My elder one just got into one of Boston’s top 5 schools for undergrad. We plan to move to Boston or some state nearby, like NJ, this summer. We are also looking for an excellent public middle school for my younger one, and probably move to a prep school from 9th grade. She would like a middle school that excels in STEM since she is not athletic. She actively participates in Math and science competitions because that’s what her school has offered. I would say she is in the top 2% of her gifted program class.
I also looked at some other threads, but I would really appreciate any latest feedback on schools that would be a good fit considering our plans to move to a prep school later.
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Most boarding schools are focused on humanities. You’ll find much better STEM education in the magnet schools. There are several in NJ which are really good: Bergen Academies, Biotech High, etc). These would provide a much stronger education in STEM fields in my opinion.
There are lots of great prep schools in the Northeast. Are you looking at boarding or day schools?
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Massachusetts has a lot of high tech, including both “traditional” high tech (computers, software) and biotech. The biotech industry is booming right now. Some of this is most likely due to the many top universities in the area.
One thing this means is that there are a lot of highly educated parents in the area, and a lot of children of highly educated parents.
The various suburban public high schools in the area have a lot of students who are academically very strong and who take their studies very seriously. Quite a few of these students also put a lot of stress on themselves to do well.
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I would prefer a magnet or charter school to a boarding school for 6th -8th grade. I just came across Bergen Academies and was trying to look up the middle school that feeds into the high school. How competitive is it to get into Bergen?
I have read about Lawrenceville, Princeton HS, and such schools. Are there any hidden gems in the public school system in NJ for Science and Math?
My middle schooler is also in a magnet school, and they have a lottery system for most kids. Mine came from a gifted program from elementary, so they had no lottery to middle school. However, the teachers are leaving for other schools. The school will also not give a recommendation letter for enrichment courses because it reflects poorly on the school. My child has three virtual teachers even now, post-COVID. It is the same school my elder one attended once, but the situation was much better then. This is why I am looking for parents’ input since stats and numbers do not tell the entire story.
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Agreed, my siblings completed their Masters in Boston, so I have visited Boston. However, I never looked at it from the middle/high school perspective.
Are there any particular schools that are good in math and science and feed into the top public high schools or stand a chance to get into prep schools?
For most publics in NJ, you go to the schools in your district. The top public schools are therefore usually located in very expensive towns with crazy property taxes. I do think the magnet schools are very good, and NJ schools in general are pretty good.
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Princeton Charter School is well known. A couple of my friends had kids who went there. It is a feeder to Lawrenceville School and other top boarding schools. But you have to be a Princeton resident to apply, and there is a lottery system. As pointed out above, the taxes in Princeton Township are crazy.
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Thanks for pointing out the property taxes! I will definitely look into it as well. Would appreciate any magnet middle schools that feed into the top HS?
Thank you! I added Princeton Charter school to my list to research. