Tad & Elizabeth Roach have announced to the community that they are retiring in June of 2021. I want to say that they are absolutely incredible leaders: passionate, insightful, articulate, authentic, dedicated… I could go on and on. I love them both dearly, and am full of admiration for all they have accomplished. But I also want to jump in here and say that the community is completely FULL of absolutely incredible leaders: passionate, insightful, articulate, authentic, dedicated… Tad & Elizabeth will be missed, but nobody should be concerned about the transition… If you love what you hear about this school… the values, the magic, the execution… those things will all continue. I wouldn’t hesitate to send another loved one there if I had any more to give… I’m sure the transition will be seamless.
When Tad visited SF to meet with alumni and applicants several years ago, he spoke of how proud he was of the school’s role in developing the next generation of boarding school leaders.
I’m sad to hear that. When we were there two weeks ago for my son’s interview, Mr. Roach sat down and chatted with several of us parents waiting while our kids were being interviewed. I really enjoyed hearing his thoughts on creating community, and how he/they approach decision-making for the school. Impressive man.
During our revisit day years ago, I asked Mr. Roach point-blank if he was planning on staying at least until my daughter graduated. 
Such was the impression he made on me.
He took a sabbatical her senior year, but came back for graduation.
My wife and I were wondering what building might get named after him…Founders?
SevenDad here, poping in to bring you another dose of SAS in the public eye.
When I saw this Nike spot featuring WNBA superstar (and Delaware native) Elena Delle Donne online last week, I knew it looked familiar. And sure enough, the school recently confirmed that it was indeed shot at St. Andrew’s.
From the SAS FB Post:
Recently, Nike approached St. Andrew’s with a request to use the School as the setting for a commercial featuring Lizzie and Elena Delle Donne.
Given St. Andrew’s relationship with Special Olympics, the School’s mission to cultivate a more kind, inclusive, and loving world, and Head of School Tad Roach’s admiration for Elena Delle Donne’s leadership, integrity, courage, and character, we hosted the Delle Donne family and the film crew on campus in early November.
Head of School Tad Roach talks about how Elena and Lizzie’s relationship and example are directly tied to the mission of our School. He expresses his thanks to our community for their warm hospitality during the filming:
“The story of Elena and Lizzie is one of courage, love, commitment, and family, and soon everyone in the world will begin to understand that Elena is not only the best basketball player in the world; she is a role model and exemplar for human rights, love, and family. St. Andrew’s is proud to play a small part in telling this story. You all played a major part in letting everyone know that we at St. Andrew’s honor human dignity.”
As we are headed into the final stretches of the admission cycle, I’m sad to say that I think we have to cut SAS from the app list. With my DD needing to take the SSAT after a surprisingly disappointing verbal score, her energy is now needed for a whole host of additional activities we hadn’t planned for (additional school research and interviews, more testing dates, etc) and suddenly the fact that SAS has their entire application process totally outside of the Gateway and SAO systems means a fairly decent sized chunk of extra work both for student and for all of her recommenders. We just thought: something has to give, and it felt like proportionately a lot of work for one more school.
Not sure I have a real purpose in posting. But I guess I wanted to share my disappointment since DD and I both really loved a lot about SAS. But we decided her time and chances were better spent adding two SAO schools than one school that was not leveraging even the recommendations.
Sorry SAS has to drop off the list… If the culture seems like the best fit for your daughter, I would encourage you to keep it on the list. Because if you feel it, and admissions feels it… well, that will really improve the odds of getting through admissions. (the whole magic to the place is selecting students, faculty, and staff that genuinely love the ethos, and will work together to maintain it, defend it, foster it, improve it)
But I trust that if you took the time to publicly rule out applying… well, you know what’s best for your daughter and applying to SAS probably isn’t it. I’m wishing your family all the best!
Just for the record for anyone else who is concerned about the burden on recommenders… The admissions office prefers that teachers offering recommendations use their form, but they will accept Gateway, SAO, or any other recommendation form. They do recognize that for some it might be a burden, or that some schools have a policy preventing multiple requests per student (our middle school had a fairly controlled, centralized process for requesting recommendations, and only one standardized recommendation was allowed).
@seekers – that’s actually a very valuable piece of information (that recommenders can use the SAO or gateway forms)! How do you know this? I thought we searched high and low on the website. That was actually the piece that tipped the scales. The extra essays weren’t a huge deal for DD, but the special recommendations that were requested specifically by SAS to be filled out after December 15 felt like a burden for teachers because it not only meant an extra recommendation, but also working over the holiday break.
