St. Paul's School Concord NH

For any piano player out there, try to get a spot in the jazz ensemble.

Hey cc family! Iā€™ve been MIA from cc for a bit, but wanted to drop in to thank everyone who has pā€™m us. All advise and kind words have been greatly appreciated- by us, the parents and when I passed them on to copperboomkid.

I can now safely announce that copperboomkid has decided to attend Bard College SR. She was actually only a couple credits away from being able to graduate from high school with her GEDā€¦ something a lot of dancers doā€¦ sheā€™s been dancing and finishing up a lot of credits since leaving SPS but sheā€™s thrilled with the possibility of starting college early. The early college program is obviously NOT for everyone, the campus isnā€™t ā€œfancyā€, and it lacks the ā€œivyā€ feel but she seems to fit. She has known what she has wanted ā€œto doā€ since she was like 11 or 12, so picking classes has really energized her. Kid has never been on a straight path- ever! Iā€™ve given up trying to figure her out or box her in. Sheā€™s a force of nature. So last week she ā€œgraduatedā€ high school at 15. Still wrapping my head around that.
Now if I can only get her to get her drivers permit- geesh!

We will still have the option of bringing her back to our state school her junior, senior year. They have a top 3 ranked program in her area of interest and a great 5th year masters program. Or she can transfer out somewhere else. Iā€™m making her take the SATā€™s in June ( crazy cc parent ikr, just in case she wants to transfer. Her recent mock test scores were perfect so Iā€™m not worried) We were very lucky to receive scholarships/grants. We were never planning on a small LACā€¦ especially so soon, but timing is everything. And we have taught her to follow her gut. She still wears her SPS gear so I guess SPS will always be ā€œhigh schoolā€ for her, even if copperboom mom/dad were frustrated. Iā€™m glad she has found a healthy attitude about it all. fingers crossed this fall goes well.

Happy graduation to all SPS grads! best time of year @ mā€™ville

Does someone know the school chat for other great schools?

Congrats, @copperboom! Iā€™m glad it all worked out! Happy to have you back on cc, too!

Great ending, @copperboom! Excited that this path opened as it did.

Congrats @copperboom and best wishes to your DD on her new journey!! Thanks fo sharing your good news!!

Thanks everyone! Sheā€™s very happy. I have to admit though that Iā€™ve gotten used to having her around again

Congrats @copperboom !!!

How does the end of year move out work? It looks like the last day of exams is 6/5 but they canā€™t leave until after handshakes on 6/6? Thanks!

Most boarding schools make sure you clean your room and get sign off by a house parent or staff before you can go.

@preppedparent Thanks, Iā€™m aware of that but was hoping for specific insight into the timing at SPS. I think my kid could be ready to move out on 6/5 but it says that the handshakes are required and donā€™t happen until 4:30 on 6/6.

Yes, handshakes (and often hugs!) are required. Itā€™s a great community based tradition to end the year. My kids wouldnā€™t have wanted to miss it even if they could.

@HMom16 they canā€™t leave before handshakes in the afternoon of 6/6. The school is open overnight and many leave the next morning, on 6/7.

@GoatMama Thanks!

Goatmama, (and any other St Paul family), thank you for your very helpful posts. My son is a STEM kid, and we have the impression that most of the top boarding schools are supercharged in the liberal arts and humanities areas, some may have very good traditional science courses like Bio, Chem, and Physics, but far less academic opportunities in technology areas such as strong computer science electives, strong robotics team competitions, other science or tech competitions; Can you talk about St Paulā€™s academic opportunities in technology areas just mentioned? does St Paul offer help and guidance in getting summer science research internships or summer tech internships for students? Do STEM kids fit in St Paul?

Also, can any St Paul Students or Families comment about the following:

1-the level of St Paulā€™s academic competition and stress - Is St Paul notoriously had grading? Are students graded on a curve or no curves? do they tend to work together and help each other or do they cut each otherā€™s throats and stab others in the back to get ahead? is the workload so excessive that most students suffer from sleep deprivation, are depressed, and stressed out? are academic or stress related medical leaves common?

2 - Are the students happy to be there or wish they had not come to such an excessive pressure cooker? Do they have time to make friends and grow their relationships, and spend some time enjoying some nonacademic, fun activities?
3- I have also heard twice within the past 2 months from different people that have interacted with St Paul students/graduates and found them to be very snobbish, is that also a common theme?

