Anonymous wrote:Usually the ones who get in at ninth are very strong students. The ones coming from public or weaker privates may take a semester or two to adjust.

If 9th is an entry year, they are getting their pick of the top k-8 students and the best of the public students applying. Back up to a 6th grade or k entry year, and those students coming from the k-8 would likely be almost academically indistinguishable from each other and from students the k-12 took in those years

I'm surprise you had to get your child tutors from private to public. MCPS is known for its weak science curriculum.

Mine went from a small private MOCO to a public school.

He was so far behind. We have to have him tutored all summer before starting in Languages, science and Math.

Given he was not my first child to go from private to MCPS I knew there were holes in his academics so I was not worried.

He wanted to go back to public, he was very motivated to be tutored.

He did fine and went off to an MIT happy prepared student.

Anonymous wrote:For schools that take a big group in 9th do they longtimers mix well with the new students or do the new students start out by mostly making friends among themselves? What is the relationship like between the groups?

My kid ended up blending in with the long-timers.

The kids new in 9th grade were from all over the DMV and were really diverse in interests. From Leesburg to Gaithersburg to NW DC to PG County... Then you had the musicians, the elite athletes, the STEM superstars, etc. They had being new in common but not much else in many cases.

For schools that take a big group in 9th do they longtimers mix well with the new students or do the new students start out by mostly making friends among themselves? What is the relationship like between the groups?

Anonymous wrote:Previous poster again---I will say that socially it's been tricky. My kid has found his/her groove but it took a good year. I keep up with other new 9th grade arrivals and some of their kids are really lonely. One is probably going back to public for 11th because she/her is just not finding his/her people.

It's hard in high school because these schools are so busy that kids don't always have a lot of time to invest in solid friendship. Everyone is just running from school to sports to homework to sleep. Lather, rinse and repeat every day. Covid probably also made this all worse (everyone was rusty with social skills--the lifers and the new kids).

I get this, but at the same time I came in at seventh and it was rough because seventh and eighth are such miserable years to not have any friends from childhood. The ones who come in at ninth I noticed often if a different view of people because they’d missed the meanest years.

Honestly it’s too bad DC doesn’t have more (non Catholic) high school only privates.

Usually the ones who get in at ninth are very strong students. The ones coming from public or weaker privates may take a semester or two to adjust.

Previous poster again---I will say that socially it's been tricky. My kid has found his/her groove but it took a good year. I keep up with other new 9th grade arrivals and some of their kids are really lonely. One is probably going back to public for 11th because she/her is just not finding his/her people.

It's hard in high school because these schools are so busy that kids don't always have a lot of time to invest in solid friendship. Everyone is just running from school to sports to homework to sleep. Lather, rinse and repeat every day. Covid probably also made this all worse (everyone was rusty with social skills--the lifers and the new kids).

I have a kid who joined in 9th 2 years ago so I know this well.

It's been a mixed bag. Some of the 9th grade arrivals were absolute rockstars out of the gates. They are truly exceptional students and are at the top of the class.
They have blown by the lifers.

Others like my kid took a semester or so to get up to speed. Part of this was Covid related. 18 months of virtual public school was not great.
Now my kid is in 10th grade and has found his/her groove and is excelling--particularly in things that he/she was never challenged at before (when in public) like history and English.

We have a younger kid who we are hoping to move in 8th--purely to give a year of adjustment. Decisions are out in March so we'll see if there is a spot (non-admissions year).

They excel academically. Joining at 9th takes some time to find your way socially though. (girls and boys)

Usually kids that come in at ninth are very strong academically because they were accepted at a competitive year, as opposed to kids who were accepted at lower grades before their academic performance could be evaluated at it's full potential.

Socially, I don't know.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At our competitive private, they are the ones who excel.

+1
Same here. Not surprising, really.

+2. They are the ones applying with applications that reflect their academic ability rather than how they perform in a play date

Anonymous wrote:At our competitive private, they are the ones who excel.

+1
Same here. Not surprising, really.

At our competitive private, they are the ones who excel.

Curious whether kids who come in for US struggle more or whether they end up doing well as a group. Any insights?