Where would you send a creative, curious but not super-academic kid for high school?

[Anonymous]

My DD is 12, and her time at her small, nurturing progressive pre-k-8 school ends soon. She's kind, thoughtful, sociable, good-natured, emotionally intuitive and mature, a strong aavid reader, and strong in the arts, but she's "just okay" academically. Weakish in math; a fluent writer but her spelling's a mess; she's not lazy but she's also not terribly motivated academically. (As in: she likes her teachers and her classes and willingly does the work, but doesn't seem to have any particular desire to go beyond the minimum except in the arts). No learning disabilities-- no attention issues-- she's just not an academic superstar.

What high schools might be a good fit for a child like this? We don't care if she ever becomes an academic star, but we don't want her in a place where she'll be labelled (or label herself) as "not smart," or be overlooked by teachers more focused on getting the highest achievers into Harvard. We'd like her to be somewhere where her curiosity and creativity will be nurtured and where she'll be encouraged to stretch and challenge herself intellectually a bit more, but we don't want her in a pressure cooker.

Any suggestions? We're in Virginia but for the right school, we'd even consider relocating within the metro area, so geography not a straitjacket.

[Anonymous]

Hmm. Maybe Field or Burke in DC? I don't know a lot about them but get the sense that they are smaller and a bit more nurturing than the biggies.

[Anonymous]

You should look at Bullis.

[Anonymous]

How do you feel about religious schools?

[Anonymous]

Field is amazing, Arts are great. Lots of choices and it being small, room to shine with getting overshadowed.

Seems very nurturing, nice small classes.

[Anonymous]

1. Field
2. Burke
3. believe it or not, GDS if they'll have her. Yes, there is a large contingent that rocks the hours of homework and Math Olympic stuff. But there also an equally impressive, IMO, group that shines in the arts. I've known a handful of GDS grads who go directly on to arts schools, acting, drama majors in Tier 2-3 colleges, and the like.

4. Duke Ellington?

[Anonymous]

Field and Burke. The take on GDS is that the kids who aren't academic stars can fall through the cracks.

[Anonymous]

st. albans

[Anonymous]

oops...ncs

[Anonymous]

Unfortunately, she needs the grades to get into GDS.

[Anonymous]

Sounds like my kid! Well, except mine is a boy. Delightful, extroverted, artistic, athletic, but not the academic superstar many of the area schools expect.

We were looking in 6th, not 9th, but I really liked SSFS, St. Andrew's, and Bullis for him. My kid seems to draw energy from being outdoors so I decided Burke was too urban for us. I think Field would have been a fit for him but it started in 7th so we didn't look carefully. I also think that St. John's and Our Lady of Good Counsel are potentially good fits for him.

However, after looking at all those schools I looked at some MCPS public schools and decided to move instead. Public school has been a great match for him. It's more structured than many of the private schools we looked at. With expectations clearly laid out he's really thrived. In addition, there are lots of arts programs that he has loved, and the pressure is much more reasonable. He'll move on to high school next year and our plan is to stay public through graduation.

I also love the Ellington suggestion. If my son didn't want to play a sport in high school, I think Ellington would be my first choice for him.

[Anonymous]

Local public school.

Really, why waste the money?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sounds like my kid! Well, except mine is a boy. Delightful, extroverted, artistic, athletic, but not the academic superstar many of the area schools expect.

We were looking in 6th, not 9th, but I really liked SSFS, St. Andrew's, and Bullis for him. My kid seems to draw energy from being outdoors so I decided Burke was too urban for us. I think Field would have been a fit for him but it started in 7th so we didn't look carefully. I also think that St. John's and Our Lady of Good Counsel are potentially good fits for him.

However, after looking at all those schools I looked at some MCPS public schools and decided to move instead. Public school has been a great match for him. It's more structured than many of the private schools we looked at. With expectations clearly laid out he's really thrived. In addition, there are lots of arts programs that he has loved, and the pressure is much more reasonable. He'll move on to high school next year and our plan is to stay public through graduation.

I also love the Ellington suggestion. If my son didn't want to play a sport in high school, I think Ellington would be my first choice for him.

FYI=Field now starts in 6th grade. Nextyear will be the first 6th grade year.

[Anonymous]

Definitely not NCS! GDS has some kids who definitely not focused on academics, and much more focused on arts, however, many came earlier so did not have grades/scores, which really do need to be strong to get into the MS or especially the HS. Agree with Field or Burke, but if you live in VA, look at Potomac, kids more diverse academically there than the big 3/5, has a strong arts program, reasonably structured, which may help your daughter learn to focus and push her to accomplish more. Flint Hill quite easy to get in to, but not sure arts is a strength, know more athletes from there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sounds like my kid! Well, except mine is a boy. Delightful, extroverted, artistic, athletic, but not the academic superstar many of the area schools expect.

We were looking in 6th, not 9th, but I really liked SSFS, St. Andrew's, and Bullis for him. My kid seems to draw energy from being outdoors so I decided Burke was too urban for us. I think Field would have been a fit for him but it started in 7th so we didn't look carefully. I also think that St. John's and Our Lady of Good Counsel are potentially good fits for him.

However, after looking at all those schools I looked at some MCPS public schools and decided to move instead. Public school has been a great match for him. It's more structured than many of the private schools we looked at. With expectations clearly laid out he's really thrived. In addition, there are lots of arts programs that he has loved, and the pressure is much more reasonable. He'll move on to high school next year and our plan is to stay public through graduation.

I also love the Ellington suggestion. If my son didn't want to play a sport in high school, I think Ellington would be my first choice for him.

In what sense is public more structured? I'm never sure what people mean when they say a school is structured. Also, what do you mean when you say that expectations are "clearly laid out?" I hope this doesn't sound adversarial, I'm genuinely curious and trying to understand.