<p>What do you all know about the school mentioned above, in terms of:
- its culture/atmosphere
- support system
- academic rigour (compared to schools like Andover/Exeter)
- nerdiness/jockness
- faculty quality
Thanks</p>
<p>I am a current St Andrew’s parent, so I can answer some of your questions. </p>
<p>St Andrew’s has a huge 2000 acre campus with gothic style buildings clustered around the edge of a lake. Like some other Episcopal schools, there is a formal dress code during class time, which gives the atmosphere a serious feel. On Sundays the students attend Chapel together, for lunches and Weds. dinners they are seated for family style meals (not cafeteria style dining.)</p>
<p>The student body is very small, I think 280 kids this year. This means the entire student body can sit down and eat together at one time with all the faculty, so there is a real sense of cohesion. The student faculty ratio is an incredible 4:1, so there are lots of faculty members around who give all sorts of help, from school work to coaching, to rides into town or lifeguarding by the lake. The students are all assigned advisors their first year, after which they may change if they like. The advisors meet regularly with the students about all aspects of life at the school. I can’t actually imagine a school with more faculty support than St Andrew’s, that’s probably their most stand out quality.</p>
<p>I think the academics are second to none. I would call it an extremely rigorous school. I think college is going to be easy for my daughter after this! It is obviously not as large as E/A, so there isn’t going to be as many course offerings, but there are classes with 1 to 4 people in them and students can follow their own interests.</p>
<p>I don’t think the school is nerdy or jocky, but very well balanced. The kids are in plays, they are singing and they are running cross country. The school is small, so everyone does everything. There are certainly students who do arts in place of sports, but most people fit in both.</p>
<p>I would describe St Andrew’s small, supportive, rigorous, and intense, with a genuine sense of community fostered by an extremely dedicated faculty and headmaster.</p>