<p>The Head at St. Andrew’s sounds great, but the school does not work for us. It does not offer hockey.</p>
<p>I love the idea of the Head of school being on the sidelines for games and having students over. Some Headmasters are more approachable than others, and each one has his or her own style. </p>
<p>I agree that SPS and Salisbury are very different schools; though they both seem to have great Headmasters. Salisbury is a school my son could slide right into and do very well. SPS is a bit trickier. It offers a lot of independence, and our son would probably grow the most as a person in that environment. I think it is important to look at different schools. My son has another year at home to mature and pull his grades and test scores up a bit. I am not sure which school would be better for him a year from now which is why we are considering both at the moment. I cannot really comment on Millbrook since we did not look at it last fall, but after 2 rejections and a wait list spot we would like to add a “safety” school to our list next year. </p>
<p>Westminster will begin a search for a new Headmaster soon. Anyone know about leadership at either Kent or Taft? Kent’s Headmaster has been there since 1982.</p>
<p>I am currently a senior at St. Mark’s School in Southborough, Ma. I am from CT so I looked at a bunch of schools you mentioned. I have to say though that if you want a headmaster who really gets to know the students and parents as well as inspires, you should take a look at St. Mark’s. John Warren is the head of school and he makes an effort to know every student in the school. He also graduated in 1974 from St. Mark’s so his love for the school runs deep. You will always see him walking down the halls saying hi to students. He goes to all the athletic events and is an avid fan. He is popular with the students, parents, faculty, trustees, and alumni. He and his wife make a huge, huge effort to be friendly faces and its very rare when people say negative things about him and what he has done for SM the past 3 years. </p>
<p>Furthermore, our hockey team used to be one of our strongest aspects. However it has gone downhill, but they have been doing some recruiting to bring it back up. Also your son would definitely have the chance to play. I know we had a losing record, but we have the most supportive fans in the ISL. Granted we can be rowdy, but we are always cheering for our teams. At our Groton football game this year the entire school cheered the team to make an incredible comeback. You would have thought we won, but we didn’t. We even out-cheered Groton (the home team)! After the game, when the football players arrived back on campus there were students waiting for them in the pouring rain in two columns and when the football players walked through we clapped for them.</p>
<p>Everyone here has their own thing and is encouraged to go for it. After all our motto is “Age quod agis” or do what you do.</p>
<p>I hope you consider St. Mark’s. It has been an unbelievably amazing experience for me and I am so happy.</p>
<p>I was in 8th grade, 12 years old. Had to practice swimming with the varsity. The pool was over chlorinated. There was no connection between the upper and lower school, no set up mentoring. I had a dorm master (for 2 years) that was ex Vietnam US officer and had a chip on his shoulder about NYC private school kids. There was no counselor programs set up, no mentoring in the apartments of the teachers for the lower school. Lower School teachers never met as a group to discuss the students unless the parents requested it. I did fine academically and graduated through 9th grade, though I did not have a whole lot of fun.</p>
<p>It was a friggin nightmare!</p>
<p>I got into SMS, Middlesex and some others. My uncles/grandfather were alumni of SMS and my uncle taught there in the 60’s. I should have gone there, but the headmaster was not well liked by my parents, and I guess he dragged the school down a bit.</p>
<p>fif applied to Larry as a day student in '69 for 9th grade (rejected!). Recall my father saying the school reminded him of attending Shady Side Academy in the 30’s – a pretty tough place where the boys were expected to sink or swim. Never really regretted not going…</p>
<p>Sarum and fif ended up in a pretty good place - Sarum.</p>
<p>smski - Thank you for your comments on SMS. We have heard of it, but really do not know to much about it. It sounds like the Head is doing a great job! I love the fact that he knows everyone by name. That sort of relationship with students is important to us. The school spirit sounds great too! How competitive is admissions?</p>
<p>Some of you are concerned about my sons “B’s”. I am too; though the school he was wait listed at is one of the “HADES”, and the admissions director has been very encouraging about him reapplying. Hopefully his grades will improve next year. He attends a private independent school that is well known and could easily hold its own in the New England prep school arena. It has very strong academics. What is frustrating is, if he attended our public school I am sure he’d be an A student. He is a very strong athlete and has had some wonderful leadership experience. </p>
<p>fif - Shady Side Academy has come a long way. It is amazing school! Currently 5 day boarding, but I hear it is seriously considering offering 7 day boarding in the very near future. They are really trying to build their hockey program, and in order to do so, they want to be able to recruit top talent from other areas of the country. Beautiful campus too!</p>
<p>Admissions is competitive. They had about a 27% acceptance rate this year and the average SSAT was about a 85% I think?</p>
<p>We also have advisor dinners where your advisory groups go over to Choate House (the headmaster’s house) and eat dinner with Mr. Warren and his wife.</p>
<p>If you have anymore questions feel free to ask!</p>
<p>Appreciate the info about SSA – my late father boarded there in the late 20’s, early 30’s starting in 7th grade! He supported the school and we all went with him for his 50th.</p>
<p>He mentioned that in those days one had to replace the detachable collar on his shirt several times a day due to the soot from the steel mills!</p>
<p>Milton students and alumni should be delighted with the new incoming headmaster, Todd Bland. Todd possesses the qualities that exemplify great leadership. Kudos to Milton.</p>