Mickey'snewestfan
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Apr 26, 2005
- Messages
- 4,716
OK, just to be clear my 9 year old will not be a 9 year old when he goes to high school, he will be a 14 year old, like many other entering freshman.
But, we're looking to move and after having moved many times in his life, I'd really like this move to be the last for a LONG while, so I want to choose a neighborhood in part based on the high school that goes with it.
DS is almost 10 and he's a bright, funny, kind, creative, extroverted kid. He plays and enjoys a lot of sports recreationally but hasn't found one he's passionate about. He's easy going, and well behaved at school and at home, although he can be kind of dreamy/distractible. He's very much an average student across the board, meets all the teacher expectations but doesn't go beyond. He doesn't really enjoy reading or anything academic but is pretty responsible about doing what needs to be done -- so, for example, if his teacher says he should read 20 minutes a night he'll come home, set the timer, and read without a reminder but no way would he read 21 minutes, even if he were at a very exciting point in the book. He really likes things related to technology and computers, and visual problem solving type things like chess. His school right now has lots of arts programming, and he participates happily in it, but doesn't seek it out e.g. he's talked a lot about the Shakespeare play they're putting on in drama, but when I asked him if he wanted to go to drama camp this summer he said no, he'd rather go back to the sports camp he went to last year. DS is African American and male, while I'm white and female. I adopted him as a single mom, which I mention because providing him with diverse environments and exposure to strong role models, including other males and other African Americans is important to me.
Anyway, I've pretty much narrowed it down to 3 schools. All 3 are in neighborhoods where I can afford to rent a comfortable apartment or maybe a tiny house. All 3 are within about 20 minutes from my work, my mom's home, and the neighborhood we're in now (which we're getting priced out of) where his best friend lives, his soccer team practices, etc . . . Here they are.
1) The middle school and high school attached to his current charter school. Both are very small (25 kids per grade in MS, functions more like an extension of Elementary School, 50 kids per grade in HS). The school is very diverse across all dimensions (socio-economic, race, home language, family composition, staff is very diverse too). They have a great community, great school culture, kids are very well behaved, all get along very well with each other. They have a lot of arts instruction although it's not very specialized (e.g. every kid takes a little music, a little drama, a little art, rather than having something like a school band/orchestra where kids could concentrate on just music), but not a lot of sports -- no interscholastic teams at HS. Their test scores are decent, but I feel like they don't really push him, and their expectations are kind of low. Academically there won't be much "choice" in the high school (it's brand new so just 9th grade now), no AP classes etc . . . Curriculum is pretty progressive/constructivist/crunchy granola. School is committed to providing options where kids can stay at school until 6 every day -- whether it's play practice, a recreational sport, drum line etc . . . He's pretty happy there now, has lots of friends, very connected to the place.
2) Middle school and High school that serve a very affluent community nearby (with one small neighborhood of reasonably priced apartments where we'd live). Both have about 300 kids per grade. Relatively racially diverse, but not a lot of other kinds of diversity (e.g. mostly affluent kids with 2 married parents) not a lot of staff diversity. Lots of academic choice, kids can choose a foreign language, and specialize in an area of the arts (e.g. drama, orchestra, TV studio etc . . . ). The curriculum is supposedly very advanced/high pressured with lots of AP classes, and the option of an IB program. It's also pretty traditional. Test scores are very very high. I feel torn about that aspect -- on one hand I'm not sure he's the AP/IB kind of kid, on the other hand, I feel like he does what the school asks of him and he might well rise to the challenge. School has lots of activities afterschool, and lots of sports teams, but they don't provide "complete" coverage so starting in 6th he'd be coming home on a school bus to an empty house at least a few days a week.
3) Middle school and High school that serve a pretty middle class suburban community. Middle school is about 300 kids per grade. High school pulls from multiple middle schools and has about 1,000 kids per grade which seems HUGE to me. Lots of diversity of all types (similar to the first school). School has several programs within it, including programs for the highly gifted (which he wouldn't qualify for) and a magnet program in communication arts (which he might or might not qualify for). In theory it's the same curriculum as school #2 (same district) but doesn't have the reputation for being as pushy/stressful for kids. Test scores are significantly lower than school 2, but still above average for the district, but it's hard to compare since those scores include the kids in the specialized programs. (Note: you can't compare 1's scores directly with 2 and 3 because 1 is in a different state so they take different tests, and because 1 does not currently have kids old enough to take SATs). Again, lots of choices in terms of things like foreign language, arts classes, sports teams etc . . . AP classes (but not IB) and other opportunities for acceleration. A strong technology program. Again, he'd be coming home to an empty house/apartment at least a few times a week for an hour or two.
So here are my questions:
1) Which school would you choose?
2) Obviously I'm not going to make this decision based solely on votes on the DIS, so what else should I be asking and looking for? I know option 1 pretty well, but most of my info on 2 has been through phone calls, reading school literature, and talking with other parents who send their children there.
3) Do other people have experience taking a child who is pretty average academically and putting them in an environment with higher expectations? For example at his current school all kids take algebra in 9th grade. In 2 the majority take it in 8th and many take it in 7th. Should I assume that he'll pull himself up to meet the new expectations -- or should I expect that he'll be one of the few taking it in 9th and will feel bad about himself?