We confirmed it with admissions when our first was applying, and I re-confirmed it with them before posting today. Again, they do prefer their own form, but are eminently reasonable people.
If you’re on the fence about applying and want more info via PM or phone, just reach out. Again, wishing you all the best!
@seekers In reading your response, I am suddenly realizing why I posted in the first place: I was perhaps secretly hoping someone would have a solution I didn’t know about. Thank you! We absolutely loved SAS and its culture.
@Calliemomofgirls , I think you should try hard to keep this one on your list. Based on what your D liked, this should fit the bill.
@Calliemomofgirls I suggest you call the admissions office to ask. Not because seekers info isn’t good but because it will show that you are really interested. You can explain that you are leery about putting extra demands on already busy teachers, etc. Any warranted chance to speak to an AO is a good idea. I am convinced my son got into a very selective school partly because we showed up a lot at the school to watch sporting events, etc. We appeared very interested in the school.
Thanks @gardenstategal and @one1ofeach for the great advice. I think we just felt a bit tired and overwhelmed the other day. With fresh eyes it seems like we may decide to put SAS back on the list.
FWIW, the SAS essays were among the easiest to write… SAS is a fantastic school. If you are one of those who truly “get” what makes its culture so special, don’t remove it from your list… My $.02
@Calliemomofgirls have you guys looked at all the essays and figured out which ones can be cut or expanded to fit other schools? We had what seemed like an insane # of essays to write for just a few schools but the older helped her you her brother fit basically 4 essays into every prompt.
Thx @one1ofeach and @CaliMex – great advice, and yes we are big leveragers of essays. (Random side note: I was actually the manager of a Stanley Kaplan office about 20 years ago for awhile, so I’ve helped many students with application strategies – mostly on the MBA side since that was my specialty, which isn’t so different from BS.) (The irony of DD SSATs scores being so surprisingly weak is not lost on us.)
Anyway – the real issue for us was the recommendations. We were already in this: “hang tight! our list is changing!” mode for the recommenders after her scores arrived (finally; a week late). SAS has their own portal and recommendations, and specifies they should be done after December 15th. And, in the midst of a huge reshuffling of plans, it felt like just that one extra step we couldn’t take on and we couldn’t ask the recommenders to take on over their Christmas breaks.
Hello All,
I am a current SAS parent. Both me and my wife work in an international Boarding school and decided to send our son half the way around the world in 2018 as an outcome of him expressing desire to be in an independent residential school setting. We have been simply amazed at the way he has flourished at SAS, and has grown and progressed academically as well as socially. SAS’ magic is in the intimacy produced by a small cohort of handpicked students who learn and grow together in a 100% boarding environment. The culture is kinder and gentler than what I have witnessed in other schools, and kids relish an academically challenging environment that also emphasizes character building and global mindedness.
The subtle, understated nature of SAS makes it a bit of an enigma since it is not discussed as frequently in forums as are some of its other peers. However, having worked in a Boarding School for a while, I now know that SAS is one of the finest schools that exists in the US. If there are any prospective parents wanting to discuss our experience with SAS in detail, we will be happy to spare the time to do so.
Hi. Do any current parents have any insight to the interim HOS and what the future looks like with regards to school leadership? Thank you.
The interim head for next year is… Tad Roach (I hear good things!).
He and Elizabeth are staying on until the summer of 2021, and will do everything they can to make the transition seamless.
A few years ago, Tad took a sabbatical. That gave us a preview of how the school would function with someone else at the helm… It was the same wonderfully supportive culture full of passionate, talented people working incredibly hard in the classroom, on the athletic fields, and in the community.
Tad is beloved, brilliant, and respected. His will be a tough act to follow. But I am not at all concerned about the transition or the future of the school, and here’s why:
The ‘magic’ of St Andrew’s is not the product of ensorcellment by The Wizard Tad; It isn’t a spell that will fade when he leaves. It is the sum total of the commitments every individual member of the the community makes to each other, every day, in small and subtle ways. I know that this requires a certain trust, a leap of faith, to believe… But SAS has always asked for that trust and commitment from those who join the community.
I don’t mean to make light of the concerns folks might have. I just want to share my absolute faith that this community is completely full of people who are 100% committed to all the values that Tad articulates so beautifully. Go and speak with students, faculty, administrators, and support staff… all those people will still be making the magic happen after Tad leaves.
I know the head of school role is important, but I also trust that an incredibly wise and passionate search committee is working on choosing a worthy successor from a deep pool of amazing applicants. Whoever takes the role will be someone who shares the passion and vision that Tad has championed. And I know that a fantastic community will support the new head and facilitate the transition.