<p>I am trying desperately to keep my mouth shut and let my daughter make her own decision about which school to attend next year.</p>
<p>She (smartly) wants to keep an open mind until revisits, and partly because she is leaning strongly in one direction at this point, she doesn't wish to obsessively discuss the topic.</p>
<p>Which has left me to obsess all by myself. (Which is now getting boring, having already read everything I can find on all 4 schools.)</p>
<p>SO.....I am asking you all to please share whatever you know about these 4 schools. Your experiences, your child's experiences, good, bad, interesting, dull...anything!</p>
<p>It’s almost impossible for the people on this board to give you insight without knowing anything about your child. Everyone here will tell you that SAS is an amazing school (which it is) but I know a kid who changed from SAS to another BS this year because it wasn’t the right fit for him. I say this not to say anything negative about SAS but just to point out that different kids need different things and kids who thrive at one school may not thrive at another.</p>
<p>@Momof7thgrader - Of course! But I’m not really looking for advice on which is best for her – I think at this point the one SHE feels best about after revisits is probably as good a guess as any as to which is best for her. </p>
<p>I’m really just interested in what people have to say/think about the schools. Both so that I can answer questions as she and interested friends/relatives ask, and (mostly) so that I can obsess further and avoid cleaning the bathroom.</p>
<p>As for her, she is very bright, interested in physics, and history academically.</p>
<p>She is also “artsy” and interested in singing and theater.</p>
<p>Career wise, she is torn between Broadway actress, theoretical physicist, and psychiatrist/ologist. As she should be at 14.</p>
<p>Athletically, she enjoys tennis. She runs track but hates it. And she enjoys sailing but doesn’t currently race. She also enjoys canoeing and kayaking and believes she would enjoy crew every bit as much as sailing. Overall, she is NOT an athlete.</p>
<p>Some things are going to stand out, however. St. Andrew’s is a decidedly more mid-Atlantic/southern school than the others, which draw from New England, predominately, I think. About two thirds of the SAS kids are from Connecticut (only a handful) south to North Carolina. You can see the stats for yourself, of course, and do your own comparisons. But the feel at SAS is not really as “regional” as when I taught at a NE boarding school. The church influence is definitely a difference, with Kent and SAS being Episcopal. Mr. Roach at SAS strives for a broad, inclusive message when it comes to spirituality, I think, but the children definitely pick up the Episcopalian forms with the mandatory Sunday service. My son, raised a Quaker, hasn’t complained, but goes sometimes to the Catholic service in town for the different architecture and time slot. He also is into comparing the religions, too, which is sort of the point, now that SAS is over seventy-five years into living out Felix DuPont’s charge for a “decidedly Christian” education. The Wednesday Chapel is really quite like that which you’d find at many other boarding schools where teachers, students and outside speakers provoke thought rather than preach.</p>
<p>I vote SAS for the headmaster.</p>
<p>No kidding!</p>
<p>Mr. Roach sent out a letter to parents of admitted students a few days ago. We all cried when we read it – daughter, husband, my parents. He seems wonderful.</p>
<p>I agree with the previous post that you have to find the right fit for each student as what is perfect for one may be wrong for the next. Having said that our daughter is in her second year at SAS and it has been a life changing experience. The best decision she ever made! If you do decide to go to SAS get ready for some pretty rigorous academics.</p>
<p>Our kids have loved CA, but as with the other schools, it’s not the best place for everyone. It has a great arts program with lots of opportunities for singing and theatre, and also has a great science program. As opposed to the above, it’s completely non-religious. It’s a wonderful place for non-athletes who enjoy sports.</p>
<p>On our way to Concord.</p>
<p>They have some tough acts to follow. </p>
<p>Spent the day at Kent yesterday, where we were given a surprising amount of individual attention.</p>
<p>Boy this is hard.</p>
<p>Revisits done. Two schools have emerged in the front. Daughter is leaning toward one, but not quite ready to make a final decision.</p>
<p>I agree with the two front runners, and could easily argue the case for either one.</p>
<p>Okay, I’ll go out on a limb and assume that St. Andrew’s is one of the two! Herewith, the pitch of pitches. Have you all scrolled down through these videos posted on the school’s YouTube site? Open Mic night, Mason’s Birthday, Frosty Run 2012 are just some of my favorites, and I haven’t even touched on those my kid is in!</p>
<p>[St</a>. Andrew’s School (DE) - YouTube](<a href=“St. Andrew's School - YouTube”>St. Andrew's School - YouTube)</p>
<p>What’s not to like?</p>
<p>SAS IS one of the schools. CA is the other.</p>
<p>NMH and Kent both have some really great things going for them – and NMH was actually my daughter’s first choice going into revisits (and coming out of the NMH revisit as well) but she (and we) feel SAS and CA are better fits for her.</p>
<p>Congrats on surviving revisits! If you have additional questions about life at Concord, I’d be happy to answer here or via PM.</p>
<p>Thanks photodad. We were extremely impressed by the genuine, non-“showy” feel of the parents and students at CA. Clearly there is a great deal of wealth at the school – but we did not see parents or students flaunting it, and we liked that very much. </p>
<p>Revisit day began with a faculty panel which included the heavily pierced theater director and a spiked-bleached-haired math teacher. I giggled to myself that some have found the school to be “snobby and elitist.” Really?!?! </p>
<p>My daughter liked the kids she met, and I liked the parents I met very much.</p>
<p>The teachers we observed were engaging and seemed to have a lot of autonomy, both in course offerings and teaching style. The academics seemed excellent, and there was ample depth of courses.</p>
<p>I will ask my daughter if there are any questions she still has, but i can’t think of anything myself right now.</p>
<p>If you have any questions about Kent let me know!</p>