School Year Starting at SFDS

[teamlala]

Wednesday, Sept 1 - school year is starting at SFDS. Welcome questions from people just starting the process of looking at schools and would like some info / feedback from a parent at SFDS.

[seemommyrun]

Thanks for offering to share some info. Really appreciate it since we don't know any current families & it's on our list to tour.

Here are my questions:

- For SFDS do you feel it’s necessary to attend the open house + the tours? I imagine we’ll do both but curious if you found value in the open house?
- I know a lot of people are very impressed with SFDS, the actual library keeps getting mentioned from people that tour, what are the 2 or 3 things that stood out for you?
- In general -- Which other schools did you apply to? Any advice for someone just starting the process?

[teamlala]

Thanks for offering to share some info. Really appreciate it since we don't know any current families & it's on our list to tour.

Here are my questions:

- For SFDS do you feel it’s necessary to attend the open house + the tours? I imagine we’ll do both but curious if you found value in the open house?
- I know a lot of people are very impressed with SFDS, the actual library keeps getting mentioned from people that tour, what are the 2 or 3 things that stood out for you?
- In general -- Which other schools did you apply to? Any advice for someone just starting the process?


I think they want you to go to the open house and fill out an application before you do the tour. I remember the open house being more useful. My wife was more skeptical about the school (and private school in general) and the open house she says really opened up her eyes as to the possibilities. The big selling point is the Q/A with the 8th grade kids at the end. You just think - I would be happy if my kid ended up as articulate, confident and poised as they were.

The library is nice - but I don't know if it really stands out as a major plus for me. They do fund it very well (we know the librarian) but I think it is just OK. My wife really liked the lower school science curriculum. I was looking for someplace that would teach our kid to really think critically but still enjoy learning and I was impressed overall with the academics. We both really liked Dr. Jackson - especially my wife- since she is an educator and he really spoke to her regarding pedagogy.

We applied to Live Oak, SFDS, Friends and Synergy. We wanted co-ed and more laid back - where we could feel comfortable. Advice I guess would be to make your own judgements about the school and the community. Don't just listen to the conventional wisdom. Also - the parents who go to the open houses and social events are not necessarily the same as those who actually get in. Overall, parents and families are a lot more down to earth than one might think by the crowd at the events or the reputation.

[seemommyrun]

This is incredibly helpful, thank you so much!!

[ladivavida]

Hi teamlala,

We finally had the chance to attend the SFDS open house. Relative to the tours and open houses at other schools, we didn't come away from SFDS with the warm fuzzy we got elsewhere. I'm not sure whether it's because we didn't get to see students in action or that the OH was at night, but now we're debating whether to apply or not. It just seems that the school has put up such a high hurdle in order to tour and learn more about the school when none of the others have. Any thoughts or suggestions? Thank you for your help!

[teamlala]

Well, I would probably say go with your gut reaction. One person's warm fuzzies does not necessarily transfer. Winnowing down your choices is hard enough not to listen to your own visceral reactions. That said, it would help if you could describe what it was that didn't leave you with a good feeling and I can help articulate if I feel your concern is valid from my own experience. Regarding the tours - having helped run them myself - I know that one of the concerns of the school is that there are so many application requests in general that the school wants to try to give everybody a quick highlight tour to see if they are really interested before making people go through the application / interview / day tour process. I don't think it is meant to be exclusionary, just trying to optimize limited time and resources.

[ladivavida]

Teamlala, thanks for getting back to me and bearing with me! Considering all the great things we've heard about SFDS, we really want to like the school. I just want to make sure that I get as much info as I can before deciding to apply or not. The last thing I want is to pass on applying if a tour could give us more insight and possibly make SFDS one of our top choices.

To a certain extent, I felt that the teachers we saw during the open house were more lecturing about how/what they teach. Granted, they provided opps for Q&A. I felt the school did a great job in the open house conveying how academically rigorous the program is but perhaps less so about the school community or other intangibles that help parents like me determine fit. Seeing the students and teachers in action, however brief that may be, would have gone a long way helping me gauge fit. Just about all the other schools we've seen so far offer tours staggered over October and November so that's why it's a little frustrating we couldn't do the same at SFDS.

