SevenDad

For new parents looking for a place to stay other than the Middletown Hampton Inn (which generally gets booked up quickly for key SAS weekends AND charges semi-usurious rates for such an out of the way locale), we generally stay at one of the hotels near the Christiana Mall (the Courtyard by Marriott with a relatively fresh renovation is our go-to). It's about 30 minutes to campus from there.

Charger78

Any thumbs up, or down, for the Best Western off the highway in Smyrna? thanks

SevenDad

No experience with it...maybe ops will know.

Charger78

A week after the long weekend . . . DS did sleep a lot, like so many other students, I would think, and lounged in bed, if not sleeping! One day for family stuff, one day with local friends, one day for medical, shopping, back to school. It was very reassuring to see him at home, and to learn more about his new life. It was reassuring to see that close friends at home can still be close friends. And that when he jumped back into school life this past week, it was with gusto. Looked over the school work, through notebooks, last weekend, and he certainly is taking lots of notes. If that means "learning", then I think there would be good progress. Haven't really figured out what the cumulative grades might be as there were not so many individual ones given besides the second language course. This is in stark contrast to those former classmates now in PS or day schools, where the trend to digital record keeping and parental access sounds pervasive. Not too worried about an October surprise as our household is on the same page about an "adjustment allowance" for grades this term. Math, in particular, seems to have a lower, 70-ish, class average, if the word I am getting from DS is reasonably accurate.

islandgirl1993

Hey there! Yes, a great long weekend here. Lots of time for family and friends and errands too. It was the perfect mix for my son. He totally feels that SAS is the best place for him. His local friends complained about the stress of long bus rides and dealing with parents driving everywhere on weekends for social activities! Boy, I don't miss that part of it at all.
I have to agree that we only have a few grades to go on and I will not be surprised at all by the "report card" this fall. Figured this is such an adjustment for all. Yes, I have heard about the math class. DS got a "70 something" and he also stated,"The class average on the test was 66!" It sounds like there is great discussion and lots of writing too. I am sure that they are getting some great foundation skills.
Looking forward to parents weekend. We are staying in a Holiday Inn Express right near Christiana--I think. It is shocking that there is only one hotel in town! Enjoy the afternoon and thanks again for the support here. I really enjoy our little message board. :-)

ops

The Hampton Inn is the most preferred in Middletown and is quickly booked as soon as the SAS calendar is released. In fact, you cannot book in advance until the SAS calendar is on line. How else would they know when to bump up the price. The owner of that particular franchise has also purchased the only viable lot, as per the Planning & Zoning Commission of Middletown, for building another Motel. So far he has elected not to do so. He survives on SAS and U of Del., my guess is that the rest of the year is dismal. There are Bed & Breakfast's in the surrounding area if that is your cup of tea. I recently stayed at one less than 10 minutes from the school. My wife has always booked the Hampton Inn but once in a while we're not quick enough and stay at the Hilton in Christiana. No particular reason for the Hilton, just happened to be the first place we got a room 4 years ago and so has always remain as our fall back unless you run up against U of Del Parents weekend which is how I ended up at a B&B. I am not familiar with Best Western but I'm sure its just fine.

SevenDad

"He totally feels that SAS is the best place for him."

Thanks for sharing, islandgirl1993. As a follow up to my thread on "the perils of advocacy", it's nice to see that I've steered at least one family correctly over the past year! I hope the other new students whose parents are on the forum are having similar feelings, as our daughter did her first year at SAS and still does.

I also appreciated the new parents sharing their POV/experience so far on grades. I think many prospects (and their parents) feel that only the "HADES" schools have any rigor worth paying for, and this is not true. Many schools (SAS is just one) not mentioned in every "chance me" thread will kick even previously high achieving middleschoolers in the butt when it comes to academics...

Our Fall long weekend was probably a bit too packed with family obligations and doctor/dentist visits for my daughter's tastes, but it was good to see her. From her accounts, she's having a good time, enjoying new classes, etc. Seems to be making new friends inside and outside of her class — including many of the new students of all years. Since our week-to-week communication is much better this year than last, I didn't feel like I had to hear every detail/story/funny thing/favorite thing that's happened in the first month of school.

I think the "ethical dilemmas" mealtime discussion prompts they instituted this year are a great idea, and have definitely spurred not only good discussions/debates but good thinking on her part.

One thing that struck me as a point of differentiation (though not exclusive to SAS) that parents may want to enquire about is "How many times a week does the whole school gather as body — for chapel or announcements or whatever?" Obviously a lot easier with smaller schools, but I think some of the larger schools (Exeter comes to mind) do it as well. This sort of thing was important to us, though may not be to all parents.

Charger78

I too heard many comments in the last ten days from the non-BS friends/parents about how grinding it is to get up "so early" in the morning to make buses or carpools for the commute to independent high school. Some did say that a silver lining existed for parent/child interaction. Hmmmm . . . 23 minutes each way is just fine for DD and myself this year.

So, BS goes beyond for what residential living adds to the child's experience, from sleeping later to accessing opportunities outside of school hours (speakers at nearby colleges, etc.) to "70 new brothers and sisters". Amazing weekend just past for our son: soccer game in afternoon, followed hours later by freshmen matched up with seniors for Homecoming dance (8:00 to 10:15), then camping/bonfire overnight outside adviser's house, followed by canoe trip on Brandywine river Sunday morning. (The mixing with older kids is a given.) We asked the boy a few weeks ago about going out to dinner on the weekend and he said, "I don't know, there's a lot going on here that day". Didn't happen, and that made the recent long weekend all the more special.

