Anonymous wrote:I would move him to public and put in the money saved into hiring a team of tutors that made up all content gaps and removed all academic weakness out of him before he went to HS.

Good idea!

Anonymous wrote:I thought private schooll is good for the not so brilliant student. Does the school not know how to teach?
Your kid will get lost in a crowded public where nobody cares, new kids are bullied and teachers do not have a lot of resources. C and D is not too bad. At a public high the grades will be D and E

Lol

My oldest DS started at a Big 3 in middle school and got mostly Bs, with some Cs. We asked him if he wanted to leave for another school or public, but he wanted to stay. His grades improved significantly in high school and he ended up at an Ivy for college and law school. All's well that ends well? Maybe, but the middle school teachers and administrators were useless and the upper school not much better. Basically, our kid clawed his way out of the academic hole without any support. We sent our younger child to a non-Big 3, which was a totally different experience -- teachers were kind, encouraging and had lots of strategies to offer when our child needed support. College placement was also excellent and DC is now a thriving college sophomore. Bottom line for us: Big 3, schmig 3.

Is your child asking to leave the school? Or is the school asking you to leave? It’s not clear from your post. Either way, I would seriously consider leaving a school that either my child was that unhappy at or the school was pushing us out. Either way it’s a bad situation for your child. I’m sorry that you are going through this, and I hope you find the right place for your child. People tend to flourish when they are are happy so I would take my child’s unhappiness very seriously at this age. He is old enough to know himself.

My tough high school let the flailing students stick around. It was very stressful for the kid for many years. I wish they’d been counseled out.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Unless your kid has strong feelings about staying, I would look around for a better fit. No one WANTS to get all Cs and Ds. Test for learning differences to ensure you aren’t missing anything and find somewhere your child can succeed academically and socially. Find an environment that actually can provide some support, rather than just counseling out. Kid doesn’t have to be an academic superstar, but needs to perform at least at the average level to ensure mastery of the material.

+1 This! Every child cannot be top of class or an academic superstar but every child can find an appropriate academic fit, based on their abilities. This school appears not to be it, and that's ok! Explore options for the remainder of this application season and simultaneously, take the steps to identify their areas of growth and sources of performance challenges. Figure out precisely what is going wrong, devise an academic support plan to fix it, and then move on to a more suitable school. Best of luck along the way; I can only imagine that this is stressful for both child and parent. Hang in there!

Or they can stay and be really popular. High achievers should thank the kid who helps the curve for everyone else

Anonymous wrote:Unless your kid has strong feelings about staying, I would look around for a better fit. No one WANTS to get all Cs and Ds. Test for learning differences to ensure you aren’t missing anything and find somewhere your child can succeed academically and socially. Find an environment that actually can provide some support, rather than just counseling out. Kid doesn’t have to be an academic superstar, but needs to perform at least at the average level to ensure mastery of the material.

+1 This! Every child cannot be top of class or an academic superstar but every child can find an appropriate academic fit, based on their abilities. This school appears not to be it, and that's ok! Explore options for the remainder of this application season and simultaneously, take the steps to identify their areas of growth and sources of performance challenges. Figure out precisely what is going wrong, devise an academic support plan to fix it, and then move on to a more suitable school. Best of luck along the way; I can only imagine that this is stressful for both child and parent. Hang in there!

OP, has your child been at the school and is new to middle school this year or is your child brand new to the school starting this past September and is already been asked to leave? Either way, I think sometimes when schools do this is because they don’t see the family doing a lot to remedy the situation. I’m not saying you’re not trying, but I have seen lots of families new to private assume that once they cut the check, school will take care of the rest. In my experience if the child is struggling, but the parents are trying to work with school, get their own outside support, etc. the school will work with you. Again, not saying this is your situation, but it’s odd anyone would be counseled out in just a few months unless there was big behavior issues accompanying the bad grades and the parents weren’t acknowledging the situation.

Unless your kid has strong feelings about staying, I would look around for a better fit. No one WANTS to get all Cs and Ds. Test for learning differences to ensure you aren’t missing anything and find somewhere your child can succeed academically and socially. Find an environment that actually can provide some support, rather than just counseling out. Kid doesn’t have to be an academic superstar, but needs to perform at least at the average level to ensure mastery of the material.

Switching to a new school would just be running from the problem and kicking the cam down the road. My 7th grader at a top 5 school (where 7th is an entry year) said the new kids from public get a’s on anything that involved memorization or graded homework but are really struggling with long term projects and presentations and writing. They have a lot of group projects and it’s noticeable. Thankfully their school provides lots of support and I know from my older kid that by the time these kids entered 9th they are caught up. I’d approach the school and am surprised that your child has not and that the school is not already working with him. If they are not then that’s a poor reflection on the school and you’re in a tough spot bc it will be hard to apply out w/ those grades.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is not the end of the world, OP, even though it is a bad feeling right now. The school wants your child to succeed. I know several kids with lots of “Ds” in middle school that switched out at 9th from my kids Big3. In fact, one DC ended up at the same college as their friend that was counseled out! One counseled out kid ended up at a far better ranked college.

