OP think of it this way-it may be sink or swim and you don't want your kid to become completely stressed out with every class being that way. A LOT of students at McLean end up dropping out of an honors class at some point along the way. A strong foundation is important. Some figuring if their kid keeps treading water with a C or D, they will eventually rise and that may happen, but especially with math classes, you need to fully master the concepts to build.

Longfellow is absolutely "honors" wink wink for some classes. It's much easier to claim it's all honors to shutdown pushy parents while making sure students are properly placed. You get to choose real honors at McLean, but don't base it on the Longfellow experience.

Also, colleges want well-rounded students so make sure your student has time to play a favorite sport or explore clubs too.

AAP at LF called “AA Class”, the rest is “honor”.
AAP kids has the option to take AA class, or honor class.

Anonymous wrote:Not Longfellow or McLean, but my kids' experience has been that all honors is the way to start. Some kids need four weeks to really get in the swing of things and adjust to each teacher's style, after which you can decide together with their teacher/counselor if they should stick with honors or drop down. Dropping down to regular in one or even two classes is not a big deal. However, being "stuck" on a regular track if the student is capable or doing honors work is a problem. Self-doubt, established peer group, comfort zone. All these make it difficult to step up to honors if the student did not start there in 9th grade. Good luck, OP!

Our school recommended NOT taking honors unless the student enjoys reading and writing and likes to put in extra effort (mine does not). They even tried honors math but it’s also difficult- student barely has a “C” even with tutoring.

TAKE THE HONORS!!!!