8 Questions to Ask When Changing Schools
Updated: Oct 24, 2022
And why Saint Paul's Choir School is the answer.
In discerning when to transfer to a new school - or why - it's important to know what to ask of your child, their old school, and their potential new schools. When parents are new to the choir school, they bring a range of questions and concerns. The following eight questions speak to the specific reasons that so many parents have chosen Saint Paul's Choir School.
Treble is a classical role designed specifically for boys' vocal ranges; now is the time to capture and develop this super ability!
How empowered does your son feel? How confident is he in his ability to solve problems? How strongly do his peers support him?
The school's choir is composed primarily of treble voices, also called boy sopranos. Singing this role in a choir is something only boys in grades three through eight can do. It is a classical role designed specifically for their vocal ranges; now is the time to capture and develop this super ability! Most boys don't know that this latent ability exists within them. Boys with little to no training become members of the professionally-recorded and internationally-touring Choir of Boys at Saint Paul's.
With a 4:1 student-to-teacher ratio, we know each student well and offer classrooms small enough for everyone to be heard and known.
Do your son's teachers know his strengths in and out of the classroom? Do their comments on his report cards speak to his specific abilities or are they generic? Do they know his academics well enough to predict his standardized test performance? Could they write him a full-page letter of recommendation and assess both his academics and character accurately?
With a 4:1 student-to-teacher ratio, we know each student well and offer classrooms small enough for everyone to be heard and known. Classroom learning involves every student in every class. The small size allows us to support all learners, pushing forward those who are ready for a greater challenge and catching up those who would benefit from review.
Great teachers are able to do all of these things. The best teachers would also know your son's favorite Pokemon! Our advisory program, recesses, house-points system, and weekly whole-school "elegant lunches" afford each teacher the opportunity to know who students are outside the classroom. At Saint Paul’s, that’s our everyday.
Your son will grow in his awareness of those around him, find greater joy in conversations with God, and give life to the choral and liturgical masterworks of music history.
Building boys into good men is at the heart of every boys school. We believe, as Saint Augustine did, that prayer is an essential part and that “he who sings prays twice.” When asked who or what they pray for during Mass, students said family, friends, “those who are suffering,” and “the safety of people everywhere.” One altar server with a sense of humor even said, “I pray that I won’t drop the wine again!”
Whether you hope your son will grow in his awareness of those around him, find greater joy in conversations with God, give life to the choral and liturgical masterworks of music history, or all of these, Saint Paul’s Choir School is here to help.
Singing together is an effective and natural way to reframe social dynamics.
If your son sings along to the radio – or, let’s face, Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, or any other streamer – why not encourage him to sing with his peers? Singing in the choir builds an atmosphere of support, cooperation, and joy. It is an effective and natural way to reframe social dynamics during the preteen and teen years around music and peer relationships.
The boys at Saint Paul’s Choir School sing concerts, tour internationally, rehearse twice a day, and sing the Mass five days a week. Boys in grades three and four with little to no experience who like to sing are excellent candidates for our programming. Before you know it, they will be singing choral masterworks that have defined history!
We teach classical liberal arts academics, choral studies, piano, music theory, Latin, and rhetoric, knowing that learning happens in this wide range of activities.
Saint Paul’s Choir School is located in the very heart of learning, Harvard Square. Steps from Harvard University, the Widener Library, the Harvard Art Museums, and the Harvard Museum of Natural History, every step in or around our campus affirms learning. The people we cross paths with are professors, students, and graduates, all of whom celebrate the education they have received. The MBTA provides us easy access to MIT, Boston’s historic and governmental centers, and arts and performance venues, such as Symphony Hall. Every breath and every step affirms our students’ pursuit of learning in the best way possible.
Think tanks, such as Autoris, show us that learning itself is the most important skill for future success. Saint Paul’s Choir School celebrates learning with its classical liberal arts curriculum, the teaching of choral technique, partnership with Rose Debate for rhetoric skills classes, Latin classes, and 1:1 piano lessons, knowing that learning happens in this wide range of activities.
We make regular domestic and international trips, using the world as our classroom.
Saint Paul’s Choir School is a touring choir! We make regular domestic and international trips, using the world as our classroom. In the past ten years, Saint Paul’s Choir School has sung in Rome, New York City, Washington D.C., Montreal, Mexico City, Munich, Salzburg, and Cologne. Imagine not only hearing your son sing in these wonderful locations, but also joining them at famous sites such as the pyramids at Teotihuacan, Olympic Park Munich, Mozart’s birthplace, and Old Town Montreal. Parents are always welcome as chaperones!
Emboldened by faith, choral masterworks, small classes, and the classical liberal arts, Saint Paul’s Choir School educates and elevates boys' academic and musical talents.
When you ask your son how his day was, what does it mean to you to see a smile and hear a story about the day? Why settle for an “it was okay?” What if he told you about a science lab about dissecting owl pellets, a choral rehearsal of a new piece, the homily at Mass, a new Latin declension, and a pick-up football game at recess? At Saint Paul’s, that’s just another day. Emboldened by faith, choral masterworks, small classes, and the classical liberal arts, Saint Paul’s Choir School educates and elevates boys' academic and musical talents, smiles included.
That door is already open for your son!
That door is open, and it is open for your son! Saint Paul’s Choir School has opened wide its doors with its recent addition of a third grade. For boys in grades three and four, joining Saint Paul’s Choir School is especially exciting. Little to no singing experience is required - in fact, many boys find they thrive! The first two years in the choir are spent learning technique, notation, our repertoire, and, most importantly, how to hear and sing with one another. Come be a part of an educational experience like none other: it is good, it is true, it is beautiful, and it is rooted in the masterworks of music history!