reclass trends and concerns

[Anonymous]

Has anyone heard or tried to reclass to 9th grade - DC has an August birthday and is currently in 9th grade at a private and considering reclassing to 9th for next year - would need to do different private to not make it socially awkward. Not an athlete but due to executive functioning /maturity reasons.

[Anonymous]

You mean red-shirting?

[Anonymous]

Yes - same thing

[Anonymous]

It’s pretty uncommon to do that in HS. You sometimes hear about it for students heading to boarding school, especially if they are athletes. Our school had a student who repeated because of so much missed time for a serious illness.

But talk to the schools your kid is interested in.

[Anonymous]

It’s very common for kids going to boarding school. I don’t see why private day schools would be that different

[Anonymous]

You go to another school do not stay at the same one.

How is this a ?

[Anonymous]

see it mostly with athletes .. a couple at our school have done it and stayed but again it was to have an xtra year of HS athletics for recruiting reasons.

[Anonymous]

We didn’t end up doing this but looked at doing something similar and repeating 8th to delay 9th start. Met with an independent educational consultant to discuss- wanting some professional opinion since it’s rare in these grades. She said it is certainly doable but warned us that for it to be successful, your kid has to be totally on board. Otherwise it really creates too much drama and tension bw parent and child.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:see it mostly with athletes .. a couple at our school have done it and stayed but again it was to have an xtra year of HS athletics for recruiting reasons.

This, a couple of athletes at our out of area school originally in class of 2024 reclassified to 2025 after their sophomore year due to serious injuries. Both ended up at D1 schools for their sport. A couple of coaches suggested it for my 2027 but he's fine academically and socially so we never gave it serious consideration.

[Anonymous]

I more so know boys who doubled down on 8th grade and then went to 9th, vs repeating 9th grade.

[Anonymous]

I know two kids who did it in middle school and 8th grade.

And someone who was kicked out of Georgetown Prep, went to SJC through senior year, and then did another senior year at a military prep school before heading to UMCP. (Can you guess which public figure I’m referring to?)

[Anonymous]

Tons of boys do 3rd, 6th and 8th grade.

I don't know why 9th would be a problem if he doesn't mind changing schools.

I had a very tall, athletic, loquacious child... so never red-shirted but during puberty and HS it really became obvious maybe we should have.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Tons of boys do 3rd, 6th and 8th grade.

I don't know why 9th would be a problem if he doesn't mind changing schools.

I had a very tall, athletic, loquacious child... so never red-shirted but during puberty and HS it really became obvious maybe we should have.

Can you (or anyone) share what makes you think you should have redshirted?

Have a loquacious summer bday boy and redshirting is common amongst his peers. It doesn’t feel right to me, but it’s also hard to look at my still baby faced four year old and project what 14 year old him will need. He’s on the taller side of average, and D1 sports (or sports in general) are not a thing we care much about.

[Anonymous]

I’ve seen it done several times including with a friend’s older brother when I was in middle school. None were athletes. Results were great. St. Albans will sometimes force reclass even as late as 9th grade.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Has anyone heard or tried to reclass to 9th grade - DC has an August birthday and is currently in 9th grade at a private and considering reclassing to 9th for next year - would need to do different private to not make it socially awkward. Not an athlete but due to executive functioning /maturity reasons.

Suuuuuure it is… (wink wink)