Just arrived home from my first Arts Weekend at St. Andrews…WOW! Even though we didn’t get to SAS until late on Saturday due to obligations at home, it was still an amazing experience. The talent of the students and faculty is truly inspiring! While I am disappointed that we missed seeing DS row in full class dress on Saturday afternoon (apparently the boats picked their own themes for the inter-squad races on Saturday : ) it was well worth the whirlwind trip to Delaware!
As DS heads into the final month of his first year as a boarding school student I am more confident than ever that we made the right choice. Has it been an adjustment? Yes, in so many ways. Would he have been better off at home? No. DS is where he needs to be and we are truly blessed and grateful to be parents of a St. Andrean : )
To all the current and former CC Saints parents – THANK YOU! @charger78@sevendad
@TJ8009, final grades were released in the afternoon of June 12, last year. It was afternoon of June 16th the year before… so they should arrive via email very soon.
So the fall admission season is right around the corner and I thought to drop a link for prospective or interested families who want a glimpse of the “inside scoop” at St. Andrew’s. The very first night at school, all students attend the Square Dance, a tradition that speaks to the distinctive “ethos” that permeates the SAS culture. Look at the photos from the Flickr stream and you will see how this year’s students, new and old, learn to become a community, along with faculty, and faculty children, assisted by talented musicians and the caller. Notice how UN-self-conscious the kids are, reveling in their individuality and the togetherness, being in the moment fully and passionately. https://www.■■■■■■■■■■/photos/sasdelaware/
Several current and past parents are on this forum with some regularity to answer your questions, point you in the right direction, or get students to weigh in. Enjoy the process of finding a boarding school that fits who you are and who you want to be.
“Enjoy the process of finding a boarding school that fits who you are and who you want to be.”
@Charger78 This is some of the best advice I have read about admission season! It applies equally well to the college search process ; )! As the current parent of a SAS V Former (junior), I concur with Charger78’s description of St. Andrew’s unique “ethos.” DS had a wonderful experience as a new sophomore last year and is having an even better start to his junior year. There are many ways to measure schools using metrics, not all of them are helpful. What our son is getting from his education at St. Andrews goes far beyond great academic preparation for college. He really is figuring out who he wants to be.
I am happy to answer questions about St. Andrews for prospective new families - especially for those applying for their sophomore or junior year.
I am a new student at SAS, and I am in my second week of school right now. Yesterday was Environmental Day (Pond Day), and I attended Mr. Roach’s school tour. We crammed into his office, with a small desk stacked with books in the middle of the room, and pretended that we were in a board meeting for St. Andrew’s. How were we going to use the 2200 acres of land on campus? What is the purpose of this land? What does this school need?
Holding on to these questions, the group (students, Mr. Roach, Mrs. Roach) walked around the main academic campus, and we discussed the architectural features of the school, and how it relates to or complements the natural features of the campus (the Pond especially). Then, we hopped onto the vans and drove around the entire campus, stopping at farms, faculty houses, and other areas of interest.
The entire experience was very enjoyable and exciting, and after the tour, I felt like I gained something significant: an understanding of the environment in which I live. I also felt that I held a new responsibility: to be aware of my surroundings, and preserving the place that I am going to call “home” for the next four years.
Even though I’ve only stayed here for two weeks, it really feels like an entire year.
I hope I’ve provided some good information, as well as a glimpse into our campus and life at St. Andrew’s.
If you want more information on my experience as a new student, please feel free to reply or PM me.
My daughter had Mr. Roach for V Form English. He is so different because he rubs elbows with the students in a multitude of ways. He speaks to the students, but he also listens well and talks with them, conversationally.
Have a great year, and thank you for your public service on this forum, @DelawarePrep1929 !
Attended Lessons and Carols, an Anglican tradition, this afternoon, in the A. Felix du Pont, Jr. Chapel, of Founders Hall, which was shown in “The Dead Poet’s Society”. The Choral Scholars and the School Choir sang before, during, and after each of the nine lessons that the service is structured around. The evergreen boughs festooned throughout and the choristers candles added to the spirit of the season featured in words and song. Such a beautiful service really opens the heart to the coming of Christmas. The event, along with other holiday performances, is on the school’s Livestream account.
The St. Andrew’s community is such that we met, at Chapel, two other couples, also with children in the Class of 2016, and afterward went out to dinner nearby. They drove from Washington D.C. and north Jersey just because SAS is such a special place and Lessons and Carols such a special occasion, while we had the incentive to hear our daughter, '17, perform a solo with the Choir. As parents of alumni, we have our own bond, and SAS welcomes us back time and again in ways that continually inspire our respect and affection.
