we decided that the best choice for our child was to leave.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our DS attended SSSAS for 8 years. We were thrilled when we were accepted, and the school was fabulous for the first few years. Fabulous education, fabulous teachers, fabulous environment. I was an enthusiastic school volunteer. However, a few years in, the focus of the school started to change. Grades were eliminated until 6th grade, and even at that time, the teachers were very generous with their grading, and homework was minimal. (We all want to believe that our child is brilliant, but my child put in zero effort, rarely turned in assignments on time, and was on the honor roll.) I just expected a more rigorous curriculum from the school. The math curriculum is at the level (or below) of public schools, and the writing instruction is average. Bullying also became a problem in middle school (from students that had been attending the same school together for almost 7 years), and there were no consequences for extremely cruel children that went so far as to encourage self-harm. We had mixed feelings about leaving as we became close with many of the families, but we decided that the best choice for our child was to leave.

I call troll. There isn’t an “honor roll” at SSSAS.

Anonymous wrote:Our DS attended SSSAS for 8 years. We were thrilled when we were accepted, and the school was fabulous for the first few years. Fabulous education, fabulous teachers, fabulous environment. I was an enthusiastic school volunteer. However, a few years in, the focus of the school started to change. Grades were eliminated until 6th grade, and even at that time, the teachers were very generous with their grading, and homework was minimal. (We all want to believe that our child is brilliant, but my child put in zero effort, rarely turned in assignments on time, and was on the honor roll.) I just expected a more rigorous curriculum from the school. The math curriculum is at the level (or below) of public schools, and the writing instruction is average. Bullying also became a problem in middle school (from students that had been attending the same school together for almost 7 years), and there were no consequences for extremely cruel children that went so far as to encourage self-harm. We had mixed feelings about leaving as we became close with many of the families, but we decided that the best choice for our child was to leave.

Anonymous wrote:Our DS attended SSSAS for 8 years. We were thrilled when we were accepted, and the school was fabulous for the first few years. Fabulous education, fabulous teachers, fabulous environment. I was an enthusiastic school volunteer. However, a few years in, the focus of the school started to change. Grades were eliminated until 6th grade, and even at that time, the teachers were very generous with their grading, and homework was minimal. (We all want to believe that our child is brilliant, but my child put in zero effort, rarely turned in assignments on time, and was on the honor roll.) I just expected a more rigorous curriculum from the school. The math curriculum is at the level (or below) of public schools, and the writing instruction is average. Bullying also became a problem in middle school (from students that had been attending the same school together for almost 7 years), and there were no consequences for extremely cruel children that went so far as to encourage self-harm. We had mixed feelings about leaving as we became close with many of the families, but we decided that the best choice for our child was to leave.

Anonymous wrote:Our DS attended SSSAS for 8 years. We were thrilled when we were accepted, and the school was fabulous for the first few years. Fabulous education, fabulous teachers, fabulous environment. I was an enthusiastic school volunteer. However, a few years in, the focus of the school started to change. Grades were eliminated until 6th grade, and even at that time, the teachers were very generous with their grading, and homework was minimal. (We all want to believe that our child is brilliant, but my child put in zero effort, rarely turned in assignments on time, and was on the honor roll.) I just expected a more rigorous curriculum from the school. The math curriculum is at the level (or below) of public schools, and the writing instruction is average. Bullying also became a problem in middle school (from students that had been attending the same school together for almost 7 years), and there were no consequences for extremely cruel children that went so far as to encourage self-harm. We had mixed feelings about leaving as we became close with many of the families, but we decided that the best choice for our child was to leave.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

The infinity groups are the worst. Not at SSSAS, but a different Alexandria private. Pre-Covid, our school required kids to join an affinity group and meet during the school day. There were quite a few to chose from: women, LQBTQ, Black, asian, atheist, Jewish. My white, straight, Christian son had no group to identify with. They created a group for all the white, Christian straight boys - “supporting diversity” affinity group. First meeting they had to write down all their privileges in a list. It was a great way to make my then 12 year old feel like sh*t about himself.

Wow - what school is this!?

Burgundy Farm