<p>Penny,</p>
<p>There is a program where you can pay OOS tuition at the second school, but it’s higher than we can afford long term. </p>
<p>And you’re right, one of the reasons for the less academic pressure, and fewer EC’s, is that the kids at School B are spending almost all of their waking hours on their arts. They take 9 or 10 classes, rather than 7 like at School B, and then stay late to work on shows. The tech kids are generally there the latest, and are often asked to be there early too. What homework is done, is done in the corridors during rehearsal or in study hall, rather than at home with parental help, tutoring etc . . . </p>
<p>As far as what my son would think of for spending every waking minute on theater, I have trouble telling. Right now theater is one of the things he’s done a fair amount of, and he enjoys it very much. When he visited School B and saw the kids up on the catwalks hanging lights and doing other things he was convinced he wanted to do this all the time, but he’s 13. 13 year olds change their mind. One thing he doesn’t do much is talk about a career in theater. The other day he told me that he’d narrowed down his plans for the future to 5 careers. Theater production/management was on the list, but the other 4 things were not arts related. </p>
<p>Luckily, we don’t have to decide for a while. During that time he’ll take a field trip to A with his school, and we’ll meet with the guidance counselors from A to pick his classes. He’ll almost definitely get an invite to work out with the football team (8th graders always have in the past, but they’re switching coaches this year), and we’ll attend a show or two. I’m also hoping he can interview with the tech director there. </p>
<p>He’ll also have an interview with B, and likely spend an afternoon/evening helping with a show there, and getting to know people. We’ll probably also go to one or more shows there so he can see both productions. I’d also like to sit in on a class or two myself.</p>