St. Paul's School Concord NH

Prep School Admissions
2841

<p>I have to totally agree with the sentiment posted in the last few posts. Our son will graduate this year from SPS, our older son graduated 9 years ago.</p>

<p>The youngest struggled very hard his first year, he’d come from an alternative Montessori type school, never a test, homework or deadline… but really wanted SPS. We helped prepare him in middle school a bit with online classes from CTY, but in the end took the plunge because it was his dream.</p>

<p>First year was tough, but he was guided, he made lots of mistakes but learned to make good decisions, keep a planner, listen to his adviser. He never needed to be placed in study hall but we knew it was there and if we requested it, SPS would have enforced it. BUT, he GREW in leaps and bounds over the next 2 1/2 years.</p>

<p>He is headed off to his dream school next year.</p>

<p>BTW, I don’t want to brag, but for anyone who was at the revisit day a week ago (March 29, I believe) that was my son doing the impromptu demo on the Science on a Sphere at the Lindsey Center. He did the same at parent’s Inside weekend for all you current parents. He’s working on new applications for the sphere, programming it (above my pay grade), giving faculty and staff demos across the disciplines as his Independent Study project. </p>

<p>So bottom line is, he made the right choice, and SPS gave him the room he needed to grow. He didn’t out-grow SPS. We thought he might outgrow a school that was more “hands on”, although it would have been the safer and more comfortable choice for us as parents. </p>

<p>He’s now ready to move on with confidence, off to his next challenge, with a great sense of accomplishment.</p>

<p>Welcome to all of you who are making SPS your choice, you’ll always be a valued member of the SPS community now.</p>

2842

<p>I can’t thank you all enough for confirming our decision! Keep this positive stuff coming!!! Is there an online forum for SPS parents to share thoughts/experiences? I will SO miss knowing my son’s friends, teachers, coaches, etc., and I will miss my social time on the soccer sidelines. Funny how much of this transition feels like it’s me who’s the one growing up. He is ready for the challenge and he truly needs to grow without the constant guidance/management of all of us (parents and the very structured school he’s been attending) who think we know what’s best for him. It blew my mind to see his eyes light up at the robotics team demonstration, and he announced that he would like to try it. His gift has always been in languages, and that’s how everyone here sees him. So neat to realize that he might re-write his own script and find new passions. I truly believe this is how he will self-realize and carve out his own path. He is a very independent kid, has been away from home a lot… I really have nothing to worry about. But it is a leap of faith (faith in him and in the school) that’s still tough to swallow.<br>
Thanks for all of your encouragement!!! So glad your children have had positive experiences! ~IndyMom</p>

2843

<p>My daughter will be joining your son in the 3rd Form next year. I wish we could have gone to the revisit days because from your description it sounds amazing, and the idea of finding new interests is exactly why I think boarding school will be such a great opportunity. </p>

<p>On the “freedom with responsibility” topic, I attended SPS so when we went for the interview I took the chance to spend some time visiting a few former teachers of mine. It was really clear from having extended conversations with them that they are closely monitoring what’s going on with the students. They aren’t telling them where they need to be or what they need to be doing at all times of the day, but if there is a student who isn’t keeping it together, they intervene. </p>

<p>I was a little concerned about the lack of freshman dorms, but the teachers seem to feel that it works better if everyone has just a couple of 3rd formers to look out for than if there are some teachers who are responsibility for a group compised entirely of 3rd formers. Each school we visited touted the advantages of their housing system, so my guess is that there isn’t one clear answer for the best way to do this.</p>

<p>Congratulations on making your big decision!</p>

2844

<p>MomForAll: I attended the Inside SPS weekend, and your son did a phenomenal job introducing us all to the sphere, and some of the things it can do. He was a fantastic presenter, and was so smooth compared to all of us parents whose mouths were just open in amazement at what this piece of equipment is capable of - and how he worked it with such ease!
friendlymom: the multi-form dorm placement was a new concept for me, but it has been really great. Having the children living with, and being comfortable, with schoolmates from all different forms has been great, and something that I think they will benefit from all their lives as they go on in life, knowing that many more SPS graduates better than they ever would have in form restricted housing.</p>

2845

<p>I wanted to bump this thread for those of us starting to prepare for entering St. Paul’s. </p>

<p>Also, I had a question for current students/parents about the dress code: D and I noticed that the handbook says that skirts and shorts are to be “mid-thigh”. Is that enforced? Shorter skirts and shorts are in fashion so we wanted to be sure not to buy things that she couldn’t wear at school next year.</p>

2846

<p>This was just announced at Monday’s Chapel:</p>

<p>Dress Code Reminders
The following does not meet Dress Code for the academic day:
• Clothing that is not neat and in good repair – no frayed shorts!
• Athletic wear including sweatpants, and warm-ups
• Athletic T-shirts
• Skirts or shorts of a length shorter than mid-thigh
• Tank tops, tube tops, halter tops, or anything that is low-cut or reveals the back and/or the midriff area </p>

<p>Girls tops must have collars and/or sleeves. Boys must wear shirts with collars.</p>

<p>Dress for the Non-Academic Part of the Day: When classes are not in session, students may dress in a more relaxed manner but should remember to dress respectfully, sensibly, and appropriately at all times in clothing that is clean and in good repair.</p>