4- I have heard general comments from students/parents from top boarding schools bemoan that, because the quality of the students admitted is so top notch at schools like Andover, Exeter, St Paul, etc, their college matriculation results suffered as one has to be almost insanely exceptional in order to stand out in such a crowd. In other words, they bemoaned that they went from the pinnacle of high schools to much lesser schools at college level. You understand what they are saying right? a B/B+ record from these schools might not cut it; on the other hand, there are plenty of students from lesser schools that donā€™t get into first tier colleges despite 4.0 records.

5- Finally, what constructive criticisms do you have about St Paul that you can share?

Thank you in advance for replying!

@jogger To answer some of your questions:

My kid is also a STEM kid. We chose St. Paulā€™s (SPS) for its engineering and science programs. Have you looked at the course catalog? https://www.sps.edu/page/curriculum-detail?fromId=188726&LevelNum=98&DepartmentId=7118

As a third former (9th grade) he took Intro to Artificial Intelligence, Artificial Intelligence & Robotics, Intro to Programming and Physics First. He also joined the Robotics & Engineering club and participated in a state wide programming competition. The robotics & engineering lab is open most nights for kids to work on a competition project or on a project of their own. Kids interested in competition can take SC212: USFIRST Robotics Engineering Team as a class or assist with the competition as an EC.

In addition to the ā€œtraditionalā€ high school science classes, SPS offers a wide range of classes in more specific topics such as Galactic Astronomy, Exercise Physiology, Terrestrial Ecology, Engineering Design, etc. In addition, the Engineering Honors program begins in 5th form, includes an internship at a university engineering lab and culminates in a capstone project their senior year.

STEM kids definitely fit in at SPS.

Hope this is helpful!

In answer to your second set of questionsā€¦

  • My kid came from a mediocre public middle school. He is good at time management and isnā€™t really a procrastinator. He found the coursework manageable and did not experience significant stress. Students strive to do their best work - he never felt that he was competing with his fellow students for grades.

Assuming you mean ā€œhard gradingā€ - every class is different, some classes/teachers are more difficult than others.

I donā€™t know if there is a policy on curving but none of my kidā€™s quantitative classes were curved. Canvas shows the high, low and median grades so the kid can see where they stand relative to the class. Grading in his humanities class was more difficult to understand as he received very little feedback on his work. Again, this varies tremendously by instructor.

My sonā€™s classmates and dorm mates were always willing to answer questions, lend a textbook or help however they could. SPS has a strict honor code so there may be limitations imposed by a teacher. For example, classmates are not allowed to edit an essay (outside of the writing center) and any assistance received must be declared when the project is turned in.

It is my impression that the workload is NOT oppressive. My kid had no problem going to sleep between 10-11 and getting up at 7:30. He was not sleep deprived, stressed or depressed. But, as I said previously, he has good study habits. His goal is to get the best grades he can while working as little as he can. However, his roommateā€™s goal was to be ā€œthe hardest working studentā€ at SPS (as posted on his wall). That kid stayed up all night and was stressed (although not depressed.) Although he got good grades, that kid had poor study habits - watched YouTube while studying, left his books/papers/stuff all over the room and throughout the dorm, etc.

Everyone we have met seems happy there. I havenā€™t heard anyone describe SPS as an ā€œexcessive pressure cooker.ā€

We have not experienced this at all. My kid has a diverse set of friends, both socioeconomically and racially. Everyone weā€™ve met has been welcoming and supportive.

This is a common topic on CC so I would encourage you to search the forum for answers to this.

Usually someone asking for constructive criticism is in a position to effect change. While there are certainly things that I would change about SPS, they really donā€™t impact my kidsā€™ experience. For example, I wish that the public facing website was updated more regularly. I wish the athletic center was open later in the evening. I wish the cafeteria used humanely raised meats and that SPS had a farm which could supply some of their food (similar to Hotchkiss).

Hope this helps!

In general colleges have unwritten rules on how many students they will accept from each school. This is true for even your non-elite schools. The counselors know/white board who is applying to where. They will ā€œcounsel/suggestā€ kids not to apply to schools they truly are not interested, because that ā€œego spotā€ may be another studentā€™s Dream School. When my sons were applying to colleges they were given verbal short lists of ā€œONLY apply if you ARE going to accept.ā€
Iā€™ve never seen an a good student NOT be placed where they can thrive. Meaning - No you didnā€™t get into Harvard or MIT, you were accepted into Rensselaer or Poly - potato potatoe. No loss in Education or Networking.

No they donā€™t, although itā€™s certainly a fun urban legend. No college has a min/max/quota.
http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/20157192/#Comment_20157192

That said, if 22 students from SPS over 4 years were accepted to Harvard, itā€™s unlikely that the number will spike to 10 in the next admissions cycle.
https://www.sps.edu/page/about-sps/sps-facts