<p>My dd3 currently attends (rising sophomore) a small suburban hs. She has struggled academically and was diagnosed with ADD early in her academic career (she briefly took med, but then figured out how to manage so that she didn't have to - hated being on meds), but it's currently ranked 5th in her class with a 4.0 uw., 4.3 w gpa.</p>
<p>Because the school is small, there are many opportunities (she competed at the state level in two academic competitions this year, and started a club, and played two varsity sports, etc.,) but the math and science departments are VERY weak. She will likely be able to graduate with a high GPA and at least 7 APs.</p>
<p>I work at this school. D2 is a senior at this school. (D1 and D2 are more naturally " academic" and were able to compensate for less than stellar teachers.)</p>
<p>Because I realized (after working there for a few months) that the academics were weak, I sent in an application for her to the competitive IB program at a school 10 minutes away. She was accepted.</p>
<p>This school is quite large, and has the positives and negatives of a large school. </p>
<p>I am torn. Where would you send your child?</p>
<p>Where does your daughter want to go?</p>
<p>She is open. Her statement is that she wishes she could get the education available at School B at School A (she toured and sat in on classes - thought it was big, but would be okay either way).</p>
<p>Could she fulfill her math and science requirements through dual enrollment at a CC?</p>
<p>It will be a little difficult, but that would be the plan. The biggest problem is Chemistry, and she’d probably have to take it online, or skip it altogether, which would be negative. (She’s taken Honors Physics, and can take AP Bio and Honors Anatomy and Physiology at get current school, but that’s it.)</p>
<p>My D is the same age and grade as yours and also in a small school, though it is strong in math and science. It sounds like your D, like mine, has had some great opportunities and is doing very well. There are some bigger HS’s that offer many more options academically but D has elected to stay where she is because she likes having teachers in ALL grades know her and willing to help her, to offer opportunities, to mentor and suggest out-of-school options, and to have a small cadre of close friends and classmates. She will be giving up AP’s, IB and other alleged “must haves” but students at her school do very well getting into colleges and we’re all good with that.</p>
<p>Some of her friends have left and while they are getting more academic choices, they are aware they’re just one of a great many others. Some classmates take extra classes (for free) at the local CC. It works well for them.</p>
<p>Thanks for your input. I’m leaning towards keeping her where she I’d, but education I’d extremely important in or family, and I feel like I’m sacrificing her education for “experiences”. If I had known when we moved here (a different state from where all kids attended elementary, and the older two attended ms) that the education would be as lackluster, I would have made different choices.</p>
<p>D3 it’s probably looking at in-state anyway, but I feel that her high school preparation will be insufficient for other options (realistically, she’s at about the 85th percentile nationally, and the VERY preliminary list of possible colleges that seem to match her level and interests includes Colorado College, Pepperdine, Whitman). She’s like to try for Pomona, but her current school will not get her there. </p>