Reply to pros and cons of CES?

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[quote=Anonymous]For my CES older kid (currently in 6th grade), it was a LOT of work at home in the 4th grade, but most work was done in school during 5th grade.  In particular, the beginning of 4th grade was tough because our DD was playing catchup from having been at a sub-par elementary for the 4 years prior.  We know at least one family who chose not to have their child attend a magnet middle (after being accepted) because they thought their child was too stressed at the CES.

However, you should really talk to someone with a current CES 4th or 5th grader.  Both parents and CES teachers have said that a lot has changed since the "outlier" screening system.  Last year's 4th grade (current 5th graders) at our CES had quite a few kids who were below grade level in reading, had all kinds of behavioral issues, were more math-oriented than in previous years (probably due to the COGAT overall score being used as the screener, instead of just verbal), and were frustrated because they were not interested in humanities as much as math. In general, the class had to move more slowly than in past years.  (I haven't talked to anyone about this year's 4th grade crop, or how they're doing in 5th grade.)  The compact math still mixes in kids from the local school, and the difficulty can vary by teacher.

There's still the long bus ride (50 minutes in our case, after having lived in walking distance from our home school) and losing almost all old elementary school friends.  We did aftercare at the CES school, which meant that we had to commute home from there quite late every evening.  Don't expect that those friendships will be rekindled later when they go back to middle school.  2 years is a long time, especially at that age, and they will be very different people by middle school.  Even in middle school, my DS only maintains regular contact with the few who are at the magnet with him, and only occasionally joins the group texts with other CES alums.  In our case, our home elementary school was not good, so we welcomed the CES as being the only available enrichment.  On the other hand, we do know at least one person who turned down the CES from that school and still ended up at a magnet middle.[/quote]

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