Look to Burke, Field, local public, Madeira and the various Catholic high schools. I know kids that switched to these schools successfully. Several also went to easier boarding schools to much success. Another tip - I wish we had considered schools without the athletic requirement because that made school work a lot more stressful for my DC once in high school.

I'm truly astonished at how much these "top" schools counsel out. It makes me very skeptical of these schools and unlikely to apply.

Why are you surprised? The start accepting kids in kindergarten. The can may guesses and try, but there really is no way of knowing if a six year old will be a good student when they are 14. They can easy create an easy lifer track in high school or just counsel out their mistakes.

But this isn't a lifer situation. This is a kid (according to the thread title) that is new this year who passed all their screeners and now is being asked to leave instead of being helped with the transition to the new school.

Did OP ever say that? Reading through, there are a few similar situations posts, but nothing from OP

it's in the tread title, doofus.

"child getting Cs and Ds as new student in MS, asked to seek better fit for HS?"

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is not the end of the world, OP, even though it is a bad feeling right now. The school wants your child to succeed. I know several kids with lots of “Ds” in middle school that switched out at 9th from my kids Big3. In fact, one DC ended up at the same college as their friend that was counseled out! One counseled out kid ended up at a far better ranked college.

Look to Burke, Field, local public, Madeira and the various Catholic high schools. I know kids that switched to these schools successfully. Several also went to easier boarding schools to much success. Another tip - I wish we had considered schools without the athletic requirement because that made school work a lot more stressful for my DC once in high school.

I'm truly astonished at how much these "top" schools counsel out. It makes me very skeptical of these schools and unlikely to apply.

Why are you surprised? The start accepting kids in kindergarten. The can may guesses and try, but there really is no way of knowing if a six year old will be a good student when they are 14. They can easy create an easy lifer track in high school or just counsel out their mistakes.

But this isn't a lifer situation. This is a kid (according to the thread title) that is new this year who passed all their screeners and now is being asked to leave instead of being helped with the transition to the new school.

Did OP ever say that? Reading through, there are a few similar situations posts, but nothing from OP

You tell me. What does the thread title say

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is not the end of the world, OP, even though it is a bad feeling right now. The school wants your child to succeed. I know several kids with lots of “Ds” in middle school that switched out at 9th from my kids Big3. In fact, one DC ended up at the same college as their friend that was counseled out! One counseled out kid ended up at a far better ranked college.

Look to Burke, Field, local public, Madeira and the various Catholic high schools. I know kids that switched to these schools successfully. Several also went to easier boarding schools to much success. Another tip - I wish we had considered schools without the athletic requirement because that made school work a lot more stressful for my DC once in high school.

I'm truly astonished at how much these "top" schools counsel out. It makes me very skeptical of these schools and unlikely to apply.

Why are you surprised? The start accepting kids in kindergarten. The can may guesses and try, but there really is no way of knowing if a six year old will be a good student when they are 14. They can easy create an easy lifer track in high school or just counsel out their mistakes.

"Counsel out their mistakes"

Lovely

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is not the end of the world, OP, even though it is a bad feeling right now. The school wants your child to succeed. I know several kids with lots of “Ds” in middle school that switched out at 9th from my kids Big3. In fact, one DC ended up at the same college as their friend that was counseled out! One counseled out kid ended up at a far better ranked college.

Look to Burke, Field, local public, Madeira and the various Catholic high schools. I know kids that switched to these schools successfully. Several also went to easier boarding schools to much success. Another tip - I wish we had considered schools without the athletic requirement because that made school work a lot more stressful for my DC once in high school.

I'm truly astonished at how much these "top" schools counsel out. It makes me very skeptical of these schools and unlikely to apply.

Why are you surprised? The start accepting kids in kindergarten. The can may guesses and try, but there really is no way of knowing if a six year old will be a good student when they are 14. They can easy create an easy lifer track in high school or just counsel out their mistakes.

But this isn't a lifer situation. This is a kid (according to the thread title) that is new this year who passed all their screeners and now is being asked to leave instead of being helped with the transition to the new school.

Did OP ever say that? Reading through, there are a few similar situations posts, but nothing from OP

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is not the end of the world, OP, even though it is a bad feeling right now. The school wants your child to succeed. I know several kids with lots of “Ds” in middle school that switched out at 9th from my kids Big3. In fact, one DC ended up at the same college as their friend that was counseled out! One counseled out kid ended up at a far better ranked college.

Look to Burke, Field, local public, Madeira and the various Catholic high schools. I know kids that switched to these schools successfully. Several also went to easier boarding schools to much success. Another tip - I wish we had considered schools without the athletic requirement because that made school work a lot more stressful for my DC once in high school.

I'm truly astonished at how much these "top" schools counsel out. It makes me very skeptical of these schools and unlikely to apply.

Why are you surprised? The start accepting kids in kindergarten. The can may guesses and try, but there really is no way of knowing if a six year old will be a good student when they are 14. They can easy create an easy lifer track in high school or just counsel out their mistakes.

But this isn't a lifer situation. This is a kid (according to the thread title) that is new this year who passed all their screeners and now is being asked to leave instead of being helped with the transition to the new school.