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Name That L.A. Private Elementary School (Part 3)
Category: Beyond The Brochure
“Demystifying the Private Elementary School Admissions Process” Oct. 23 at Kidville, Brentwood
Please join us for this event hosted by MomAngeles and sponsored by Academic Achievers, a full-service tutoring agency specializing in Kinder-Prep.
What: Demystifying the Private Elementary School Admissions Process:
Who: Christina Simon and Porcha Dodson, Beyond The Brochure co-authors and
Sandy Eiges, LA School Scout, educational consulting
When: Tuesday, Oct. 23 at 6:30 p.m.
Where: Kidville in Brentwood
Topics include:
- Selecting Which Schools To Visit
- The Parent Interview
- Your Child’s Visiting/Testing Day
- Letters of Recommendation
- When To Use The Phrase, “if accepted, we will enroll”
- What To Do If Your Child Is Wait-Listed
- Financial Aid
Tickets are $25.00 per person and $40.00 per couple. Visit Momangeles for more information.
Light refreshments provided.
Parents only, please. We look forward to seeing you there!
Reserve your spot! Get Your Tix!
Separating Twins in School: What I Wish I Had Known by Gina Osher
My good friend, Gina Osher, writes the wonderful blog, The Twin Coach. Gina’s boy/girl twins just started kindergarten at a Westside private school. Here’s her recent blog piece about whether to separate them in different classes:
Have you ever heard that comment “I was a great parent until I became one”? I feel that way a bit about starting my kids in Kindergarten. I was a huge proponent of separating twins in school until I actually had to do it myself. Now I find myself longing for the simple days of preschool when they were in one, cozy classroom.
Don’t get me wrong. I am not changing my stance on separating multiples in school, I know it was the right thing to do for my children. I can tell already that they will be so much better off being in separate classrooms. But Mommy is having a hard time. Actually, mommy might be having a bit of a mental breakdown.
To continue reading, click on the link below:
http://www.thetwincoach.com/2012/09/separating-twins-in-school-what-i-wish.html
St. Matthew’s Parish School: Embracing Tradition and Excellence
Nature takes center stage!
The first thing any visitor notices upon arriving at St. Matthew’s Parish School in Pacific Palisades is the stunning campus where nature takes center stage on 30 acres in a beautiful park-like setting.
West Coast warmth infused with the gravitas of an East Coast prep school makes for just the right combination at this well-respected institution. Virtually everything about St. Matthew’s is reserved and understated. In our city of over-the-top lifestyles it is refreshing to see this quality in a school.
St. Matthew’s was founded in 1949, but it has been significantly updated. From the classrooms to the technology for learning (Smart Boards, iPads and more), St. Matthew’s has done an amazing job remodeling and rebuilding all of its 28 classrooms, the enormous library and virtually the entire campus, in part with a recently completed capital campaign. The look and feel of the campus is rustic and modern.
Head of School, Stuart Work (also known as Stu), and Jane Young, the principal, were generous with their time as I sat with them in Stu’s office talking about what make the school unique. Stu is thoughtful and articulate, with a firm handshake and a direct gaze. He is a former science teacher and accomplished administrator who adores kids and is obviously extremely proud of his school. He took the helm at St. Matthew’s in 2011. Walking around the campus, he seemed to know every student. Jane, a member of the St. Matthew’s community for more than 30 years, as an alumni parent and teacher, is warm, outgoing and approachable.
St. Matthew’s is a traditional school, both in its academic philosophy and its religious values. As part of the St. Matthew’s Parish, the school has embraced both spiritual growth—kids attend chapel and religious class each week—and rigorous academics, creating an enviable educational institution.
As Jane describes it, the school combines academics and a deep moral and spiritual foundation, rooted in its three faith-based elements: SERVE, LEAD, FLOURISH. Sixty percent of families belong to St. Matthew’s Parish, and there are a number of different religions at the school. All are welcome. The school is known in the community for being open to all faiths and very respectful.
St. Matthew’s is small (325 students total). There is one class per grade, with about 24 students and 2 teachers.
The kindergarten classroom is very spacious and bright. Natural light streams in from big windows giving the young students a glimpse of the outdoors as they learn. There is also a separate break-out room where they work on projects.
A room with a view: science room
St. Matthew’s embodies a strong tradition of community service for all students, which is integrated into the curriculum. Students participate in a variety of volunteer and service learning activities from partnerships with St. Anne School to raising money for an Episcopal school in Haiti to working in the St. Matthew’s thrift store in Venice.