Anyway, here are some of the questions I have for now:

- How does SFDS handle students that are more advanced/need more help within the classroom? (I know one of the students talked about support after class during Q&A but I'm more interested in what happens during class).
- How does the style of teaching vary by grade? Is it more traditional/progressive? Are the students working in small groups or are they being taught to in one big group?
- How do the teachers get students interested and engaged in what they're teaching?
- What kind of performing arts/music opportunties are there for the students?
- How often does the school get together for assembly or other gatherings? How does the faculty help to promote the sense of spirit and community?

I really really appreciate your help! At least you've given me insight into how great one of the SFDS parents is...:)

[teamlala]

I'll try to address your questions - but you should ask them at the next tour as well.

- How does SFDS handle students that are more advanced/need more help within the classroom? (I know one of the students talked about support after class during Q&A but I'm more interested in what happens during class).

SFDS has a Learning Resource Program (LRP) that has been implemented in the past couple of years. The program was developed partly because of some concern / criticism about excessive tutoring needs by students and also as a method of providing differentiation for all the students. In practice, there is one LRP teacher per grade that works with all the students in that grade. So with the two teachers in the classroom plus the aide that works with both classes – there are six adults that works with two classes in the lower school and that doesn’t include the specialist teachers like art, science, music, math and PE. The LRP teacher focuses on working with individual students or small groups to do assessments and provide differentiated instruction. As they note to us often, it is not just to help kids who need some additional help – it is also for providing kids who are ahead with sufficient resources. They say that they are unique among the independent schools in having this formal program – but I don’t know. Within the classroom itself – the teachers break it up into different groups and help push or support kids that need it. The upper grades have a different structure (including providing office hours and mentor teachers) but I don’t know as much about it.



- How does the style of teaching vary by grade? Is it more traditional/progressive? Are the students working in small groups or are they being taught to in one big group?

They use a Responsive Classroom curriculum for the structure (you might want to google it) of the lower grades. Not exactly a teaching style – but informs the work. They mix it up as far as I can tell – I know they have small groups most of the day – either with one teacher or independently working. It is not sitting in rows facing the teacher all day – if that is what you are asking.


- How do the teachers get students interested and engaged in what they're teaching?

Sort of an open ended question. If you have a good teacher – they can engage and interest a student. Doesn’t matter what school you are in. I think SFDS has good teachers. My wife agrees (and she should know). I do think it is very good that they do a LOT of grade level discussions and work together to discuss the curriculum and the students. Helps give feedback about what works or problems that they see with a student that everybody can be aware of.

- What kind of performing arts/music opportunties are there for the students?

There is an eighth grade play that is a big deal and several soirees and assemblies where the kids perform what they have been working on in music. There are also some orchestra and singing groups but I don’t know too much about them yet. I know they want more drama – but they can’t seem to find out how to incorporate it.


- How often does the school get together for assembly or other gatherings? How does the faculty help to promote the sense of spirit and community?

There are school wide events maybe two or three times a year. Picnic, Library Party, Assemblies. The kids have their own assemblies once a week. Grade level family groups get together more often, we just had our grade level potluck and are having another parent party soon. We work a lot on the diversity committees and there are get-togethers for those different affinity groups as well. One thing we are looking forward to is Coffee with Dr. Jackson – where 8-9 parents meet with Dr. Jackson in the morning for a couple of hours with no set agenda. Seems like there is a lot going on and I’m not even counting soccer or birthday parties.

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[ladivavida]

Teamlala - you are the best! I hope most parents at SFDS are as passionate as you about the school. Thanks so so much for your help. I have been swayed.

[ladivavida]

Teamlala, we recently toured the school and loved it! The difference between the open house and the tour for us was night and day. Definitely got the warm fuzzies seeing the kids and the teachers working in the classrooms. Also loved the parents leading the tours and answering questions. Thank you very very much for your help - we could have made a big mistake. Now all we can do is hope the process works out in our favor.