But, we're looking to move and after having moved many times in his life, I'd really like this move to be the last for a LONG while, so I want to choose a neighborhood in part based on the high school that goes with it.
DS is almost 10 and he's a bright, funny, kind, creative, extroverted kid. He plays and enjoys a lot of sports recreationally but hasn't found one he's passionate about. He's easy going, and well behaved at school and at home, although he can be kind of dreamy/distractible. He's very much an average student across the board, meets all the teacher expectations but doesn't go beyond. He doesn't really enjoy reading or anything academic but is pretty responsible about doing what needs to be done -- so, for example, if his teacher says he should read 20 minutes a night he'll come home, set the timer, and read without a reminder but no way would he read 21 minutes, even if he were at a very exciting point in the book. He really likes things related to technology and computers, and visual problem solving type things like chess. His school right now has lots of arts programming, and he participates happily in it, but doesn't seek it out e.g. he's talked a lot about the Shakespeare play they're putting on in drama, but when I asked him if he wanted to go to drama camp this summer he said no, he'd rather go back to the sports camp he went to last year. DS is African American and male, while I'm white and female. I adopted him as a single mom, which I mention because providing him with diverse environments and exposure to strong role models, including other males and other African Americans is important to me.
Anyway, I've pretty much narrowed it down to 3 schools. All 3 are in neighborhoods where I can afford to rent a comfortable apartment or maybe a tiny house. All 3 are within about 20 minutes from my work, my mom's home, and the neighborhood we're in now (which we're getting priced out of) where his best friend lives, his soccer team practices, etc . . . Here they are.
1) The middle school and high school attached to his current charter school. Both are very small (25 kids per grade in MS, functions more like an extension of Elementary School, 50 kids per grade in HS). The school is very diverse across all dimensions (socio-economic, race, home language, family composition, staff is very diverse too). They have a great community, great school culture, kids are very well behaved, all get along very well with each other. They have a lot of arts instruction although it's not very specialized (e.g. every kid takes a little music, a little drama, a little art, rather than having something like a school band/orchestra where kids could concentrate on just music), but not a lot of sports -- no interscholastic teams at HS. Their test scores are decent, but I feel like they don't really push him, and their expectations are kind of low. Academically there won't be much "choice" in the high school (it's brand new so just 9th grade now), no AP classes etc . . . Curriculum is pretty progressive/constructivist/crunchy granola. School is committed to providing options where kids can stay at school until 6 every day -- whether it's play practice, a recreational sport, drum line etc . . . He's pretty happy there now, has lots of friends, very connected to the place.
2) Middle school and High school that serve a very affluent community nearby (with one small neighborhood of reasonably priced apartments where we'd live). Both have about 300 kids per grade. Relatively racially diverse, but not a lot of other kinds of diversity (e.g. mostly affluent kids with 2 married parents) not a lot of staff diversity. Lots of academic choice, kids can choose a foreign language, and specialize in an area of the arts (e.g. drama, orchestra, TV studio etc . . . ). The curriculum is supposedly very advanced/high pressured with lots of AP classes, and the option of an IB program. It's also pretty traditional. Test scores are very very high. I feel torn about that aspect -- on one hand I'm not sure he's the AP/IB kind of kid, on the other hand, I feel like he does what the school asks of him and he might well rise to the challenge. School has lots of activities afterschool, and lots of sports teams, but they don't provide "complete" coverage so starting in 6th he'd be coming home on a school bus to an empty house at least a few days a week.
3) Middle school and High school that serve a pretty middle class suburban community. Middle school is about 300 kids per grade. High school pulls from multiple middle schools and has about 1,000 kids per grade which seems HUGE to me. Lots of diversity of all types (similar to the first school). School has several programs within it, including programs for the highly gifted (which he wouldn't qualify for) and a magnet program in communication arts (which he might or might not qualify for). In theory it's the same curriculum as school #2 (same district) but doesn't have the reputation for being as pushy/stressful for kids. Test scores are significantly lower than school 2, but still above average for the district, but it's hard to compare since those scores include the kids in the specialized programs. (Note: you can't compare 1's scores directly with 2 and 3 because 1 is in a different state so they take different tests, and because 1 does not currently have kids old enough to take SATs). Again, lots of choices in terms of things like foreign language, arts classes, sports teams etc . . . AP classes (but not IB) and other opportunities for acceleration. A strong technology program. Again, he'd be coming home to an empty house/apartment at least a few times a week for an hour or two.
So here are my questions:
1) Which school would you choose?
2) Obviously I'm not going to make this decision based solely on votes on the DIS, so what else should I be asking and looking for? I know option 1 pretty well, but most of my info on 2 has been through phone calls, reading school literature, and talking with other parents who send their children there.
3) Do other people have experience taking a child who is pretty average academically and putting them in an environment with higher expectations? For example at his current school all kids take algebra in 9th grade. In 2 the majority take it in 8th and many take it in 7th. Should I assume that he'll pull himself up to meet the new expectations -- or should I expect that he'll be one of the few taking it in 9th and will feel bad about himself?