I wish we lived closer so that we could enjoy more of these amazing events! We are grateful that the SAS swim team is now using an app that posts scores live so that we can follow Swim Kid’s races and cheer the Saints on from afar. Swim Dad and I went out to our favorite local brew pub yesterday and were glued to my phone “watching” the SAS vs. Tower Hill swim meet : ) Swim kid had a PR in one of his events and both the girls and boys teams beat Tower Hill! We face timed briefly to say congrats one Swim Kid was back on dorm. He was happy about the meet but cut the conversation short because he has to head over to the art gallery. I truly love that SAS allows him to be so actively engaged in all the things he is passionate about!
I’d like to give another shout-out to the swimmers of SAS.
Despite losing a truly stellar crew of seniors last year (who left their mark across the record board), the Saints did great at the DIAA State meet.
The boys team came in 4th in the state, with 195 points. (actually improving from last year’s total of 187, and were just edged out of third place by Conrad Science who improved to 201).
The top 3 schools all have more than three times the number of students enrolled… so the real headline is that the Saints continued their massive points-per-enrollment domination of the great state of Delaware.
The girls had a great showing as well, attaining their goal of finishing in the top 10.
If you are a prospective swim family, SAS is a fantastic place for swimmers.
The spirit of the team is incredible, the coaching is awesome, and the aquatic center is gorgeous. During the regular season all the meets are at home (including the conference championships). That saves a lot of travel time, and the home audience adds amazing energy to all the meets. Feel free to ask me more via personal message (especially if you have questions about the team as preparation for college swimming).
I’ll also note, as is true for all sports at SAS, you can be a complete novice and join the swim team. I’m pretty sure at least one of the boys at states had no competitive experience before coming to SAS. Once in a while, a kid who just learned to swim has joined, enjoyed life in the slow lane, and been cheered on in exhibition heats.
@seekers Thanks for the SAS Swim shout out! I love the “massive points-per-enrollment domination of the great state of Delaware” assessment of the meet - so true! I will be sure to pass this on to NCSwimkid since he was a tiny bit disappointed that the Medley Relay didn’t set a SAS record ; ) One more shot next year!
NCSwimkid loves the team, his coaches and the trainers. He was a year-round swimmer prior to attending SAS, but now enjoys fall theatre and spring crew. Interestingly…his times continue to drop! Our family highly recommends SAS as a great environment for prospective swim families.
Daughter was spring crew for two years and is now theater for the last two. The sampling and switching is what makes SAS great, in that that’s an option. Her roommate has been a solid x-country runner, swimmer and rower, excelling in all three. That a kid can be something like All-State in three different sports says a lot about the small-school and public school culture in Delaware that SAS is able to navigate with pretty good success in many sports, though certainly not all (in any given year).
Just like the excellent athletic coaches, the theater department has a broad array of teaching mentors, like Mr. Gold, Ms. Kerrane, Mr. Hoopes, etc., who help Mrs. Taylor to put on a really great musical year after year.
Our two kids would probably give different reviews, with the girl a bit more enthusiastic about both departments than the boy (she ended up with the higher grades in both). The math program, if I get this correctly, was implementing the Exeter approach from about 2011 to 2014, with some hiccups along the way. Sounds like many III Form new students were taken aback by the student-centered classes after more traditional middle school experiences; am not sure the feeling in recent years. While one general POV is that the humanities disciplines are somewhat better than math/science at SAS, I am pretty sure that certain families would disagree, or offer more insight, at least, than I can. Both @SevenDad and @seekers had girls who excelled in math/science, and I think their comments might be helpful along with those of @NCSwimmom and one or two other parents who have been on here in the past. The Science building is not new and shiny, but my kids never complained. A teacher in one department that we really did not appreciate left a couple years back, and I personally like nearly all of those with whom I have spoken. Not sure exactly what I think of “Exeter math” – the balance in each class between how much “teaching” and “discovery” there should be is debatable, I would think.
BC Calc taken as a junior is still BC Calc taken as a junior, no matter where you take it, no? Meaning, it’s certainly not easy…
7D1 came to SAS as a science person (math as a necessary evil of some science, I think she’d say…then, and now), and she left as one. She has very fond memories of most of her science teachers at SAS, and IIRC took a double science track her senior year — but still managed to find time to find and excavate a piece petrified wood that winter. She was never the only girl in any of her science or math classes.
FWIW, she’s a chemical engineering major now at a top 10 program.
@CaliMex - As a new sophomore at SAS my son struggled with the math at first. He never thought he was a good math student in middle school. After the first semester he was hooked and actually found the Exeter approach and the Art of Problem Solving to make more sense than the traditional “plug and chug” approach. He now really enjoys his math classes and loves Physics! There are a number of students, both male and female, who are quite advanced in math and SAS created math classes to meet their needs. My son really likes the in depth learning and peer discussion that takes place at SAS in all classes - including math and science.
IMO - SAS does a great job of meeting the needs of and challenging both the average and advanced math and science student.
