Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Agreed. If folks want to pay $50K, and it's a good fit for their student then go for it. The fact remains my student's class lost 40 from MS. You can pretend it didn't happen to make yourself feel better, but it's a fact.

Then it’s an outlier, and likely has more to do with the dynamics of that grade cohort. They are not regularly losing so many 8th graders.

Of course it must be an outlier to keep your narrative going. LOL.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a layperson not well versed in private schools, this thread is confusing.

Academically and from $ perspective, is SSSA a good school for folks that aren’t willing to change commute and don’t want Alexandria / south Arlington public schools?

SSSAS gets a lot of hate on this board. As far as I can tell, it’s largely because it is in VA and isn’t a big3 but still dares to have a fairly typical private school price tag. Academically it’s a very good school so if the location and cost match what you are looking for, it’s a strong choice.

Thanks!!

Maybe...just maybe it's because a lot of people had a horrible experience there and are willing to let others know so they don't make a $200K mistake?

I have seen a few people post that they’ve had a specific negative experience at SSSAS - just like any school that gets posted about here, there’s always someone for whom the school didn’t work out. And just like those other schools, there are many other families who had very positive experiences at SSSAS.

But the majority of the hate seems to be like what has been in this thread. People who never actually enrolled a child there saying it could never compare to [take your pick of some big5 school usually in NWDC] or how it’s overpriced for a mediocre education (that same complaint gets lobbed at Flint Hill all the time too - another perfectly good school that dares to be in VA and charge private school tuition). Or that it has too many days off, apparently.

If you had a specific negative experience you want to share and warn about, by all means, do so, and I’m sorry it happened. But most people hating on it don’t ever seem to have had a kid there.

I think a lot of us who had children with terrible experiences at SSSAS are reluctant to post bc people jump on us and say we are some notorious SSSAS hater or making things up. I wish we had never been at that school and am so happy to be out. We’re now at a school further away but with a better transportation department and bus services, so the commute does not feel worse. Instead of rehashing everything awful about SSSAS, I’ll just encourage everyone to look further than Alexandria. Any extra commute is more than made up by a better all around experience.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Agreed. If folks want to pay $50K, and it's a good fit for their student then go for it. The fact remains my student's class lost 40 from MS. You can pretend it didn't happen to make yourself feel better, but it's a fact.

Then it’s an outlier, and likely has more to do with the dynamics of that grade cohort. They are not regularly losing so many 8th graders.

Anonymous wrote:Agreed. If folks want to pay $50K, and it's a good fit for their student then go for it. The fact remains my student's class lost 40 from MS. You can pretend it didn't happen to make yourself feel better, but it's a fact.

Anonymous wrote:I’m one of the positive SSSAS posters. When DC applied for 9th a couple years ago, we were told at one of the open houses that they expected to have about 30 spots to fill - that included anticipated 8th grade attrition as well as the expansion spots.

The MS is the weak link for SSSAS, but even so, they don’t lose 40 8th graders at a time.

Anonymous wrote:SSSAS does not lose 40 8th graders to other schools. That number is insane. Even if 40 kids apply out, they won’t get into schools that are better than SSSAS. I am so glad you’re happy and that it worked for your child, but thinking that B.I . is on the same level as SSSAS is delusional.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it might be harder to get into Bishop Ireton than SSSAS. SSSAS will take pretty much anyone who can pay. They can't afford to be selective since they pool only from Alexandria.

This is very false. Bishop Ireton takes the entire class from St Mary’s. SSSAS will have 20 spots at most. Half of those spots will go to athletes and the other half will go to top performers from ACDS, Grace, and Burgundy. SSSAS is a great school. It is not as much of a pressure cooker as other privates, but I constantly hear of kids leaving because it’s too academically strenuous in middle school. A few of the DC private schools are on another level- most are not. SSSAS is better than any private I’ve heard of in all of the Southeast. It’s better than all the Atlanta privates, better than Bolles in Jacksonville, the Asheville privates, the Nashville privates, the Memphis private schools, most North Carolina private schools. It’s a great school. It exists near some exceptional schools and people want to compare it to B.I.????? That is a joke. You are behind in this forum. A lot of these SSSAS complaints are old news. Legacy families are leaving because they “don’t prioritize sports like they used to”, “the teachers are too woke”, “they take too many kids from PG county”. These are all steps in the right direction for me. The new upper school campus is great. The kids are generally happy. They push the kids to want to succeed without creating a toxic environment. Comparing B.I . To SSSAS is like comparing apples to oranges. They are not the same at all or comparable.

Anonymous wrote:I think it might be harder to get into Bishop Ireton than SSSAS. SSSAS will take pretty much anyone who can pay. They can't afford to be selective since they pool only from Alexandria.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a layperson not well versed in private schools, this thread is confusing.