School quilt Stu and Jane enthusiastically described one of the school’s signature programs: grant funding for teachers to visit places that correlate with the study units they teach. Costa Rica, Haiti and Africa are a few of the locations where 1st and 3rd grade teachers have traveled. Returning to St. Matthew’s, teachers bring back a deeper, first hand understanding of what they are teaching.
Walking through the various classrooms from K-middle school, touches of tradition are noticeable from the moment one enters the school. Classes are orderly, fairly structured and calm. Students wear uniforms and address their teachers by their last names, all hallmarks of a traditional school. Yet despite the fact that several classes were taking quizzes, students were friendly and welcoming to the head of school and his visitors.
Eating area Leaving the kindergarten classroom, Jane pointed to an example of the school’s belief that mistakes happen and that’s fine. She pointed to the steps, where the artist who created them had inadvertently laid the wrong letters side by side. She explained that the artist offered immediately to fix the error. Instead, she told me they decided to leave it. Serious and focused, the school isn’t afraid to let its sense of humor show!
The fence pattern follows the musical notes from the school's prayer St. Matthews is recognized for its sports programs. Many athletes go on to play high school and college sports.
Basketball! Admission to St. Matthew’s is competitive. The school is especially popular among Palisades and Brentwood families. However, both Stu and Jane pointed out that they encourage families to remain on their active wait-list if they are not admitted right away. The St. Matthew’s wait-list is one that does have spaces open up and admits families.
The primary points of entry are Preschool 1 and 4th grade, with spots open at 5th and 6th grade. Kindergarten admission is based on attrition from the preschool. “Keep applying” Stu and Jane told me is their message to families who are wait-listed. For those who are not part of the St. Matthew’s parish, being active in your own religious institution can be an asset for admissions.
The library St. Matthew’s is certainly a school for a traditional family looking for that perfect mix of rigorous academics, faith and community.
As one of my Palisades mom friends told me, “St. Matthew’s is really popular among the Palisades moms.”
Now I know why!
For more information, visit, www.stmatthewsschool.com
Setting The Bar Just Right: Expectations That Are Challenging and Realistic by Anne Simon
Every private elementary school has its own set of expectations – academic, social, behavioral. When touring schools and considering them for your child and your family, it is helpful to try to get a sense of a school’s expectations so you can determine whether your child will thrive in the school.
While it is easy to see this as dividing into competitive vs. cooperative school environments, it is not quite that simple. It is a bit more of a spectrum between, for example, a school that sets up a strictly competitive model and believes that it is desirable for students to rank themselves and each other in all things. Another type of school might not have grades, keep score, or do summative evaluations of any kind. What is important is to find the school that fits your child.
Expectations are important – children do not know what they can achieve in a vacuum – they need something to measure up against in most things. A standard of excellence gives them this awareness. But these standards must be presented carefully and they must be realistic. What often becomes problematic is that children internalize this standard as a measure of their success or failure. This sets in motion the possibility of constructing an unhealthy competitive situation that can result in all kinds of issues of perfectionism, self worth problems, as well as insider/outsider feelings.
There is a rational way to set expectations without sacrificing the self esteem of our children. If we instill in them the concept of “personal best” and set this as the standard for our expectation of them, they are able to learn to self monitor their achievements in light of their own effort and capacity rather than the achievement of someone else or some vague idea of what excellence might be. This allows children to be challenged while remaining realistic and feel good about their efforts toward this goal. This is when you know that the bar has been set just right.
I have seen this ethic folded into the philosophy of schools that offer students a strong and competitive athletic program with great results. Students could push themselves as far as they were able and still champion the efforts and achievements of their classmates. This same idea was present in the classroom and evident in the caring and supportive relationships among the students and with their teachers.
Of course there needs to be an ongoing dialogue between parents and teachers or coaches and the children in order for this concept to take hold and be effective. Consistently helping your child understand the idea of effort, persistence, and practice, and its value, will help him/her develop these skills. When it comes to looking at and choosing a school, try to get a grasp on how each school interprets this concept of expectations.
Anne Simon is the co-author of Beyond The Brochure: An Insider’s Guide To Private Elementary Schools in Los Angeles. She has more than 30 years of experience as a head of school and private school administrator. She is the former head of the Wildwood Elementary School and the former dean of the Crossroads Middle School. Anne’s daughter, a veterinarian, is a graduate of Crossroads.