high schools where smart kids aren't considered nerds & can be popular?

[Anonymous]

Homeschool?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Homeschool?

I LOL'd!

[Anonymous]

I think an all girl school would be perfect for her. At Holton all of the girls are smart. Really, if your were not I think that would make you less cool to these young women. Also, in an all girl environment the focus is mainly school work. There is no distraction from boys and it takes away some of the element of social competition. IMO

[Anonymous]

Uh, some kids can be smart and tuned into popular culture. Nerd does not equal smart and popular does not equal stupid. Hope your daughter doesn't go around looking down her nose at all the "cool, dumb kids." That might be a reason for her unhappiness.

[Anonymous]

Does your DC want to be cool and/or part of the mainstream? Lots of smart people don't.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As a now-grown smart kid, no offense, but duh, smart kids aren't ever popular (unless they are also good at athletics).

I mean, "popular" = "thought of highly by your peers" and in this case, the peers are not-as-bright children. Children, even bright ones, aren't known for their judgment or taste!

I was never unpopular, but I was never in the "in" crowd -- which I'm sure my parents were happy about, considering that was the group that partied, drank, got in trouble, etc, and I and my friends were very tame. We had a good time and I'm still very close to them (and we're still nerds, but now we have the perspective to know we're cool!)

Ditto. The smart kids usually don't choose to participate in the B.S. required to be popular.

Why does the OP care?

[Anonymous]

OP - are you Asian?

[Anonymous]

Oh and a girls' school would be the last place I'd send a kid like this. IME (and in my DD's, who is growing up in a totally different environment), in the tween/teen years, smart boys are a godsend for smart girls.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a now-grown smart kid, no offense, but duh, smart kids aren't ever popular (unless they are also good at athletics).

I mean, "popular" = "thought of highly by your peers" and in this case, the peers are not-as-bright children. Children, even bright ones, aren't known for their judgment or taste!

I was never unpopular, but I was never in the "in" crowd -- which I'm sure my parents were happy about, considering that was the group that partied, drank, got in trouble, etc, and I and my friends were very tame. We had a good time and I'm still very close to them (and we're still nerds, but now we have the perspective to know we're cool!)

Ditto. The smart kids usually don't choose to participate in the B.S. required to be popular.

Why does the OP care?

I would disagree with this. Based on my experiences with my two teens and their friends, and professional experience as a psychologist who works with a lot of very smart kids, some are eager participants in popular culture, some are aware but choose to be different, and some are oblivious or totally uninterested.

[Anonymous]

I agree w/ 23:05 and others that popularity in high school is overrated, and I was very "popular," meaning in the in crowd.

Anyway, on to the subject at hand, the positive thing about GDS is that, in my observation, kids who are quirky, while not necessarily the most "popular," are tolerated and often respected. If your daughter craves popularity, then she could feel an outsider anywhere. But if she is pretty comfortable in her own skin, and you are avoiding ostracism (or fear ostracism), among the privates GDS would be a pretty good bet. No guarantee anywhere, of course.

[Anonymous]

This thread is a bit odd. I can understand OP not wanting a smart child ostracized or picked on for being smart, but looking for a school "where my kid can be popular" is truly a little "out there". It makes me question OP's level of maturity or if he/she is bring some of their own issues into their child's academic life.

Also, if you think back, school popularity is overrated and does not indicate that a child will do well in life.

[Anonymous]

Yeah but in some schools, academic achievement is absolutely the death nell -- especially in some parts of D.C. I read it as wanting to avoid the conflict between good grades and being socially outcast.

[Anonymous]

I read it in a way that was similar but somewhat stronger -- i.e. OP wants a school where the kids think being smart/intellectual is a positive/interesting/attractive attribute. So it's about school culture and specifically peer group culture and it goes beyond not being ostracized to being valued for the right reasons (or at least reasons that are crucial to your own self-understanding).

[Anonymous]

I think the OP just wants her child to be in a happy environment where she can be proud of who she is and keep her love of learning. She seems well grounded as a parent and recognizes her child is "fine" at school both academically and socially but just wants to know if the child better served at a private with similarly bright kids who don't feel like being smart is an "undesirable" trait. The answer may just mean her child learning life lessons about the trials of HS Social dynamics...but it may also mean finding a private with a better balance of kids. Good luck.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Oh and a girls' school would be the last place I'd send a kid like this. IME (and in my DD's, who is growing up in a totally different environment), in the tween/teen years, smart boys are a godsend for smart girls.

My dd attends a girls school and it is a perfect fit for her. The girls are smart, ambitious, leaders of all activities, etc. Not sure why they would need smart boys to somehow validate them.