<p>I would like to hear from any parents who had or have kids at saint ann’s in brooklyn, ny. What is the school like? How was the process of college applications handled when there are no grades? Do you have older kids in college now, how did or how are they doing in a graded situation now? It sounds like a terrific school.</p>
<p>I am not there yet with my two kids who are St. Ann’s students, but St. Ann’s has done extremely well with college placement (#1 in the Wall Street Journal “Getting Into the Ivy Gates” a few years ago —although you can always find fault with the methods of these surveys). The kids do get very detailed teacher reviews twice a year and the colleges look at those. Friends tell me that kids who get excellent teacher reviews and take advantage of lots of opportunities in high school do well in college. Probably the same as anywhere. Kids who coasted at St. Ann’s (which maybe it is more possible to do without the grades) can have trouble. Re: the school itself — there is a “poet in residence” and kids have poetry class from pre-school on. The school turns out amazing writers. Theater, art, Latin, French and Chinese programs are great. Even though the school is not known for science, I think the department is strong. The downside – the math department is inconsistent and, sometimes when rigor and memorization are needed, I wish for grades!</p>
<p>The college process is pretty much the same at St. Ann’s as it is anywhere else. The only difference is that we send our anecdotal reports to schools, instead of just a gpa/ class rank. This actually works for the student, as it is, at best the equivalent of having a recommendation from every teacher you’ve ever had. Even if some reports are not great, it gives schools a chance to get to know the student much better than most college applications. Although some kids do have trouble with the transition to college (i.e. getting grades for the first time, not having one-on-one interaction with professors), many find that the ‘liberal arts’ courseload at St. Ann’s is good preparation for college.</p>
<p>If you have any more questions, please PM me.</p>
<p>I am now a senior at St. Ann’s, and thus intimately familiar with your question.</p>
<p>The narrative reports, even when there are problems, are more ambiguous, and thus moer beneficial, to the students. With the narrative, it’s difficlult to disting b/w B- and C or C+ work - - and the studenst get the benefit of the doubt. </p>
<p>One area where St. Ann’s could be more forthright and compassionate is in it’s “counseling out” process. Families that have been counseled out report being advised that their child/ren would not be invited to return too late in the year to make alternate plans w/ other independ schols. </p>
<p>I know of one similar problem related to college counseling. A family learned for the first time, that St. Ann’s though the student in quest was unprepared for college when the college counselor suggeste PG boarding sch prgms.</p>
<p>I teach at one of St. Ann’s rival schools, so I know it well. Anyway, when we were doing our college tours and info sessions two years ago, one of the questions from the audience was that her HS had a unique grading system. This school was not St. Ann’s, but the rep said that Ad Coms are familiar with most HS grading systems and do fine evaluating students from all different systems. He said, “We even understand the way St. Ann’s works!” So, I truly wouldn’t worry. It has a great record for college placement, despite their unique method of sending large portfolios as part of the applications!</p>
<p>Bottom line is St. Ann’s admits based on IQ test (which may miss some bright students, but there really aren’t many false positivies); the kids are bright, the classes are small and college placement is strong. But this is true for any of the top NYC day schools (Brearley, Spence, Chapin, Collelgiate, Trinity, Mann), but St. Ann’s is the only top tier sch in Brooklyn (though thosse at Packer, or even Poly, might disagree).</p>
<p>My response is way too late but St. Ann’s truly is a wonderful school. I graduated in '81 and attended an Ivy League School. Warm and supportive, brilliant and inspiring teachers and wonderful job with placement. Unfortunately, it skewed my standards regarding placement in college forever. After moving to a different part of the country, I have been struck by how the best placing schools in the region place nothing like St. Ann’s did. Virtually every kid got into a very good school, with an extraordinary % of Ivies. And right behind the Ivies, the school sent bundles of kids to excellent schools like Amherst and Wesleyan. Don’t know if it is still the same but I would assume it is because of all the good press it has gotten.</p>
<p>D1 & D2 attended in elementary school, before we had to move. Wonderful school then, for them. Extremely difficult adjustment to public school afterwards, since they were multiple grade levels ahead due to their work at Saint Ann’s; with small groups enabling them to progress at close to their own actual capabilities in the major subjects.</p>
<p>Personally I didn’t care for the administration too much. Though this was in the “stanley era”. But I had no issues with what went on in the classrooms.</p>
<p>I was concerned about how the whole grading thing would work in the high school, but of course we never got that far. But I sat in on some HS classes, and the level and discussion was very impressive.</p>
<p>My thought is that colleges weight SAT’s higher from students at St. Ann’s because they don’t have grades to go on. This is great for students in the 2250-2400 range but perhaps more challenging for students who may be exceptional in the classroom but are in the 2000-2200 and looking at Ivy / Ivy-like (stanford, mit, JH, caltech, duke) schools.</p>