No one here is going to recommend Landon b/c it gets so maligned. It isn't right for every boy, but if he likes sports and gets his energy from other people it may be a good fit for him. Worth checking out, at least.

OP here. Thanks to everyone for the helpful replies! DH and I were able to make a list of things for us to do, that we're working on, which also included steps for us to figure out what's going on. We don't want to be rash, and have these issues crop up again even with a move to a new setting, like a pp mentioned.

I appreciate all the info on the schools, testing, on lucking into a spot (if you have your ducks in a row), and going private at any time with a Sep baby. A friend even pointed out that a couple of charter schools open at 5th grade. No matter how it turns out, thanks for providing me a quick education. We had planned to look at all options for 6th, so I feel way ahead of the game now if we don't make a move. Thanks!

I wouldn't have your child repeat a grade without spending some more energy trying to figure out what is going on. It's common for learning issues to surface around fourth grade when academics get more difficult and the focus switches from learning to read to "reading to learn."

FWIW, I know several kids in top privates who are young for their grade (more than a year in one case) because they moved from somewhere with a different cutoff. I wouldn't assume he will have to repeat fourth and I wouldn't do it without a good reason.

OP, although I think you need to go ahead and apply for private to keep your options open, I would urge you to try to identify the source of your child's issues. We had a somewhat similar situation with our DD. We were in a private K in another state where my DD thrived and then we moved to Bethesda. We opted for public and it was a disaster. The large classroom environment and hundreds of kids on the playground just raised her anxiety and caused her self-confidence and self-esteem to plummet. We switched to private the next year assuming it was the school environment that was the problem. In the first year things were going really well, or at least we thought, but now a year later, some of the same issues that we faced in public are resurfacing once again. No matter how much research you do into the various schools to find a right match, it is largely a crap shoot as to whether you get a good teacher and the classroom dynamics work for your child. We had a great teacher last year, but this year has been horrible. The one girl that my DD felt comfortable hanging out with left to go to another school, and my DD hasn't really found a connection with the remaining children. We are actually going back to public next year and getting help for our DD's anxiety. This is all to say that sometimes switching is not always the answer.

My DC has an Oct bd and when DC moved from public to private in 6th grade, repeating a grade was never even mentioned. DC is the youngest child in grade but now in 9th and still doing well academically and socially.

Anonymous wrote:You can also call in late May when a lot of schools who did not fill there class even on 1st, 2nd, and 3rd choice go around with acceptance offers AND have attrition start to panic. If you can full pay and make THAT know just before June 1st contracts are non-refundable, DC has a shot.

This is very true. We got DD into a competitive school for 4th grade in July. We simply lucked out and a current student's family had a job related move away from the area which created an unexpected spot. I called just after July 4 and the AD was willing to evaluate DD that very week. It helped A LOT that I already had her WISC and could provide unofficial copies of her final 3rd grade report card. Her 3rd grade teacher (a wonderful person) turned around the recommendation in 24 hours and we were set. At that late date, the waitlist applicants had already turned in deposits for other schools so that wasn't a hurdle (I don't know that for sure, I'm simply relaying what I was told by the AD). However, it was very clear... this was a full pay spot but we knew going in we were full pay so that wasn't an issue.

You can also call in late May when a lot of schools who did not fill there class even on 1st, 2nd, and 3rd choice go around with acceptance offers AND have attrition start to panic. If you can full pay and make THAT know just before June 1st contracts are non-refundable, DC has a shot.