Pick a few reasons that you think he will like the best, and stick to them. Eventually he'll stop asking if you repeat the same answers over and over.

Accept that he doesn't have to be happy about it and he has every reason to be anxious. If he's amenable, try to familiarize him with the new school and that may make it less scary.

Anonymous wrote:Not really possible to do this without revealing some level of snobbery or condescension to the friends who stay. That doesn’t stop people from doing it of course.

This ignorance-laced statement means you must run, not walk, to your nearest private school. /s

Not really possible to do this without revealing some level of snobbery or condescension to the friends who stay. That doesn’t stop people from doing it of course.

NP. We're moving our 5th grader from private to public next year. Child wants to be with neighborhood friends, and we support it.

Anonymous wrote:Following. Looking at doing this for middle school or high school and have the same concerns.

And same situation where it's very possible some or even most of DC's friend group will also wind up going elsewhere for MS or HS, for the same reason we might. But we won't know for sure until it all shakes out.

OP here. Friendships can be fleeting and I don’t want my kid banking on everyone being around only to find his group nonexistent by 9th grade. I don’t get the sense everyone stays in the same neighborhood school they way they used to when many of us were kids.

What is your IB?
Older DC went to JR as his IB and younger DC is going to MacArthur. Friends are extremely important to us, and then comes math.
What about Walls?

Following. Looking at doing this for middle school or high school and have the same concerns.

And same situation where it's very possible some or even most of DC's friend group will also wind up going elsewhere for MS or HS, for the same reason we might. But we won't know for sure until it all shakes out.

How do you explain it to them and get them on board? My kid is happy at this public middle school but I don't feel good about the high school, and I'd like to send him to a reputable chart or private school. I know he'll say he doesn't want to be away from his friends. He has a good friend group but who knows, half of them could leave in a year or two as well. How have you handled this?