Academically and from $ perspective, is SSSA a good school for folks that aren’t willing to change commute and don’t want Alexandria / south Arlington public schools?

SSSAS gets a lot of hate on this board. As far as I can tell, it’s largely because it is in VA and isn’t a big3 but still dares to have a fairly typical private school price tag. Academically it’s a very good school so if the location and cost match what you are looking for, it’s a strong choice.

Thanks!!

Maybe...just maybe it's because a lot of people had a horrible experience there and are willing to let others know so they don't make a $200K mistake?

I have seen a few people post that they’ve had a specific negative experience at SSSAS - just like any school that gets posted about here, there’s always someone for whom the school didn’t work out. And just like those other schools, there are many other families who had very positive experiences at SSSAS.

But the majority of the hate seems to be like what has been in this thread. People who never actually enrolled a child there saying it could never compare to [take your pick of some big5 school usually in NWDC] or how it’s overpriced for a mediocre education (that same complaint gets lobbed at Flint Hill all the time too - another perfectly good school that dares to be in VA and charge private school tuition). Or that it has too many days off, apparently.

If you had a specific negative experience you want to share and warn about, by all means, do so, and I’m sorry it happened. But most people hating on it don’t ever seem to have had a kid there.

I think a lot of us who had children with terrible experiences at SSSAS are reluctant to post bc people jump on us and say we are some notorious SSSAS hater or making things up. I wish we had never been at that school and am so happy to be out. We’re now at a school further away but with a better transportation department and bus services, so the commute does not feel worse. Instead of rehashing everything awful about SSSAS, I’ll just encourage everyone to look further than Alexandria. Any extra commute is more than made up by a better all around experience.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a layperson not well versed in private schools, this thread is confusing.

Academically and from $ perspective, is SSSA a good school for folks that aren’t willing to change commute and don’t want Alexandria / south Arlington public schools?

SSSAS gets a lot of hate on this board. As far as I can tell, it’s largely because it is in VA and isn’t a big3 but still dares to have a fairly typical private school price tag. Academically it’s a very good school so if the location and cost match what you are looking for, it’s a strong choice.

Thanks!!

Maybe...just maybe it's because a lot of people had a horrible experience there and are willing to let others know so they don't make a $200K mistake?

I have seen a few people post that they’ve had a specific negative experience at SSSAS - just like any school that gets posted about here, there’s always someone for whom the school didn’t work out. And just like those other schools, there are many other families who had very positive experiences at SSSAS.

But the majority of the hate seems to be like what has been in this thread. People who never actually enrolled a child there saying it could never compare to [take your pick of some big5 school usually in NWDC] or how it’s overpriced for a mediocre education (that same complaint gets lobbed at Flint Hill all the time too - another perfectly good school that dares to be in VA and charge private school tuition). Or that it has too many days off, apparently.

If you had a specific negative experience you want to share and warn about, by all means, do so, and I’m sorry it happened. But most people hating on it don’t ever seem to have had a kid there.

I think a lot of us who had children with terrible experiences at SSSAS are reluctant to post bc people jump on us and say we are some notorious SSSAS hater or making things up. I wish we had never been at that school and am so happy to be out. We’re now at a school further away but with a better transportation department and bus services, so the commute does not feel worse. Instead of rehashing everything awful about SSSAS, I’ll just encourage everyone to look further than Alexandria. Any extra commute is more than made up by a better all around experience.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a layperson not well versed in private schools, this thread is confusing.

Academically and from $ perspective, is SSSA a good school for folks that aren’t willing to change commute and don’t want Alexandria / south Arlington public schools?

SSSAS gets a lot of hate on this board. As far as I can tell, it’s largely because it is in VA and isn’t a big3 but still dares to have a fairly typical private school price tag. Academically it’s a very good school so if the location and cost match what you are looking for, it’s a strong choice.

Thanks!!

Maybe...just maybe it's because a lot of people had a horrible experience there and are willing to let others know so they don't make a $200K mistake?

I have seen a few people post that they’ve had a specific negative experience at SSSAS - just like any school that gets posted about here, there’s always someone for whom the school didn’t work out. And just like those other schools, there are many other families who had very positive experiences at SSSAS.

But the majority of the hate seems to be like what has been in this thread. People who never actually enrolled a child there saying it could never compare to [take your pick of some big5 school usually in NWDC] or how it’s overpriced for a mediocre education (that same complaint gets lobbed at Flint Hill all the time too - another perfectly good school that dares to be in VA and charge private school tuition). Or that it has too many days off, apparently.

If you had a specific negative experience you want to share and warn about, by all means, do so, and I’m sorry it happened. But most people hating on it don’t ever seem to have had a kid there.