2847

<p>Thanks for getting the ball rolling, FriendlyMom! </p>

<p>I’m wondering if any of you knows when they do language testing for next year’s placement. We were under the impression that they were going to send us a test, but called with a question about who would administer it. The woman I spoke with in Admissions seems to think the test will be administered once the kids arrive on campus. Does anyone know if that’s true? My son’s language placement may dictate his schedule and choice of arts class, etc. So it would be nice to know the faculty is figuring out placements and schedules in advance. Thanks!</p>

2848

<p>My daughter received the language placement test yesterday, after sending in the postcard around 2-3 weeks ago. The instructions said it should be completed within 4 days of receipt. I also contacted the head of the math department, who said that they don’t use placement tests for math - they use the forms that the student and current math teacher fill out, plus the information in the admissions file.</p>

2849

<p>Does she take the language test on her own, or does a teacher administer it? Haven’t sent the cards in b/c he’s ragging his feet on arts selection… thx!</p>

2850

<p>Hi Indymom- the instructions say that she should take it on her own. The point is to try to get the most appropriate placement so I think anyone who cheats is sort of shooting themself in the foot, in that they would end up in a class that’s way too hard for them to handle. D did show the test to her current teacher because the teacher was interested.</p>

<p>As for the postcard about languages, you can (and should) send the language card in right away even if the other forms aren’t ready, because they want to get the placement process going. </p>

<p>Which of the arts is your son considering? D is going to take dance because she’s been doing it for a couple of years wants to keep going with it, and hopes to get to the point where she can do SPSBC. She also loves visual arts and theater, so she’ll add those in later and/or do it as an extracurricular thing.</p>

2851

<p>Thanks for the dress code feedback. What I can aprse from that reminder is that the basic rule for girls is “not skimpy”, so we’ll keep the shorts and skirts at a reasonable length. I’m kind of happy to have the dress code to rely on for this particular issue!</p>

2852

<p>Does the housing survey go back in the same envelope with the course information or does it go somewhere else? My daughter was amused filling out the survey because she doesn’t know what her habits will be at school next year.</p>

2853

<p>I’m answering all of these questions because I’ve been a total pest with the AO asking things - in fact, the housing form question is one that I asked! They said you can send the housing form in the same envelope as the other forms and it will be routed to the correct place.</p>

<p>My D also didn’t really know what her habits would be next year, and really couldn’t say what she would or wouldn’t want in a roommate. She wrote that she would be studying in the common room, and wants a talkative roommate. She’s dying to know who her roommate is going to be, so I had to break it to her that she may well not find out until school starts.</p>

<p>Current students/parents - when do they let you know which dorm you’re in and who you’re rooming with?</p>

2854

<p>My son is not inclined toward the arts… in fact, one of his favorite things at Groton was the opportunity to fulfill the art requirement in the wood shop. He’s likely to sign up for “applied music” (i.e. music lessons in a chosen instrument… don’t know what instrument, though), as this seems to be the only way to open up his schedule for two languages. As for language placement, I was just wondering if it was to be administered at school or not because he has an issue w/ his school’s middle school French teacher. Although the school claims to have an accelerated curriculum, he has found that in French they were teaching to the group (it’s a small school) and he wanted to move ahead at a quicker pace. When we approached the teacher to ask for enrichment ideas, she was closed off (presumably she doesn’t want anyone moving ahead of the group). It was disappointing that she didn’t sieze the chance to work w/ an interested student. We ended up working outside the system, and he has been moving ahead w/ a private tutor who asked us not to share this with the school’s teacher. The two teachers know each other, and the tutor doesn’t want to under-cut her or something… Anyway, my son has tried to lie low and hide the extent to which he’s moved ahead so in order to be properly placed at SPS he is hoping that he won’t have the French teacher looking over his shoulder. More information than you needed, but this is why we were wondering about the details of this placement test. He isn’t following a typical curriculum, so may be a little hard to place and I just wanted it to be a more pure test rather than having him feel like he’s playing a hide & seek game w/ his current French teacher. So looking forward to no longer playing these games, as I’m sure at SPS he will be plenty challenged and have excellent teachers!</p>

2855

<p>Oy, sounds like kind of a mess. Things should be a lot simpler when he gets to SPS!</p>

2856

<p>New students find out roommate/house info around the beginning of August. I always chuckled at the roommate form b/c kids habits are different when mom isn’t there to nag about cleaning the room. Be as honest as possible! </p>

<p>Indymom4 - no need for his school french teacher to see his placement test. ;)</p>

2857

<p>SPS Lax need some help it seems.</p>

2858

<p>Bump…some real help, how can they stand to have a school of that size and not support their lax program?</p>

2859

<p>Back in my day The Rock (Mr. Gillespie) coached lax. All the players had to start practice by running the loop in full gear - and snow boots, when it was the early days of the season.</p>

2860

<p>Obviously, the adcoms choose students for reasons other than their lax skills. And students choose to attend SPS for reasons other than for sports but for the academics, the great arts programs, the sense of community, etc. Not a bad thing in my opinion. :)</p>

<p>I do know several key players were missing at the last game. The team has a new coach this year and that the team is facing its toughest competitors at the start of the season. Not a lax mom, so who knows? ;)</p>