St Annes School Of Annapolis

I waited a long time to write this review as I wanted to be as fair as possible . I wanted to be objective and give my strong emotions a chance to settle. My conflict stemmed from the fact that most of her experiences were so very positive! Was it fair to call out a school for the toxic behavior of one teacher? But as that teacher is still there and knowing that if I had known what my daughter would have had to deal with , I would not have chosen St. Annes , it became clear to me that I had to give other parents a heads up so they in turn could make a fully informed decision. There are a great many things to like, if not love about St. Annes. I was aware the academics were perhaps not quite as rigorous as Key or Severn but I was more concerned about the size of the school , liberal vibe, diversity and the overall sweet community feel. Most teachers were truly committed to Saint Annes's stated values of empathy , compassion etc. In fact, that is why I took so long to really hear my daughter when she spoke about the demeaning , volatile nature of this teacher's variable behavior and the overall toxicity of her classroom. My daughter was loathe to tell me as she loved her other teachers and had made some great friends, she didn't want to rock the boat until things really came to a head. In talking to other parents, my daughter's experiences were quickly corroborated. How was it possibly okay that these kids never knew what emotional state their teacher would be in on any given day ? While my daughter rarely bore the brunt of this behavior directly , it was very upsetting for her to watch others being treated this way. This moral inconsistency confused her. How did other parents deal with it ? Well , it turns out this 5/6 th grade math teacher had a reputation and many parents ( knowing this teacher had been there decades and was well connected to the board ) bided their time until they passed on to 7th grade Math , still others just closed their eyes to it. Some parents hired tutors, some took the opportunity to teach their kids the reality of having to take the good with the bad , can't fight City Hall , keep your head down, minimized it etc. Some parents simply didn't have much of a choice as their educational options were limited by finances and/or their child's distinctive social /emotional needs which might be hard to meet elsewhere. In our case however, we had options and we left.

Before enrolling your child, make sure you dig beneath the surface on this school and do your due diligence on its mission and frankly, its politics. Being a private, Christian school we made the assumption that there would be a faith based element to the education rooted in a classic education. This was a false assumption. This is a woke school. It focuses on social justice, equity and race. It is all right there on their website. Hidden in plain sight. If you are looking for progressive activism, you will find it here. Equity - check. Critical race theory, yes. I am not exaggerating. In the middle of our son's school year we were emailed by the headmaster that a diversity, inclusion and equity consultant would be giving a talk to parents on zoom. And lo and behold if you look right on the school's website, there is a section on equity under "our advantage" heading. I called the headmaster to ask why a critical race theory specialist was speaking with parents and she tried to divert the purpose of the talk back to inclusivity which is a classic dodge. The curriculum is full of equity and activism. In fact the Capstone project for middle schoolers revolves around globalism and far left activist issues. If you want this for your child, great. Just know what you are getting into.

My child has been a student at St Anne’s for 3 years and I have been very pleased with the school. The teachers and staff seem to really care about the students and take a creative approach to teaching. The administration also is generally responsive to concerns. I would recommend based on my experience.

My child went to this school this past year and when parents ask me how I like the school I highly recommend they look elsewhere. We had heard things (even from several previous staff members) of the toxicity of the administration but I could not have fathomed what we experienced. Let’s just say that my child was bullied, and it was swept under the rug time and time again. To not prioritize children’s mental health has detrimental consequences to self esteem. The administration favor the other admins children and behaviors are often times blamed/scolded on the children instead of teachers guiding their students to (healthy!) conflict resolution. Even though my child has been a victim of bullying - the school never even contacted the other parent to have a healthy and productive conversation (because it should start with teachers and parents). It’s definitely a clicky / club where the families that are in you can tell are prioritized (donations, power). I was recently told by another parent that the staff seems miserable at drop off every morning. I couldn’t agree more. The environment is toxic, the staff if you even use your voice as a parent will verbally attack you, stonewall you, become defensive, scolding, cold and eventually make you feel outcasted. It’s happened several times personally at this school. To say you’re a Christian school and the values you bring to work every day do not align with it has seeped into every corner of this school. I would never recommend to another family to send their children here.

I feel like the negative reviews I've read could have been written by my family.  My child was bullied at this school and they did not do a thing to help him. We've had unbelievably unprofessional experiences with the administration. They are honestly just horrible. They've treated my children terribly to the point we are contacting lawyers. As a family that's moved around a bit and went to other private schools, I promise this one is awful. Your child would be safer and better cared for in a public school.