Roundtable Q&A Discussion About The Sterling Hall School (2020)

The Sterling Hall School has been such an amazing gift for my family and me, my boys in particular. I've just seen them grow into being the best versions of themselves.

The boy-centric learning environment was our biggest motivation to make the decision to enroll all our boys in Sterling Hall. Not only just the physical environment, the attention to the detail in the chairs and the furniture, the placement of the smart boards, the room set up, the dynamics of that. All of the attention is on how boys best learn.

The other key thing that I love and that I think really makes Sterling Hall unique is that it only goes to Grade 8. Those are the critical learning years, the foundational years where your boy is going to go through so much change in development emotionally… and Sterling Hall helps those boys come into the best versions of themselves.

They create this environment where it's safe to be vulnerable and it's safe to try things.

I loved that Sterling Hall saw failure as an opportunity for growth. The best part about failing is being in a safe environment in which you can grow from that, learn from that, mature from that and become better.

I felt that there was one area where it far exceeded my expectations, and that was the community where I felt that the parents were able to connect, and I felt like I belonged. I found a place where my children belonged, and I knew that they felt safe and wonderful, and they loved going to school, but then it exceeded my expectations and I felt like I had a place where I belong as well. 

I love Sterling Hall’s awareness of ensuring that the boys know how to work in teams of all kinds and be inclusive and their awareness of diversity and how they bring that in through all levels of the school.

My son, who is an alumnus now, looks back at his time at SHS, and he knows that it has granted him incredible opportunities and opened up doors for him that he would never have had. And he knows not to take that for granted. He really values his time there, and he talks about it often.

Sterling Hall gave me a reason to try stuff that I never thought I wanted to do or thought I could do. And because of that, I really enjoyed it and it really made it a memorable place for me.

The teachers in Sterling Hall were always welcoming, they were always extremely open people. You could talk to them whenever you needed to.

For the two years that I was in Sterling Hall, I did things that I never would have done, knowing that I could have possibly failed in it. 

My only advice is to try as much as you can, even if you don't think you're good at it. When opportunities are given to you, even though you think you're not ready for it, you should still try and take it because you don't know if it's going to unlock some random talent that you never knew you had until you get there.

The main reason that we came to Sterling Hall was really the warm and welcoming environment… the minute we stepped foot into the building at the open house, we knew this was the sort of environment I wanted to bring my young boys into.

Sterling Hall really didn't disappoint between the community, the boys, the parents, and the faculty and staff. People are friendly, everyone's engaged and welcoming, and the school really knows what it's doing with boys in those formative years. So we felt very comfortable.

I can say with confidence, now into our fourth year, that Sterling Hall really is a place where boys belong. I can say with confidence that Sterling Hall really knows how to handle young boys.

I'm very impressed in the way that Sterling Hall is teaching my boys how to be compassionate, empathetic, and civic minded individuals. Sterling Hall does a wonderful job at the social-emotional learning program.

There's been a lot of learning opportunities and leadership opportunities for the boys, and that's built their confidence.

My second son said, ‘Sterling Hall is a place where you feel at home and where you have the most amazing teachers. You can find friends, and you can always learn new things.’

Sterling Hall is well known in the greater community as the type of school where parents mingle in the halls. They speak to teachers and staff daily. It's a very welcoming community… You just always see parents present and committed.

Sterling Hall really understands different types of boys. I have two boys at the school, and I definitely think that they were able to cater to each one in different ways in terms of how they learn.

The school understands when the boys need their outlets but also helps them to understand when they need to focus, when there's discipline that's required and it's just such a fine balance. And I think Sterling Hall really does a good job of kind of allowing both those opportunities to take place within the same setting.