gr8pond

IndyMom4 and friedlymom - have no fear. If your children are anything like mine, the anxiety and trepidation will quickly give way to excitement and optimism. My son is just finishing his 3rd Form. I was on campus last night to pick up a few of his things. While he is clearly excited to get home, he seems more excited about next year. He will miss SPS this summer. It's obvious.
As far as login and info, especially roommates, that will come in the next several weeks. Facebook makes it fun and easy for the kids to connect well before arriving on campus.
Athletic tryouts actually begin when the kids get to school, so no worries there.
While it's natural to be nervous, your children were accepted for a reason. The admissions committee felt they would thrive, and I bet they will.
If you or your children want someone to talk to or want a familiar face when they get to SPS, let me know. They can connect with my son via Facebook and that may alleviate some of the "fear of the unknown"...

emdee

You may find this interesting and instructive (just a little) for incoming students.

https://www.sps.edu/podium/default.a...52562&a=129882

calnat

Does your son play lacrosse? My son will be starting SPS as a 3rd form as well and plays lacrosse.

futureboarder

I was looking at the SPS website and came across a page about the dress code and what to bring. Under the list of things not to bring, I saw that cell phones "may not be used on the grounds". Does this mean I should not bring my cell phone to school? I had thought that it would be the best way to stay in touch with family and friends back home so I was very dissapointed to read this. Could anyone please clarify how the cell phone policy works at SPS? Thanks, futureboarder

sk8

The cell service at SPS has not been very good in the past, but they are putting in a cell tower. You can have a cell phone in your room, but you are not supposed to use it outside of the dorm.

mayhew

SPS is basically a black hole in regards to AT&T cell coverage. I gather Verizon has better service on campus. One of the nice things about not using your cell phone outside of your dorm is that everyone is engaged with one another/focused on interacting with who they are with right then. It is refreshing to not see anyone on cell phones as they walk the paths, go from class to class, etc.

SevenDad

@futureboarder: Although my child does not go to SPS, there is a similar policy in place at St. Andrew's. As mayhem noted, what I think they are trying to guard against are kids texting on the pathway or even in classes (which I know must/does happen at some schools without no-phone policies in place). At my daughter's school, you can use your phone in your room (though service isn't great) or in a designated area behind the dorm. I'm pretty sure using your phone in a public area (pathway, common room, etc.) is a disciplinable offense at SAS...meaning you could receive marks/demerits, which could lead to a detention. My advice is to, within the first few weeks, identify a time of the day/day of the week where you'll know you have free time and let your friends/family know that that time is the time you'll be calling home/free to take calls.

Two more thoughts:
- I would caution you to balance how much you stay in contact with friends and family vs. engaging with the the school community you have chosen to join. Feelings of homesickness could be enhanced (not reduced) by calling home too frequently...especially early on.

- I'm puzzled by incoming students who are "very disappointed" by school policies/rules that by and large are unchanged year to year. This applies to dress code issues as well. I've read several matriculation students ask about dress code over the past two years...and how strictly it is enforced, etc. In my opinion, none of this should be a surprise to kids serious enough about a school to apply and accept.

On a related note, from my parental POV, none of these issues are worth stressing about anyway...are you going to a school for the academics or to use your cellphone/wear clothes that are non-dress code compliant?

futureboarder

Thanks everyone -- this was very helpful. I had gotten the wrong impression from the website that cell phones were not allowed anywhere on the grounds, including dorms. Of course it is important for phones not to be in class, but I think it's also important to be able to call home from time to time. Anyway, thanks again for the clarification

mayhew

futureboarder - You will find that you also have a dedicated phone line within your dorm room for your landline phone - you will have a telephone number assigned just for you.

IndyMom4

Does anyone know if there's a summer reading list? We haven't heard. The one mailing we received from the school suggested we log in to complete health forms online... But to my knowledge we don't have a log in. Just wondering when we will hear from the school...

CKSABS

I just checked the site and only found last year's list when I did a site search, which was was posted on 6/24/11.

friendlymom

There's a mailing coming sometime toward the end of the month and it should have summer reading in it. I think it will also have our parent logins.

runandjump

My D is the only one she knows who hasn't already gotten a summer reading list, so for now she is choosing books from her friends' schools' lists. I have heard that SPS usually assigns The Odyssey to third formers, but that the reading for fourth formers varies more from year to year.

boardingmom12

Hello! Forgive me if this has already been asked, but does anyone know when my daughter (an incoming III former) can expect to hear about her dorm, roommate, and class schedule? Thanks so much!

Sunnylake

Roommate info will be online in early August. You will find out the dorm- and can figure out who the other 3rd formers are in the dorm from the directory info- a few days before the notification of the roommate assignment. Parent passwords to the website came last summer in early July.