Totally agree with 7D that inquiring about school meetings, and preferably seeing one/some in action, is revealing. (These days, that may well be achieved through school website or YouTube, though being on campus is much to be desired.) Frequency is worth noting, but the quality of the meetings is vital to the kids living them. Busy work-equivalent, or thought-provoking, emotional, transcendent encounters? SAS has luncheon announcements that can be a riot, Engelhard meetings that can be (artistically) uplifting, Chapels that can inspire awe. The frequency is good, but the variety is exceptional, I think, and does much to bind this small community together. (And altogether differently than does the true athletic rivalry with super-charged spirit week that so many BS have; Peddie-Blair, for one, is an intense communal experience for nearly all 1000 kids, and well done.) SAS kids see how well-rounded other kids can be, outside of class, and that motivates each to challenge him/herself above and beyond. Moreso, I think, than what typically occurs at day schools. Not to rag on, but this is what the extra tuition is going toward . . .

And, finally, I want to publicly thank 7D, similarly to how Seekers did in the advocacy thread, for the "start to finish" posts. It was, for us too, exceptionally revealing about the long admission process and the SAS community in particular. We are happy we made that journey and are fortunate to be at this remarkable place.

islandgirl1993

Great thoughts! I enjoyed reading the posts from both Charger78 and SevenDad. I am beyond thrilled to have my son at SAS thought I cannot lie that I miss him immensely. I find that my younger son is thriving without his domineering older brother around to rule the roost and dictate all our travels. I am a teacher in an independent day school and two of my 8th graders are looking at SAS. They were wowed on their visiting day and excited about the process. I was so excited to share my thoughts with them--of course! One of my students was on the SAS campus and said that each time she spotted my son he was smiling--that really sealed the deal for me. Furthermore, I am so pleased with the structures and policies in place to help students really learn how to manage their time and focus on academics. I love that my son is "unplugged" for most of his waking hours. His friends were all focused on texting when he was home and he finally said, "Please put the phone down so we can have a conversation." I think he appreciates human interaction way more than his local friends. One last thing that I will say is that my son is having a blast playing football. He never played before and even had a chance to play in two varsity games. That would have never happened at Lville or Deerfield. The opportunities are endless. Thanks for sharing in my journey. I am sure there will be ups and downs but I know he is in the right place!

islandgirl1993

Just got reports from SAS! Didn't even realize we would be getting these prior to PW. Great to hear the updates. From a perspective of an educator, these are very well done. They clearly know my son. Room for improvement--but pleased with the transition and start of a new paradigm. Have a wonderful weekend everyone! One week to go. :-)

Charger78

Yes, the reports are duly noted. Would anyone be willing to share how the parent-teacher conferences work? I am imagining that you try to sign up for a slot with those whom you want to see, over any of the available days and periods -- but when and how is that done? Thanks for any clarification.

Charger78

Got word about the P-T conferences last night.

SevenDad

Charger78: Saw your question last night but see that you've gotten an answer...for any other parents who are wondering how the SAS P-Ts work: Your child has to sign you up for them. I think each teacher has a sign up sheet and the kid is responsible for finding an open slot over Parents Weekend. At least that's how it worked last year.

SevenDad

So the day after we get back from Parents Weekend, there's this little storm that blows into town called Sandy...keeping me from updating this thread in a timely manner.

Our visit to campus once again reminded us of what a special school St. Andrew's is, what a special community they've built and continue to foster there. At every weekend when students' families pour in, whether that be Parents Weekend, Arts Weekend, a regatta, or just a move-in/move-out day...we greet and are greeted by a growing roster of familiar and friendly faces. And I'm not just talking the parents of our daughter's roommates or SAS teachers and staff...there are many other parents we have gotten to know by name and who know us as well. While I don't want to get into another "are smaller schools more nurturing" debate here, I will say that the smaller size of SAS certainly makes it easier to find people you've met before in the crowd.

In his remarks to the parents (which I think are intended for new families, but which I can't seem to get enough of), Tad Roach again touched on topics that make SAS special to me. This time around he said something like "If your child is struggling with something here, that's a good." His point is that these are the days (the high school years) when kids should be challenged and learn the value of resilience, of hard work, of failing gracefully, of being able to ask for help. If you are a prospective parent and agree, you would be well served to add SAS to your list of "to consider" schools.

Changing the topic (but not really), in some correspondence with my daughter yesterday, she made a comment that they had the "best chapel speaker ever" (a reference to a line from the film "Rushmore" and an ongoing joke between us rather than any real comment on the relative quality of the speaker) recently.

Here is a link to Chinese teacher Chiachyi Chiu's talk:

http://www.standrews-de.org/podcast/...37&ModuleID=68

Take the 16 minutes or so it takes to listen to it. I think you'll be glad you did.

Charger78

Does this mean you've got Sandy out of your system, 7D?

Mrs. Chiu is great . . . she doesn't hold back, and that feeling can make a great impression on a kid who needs it. (The sound quality is a bit weak -- wonder if they will enhance with video.)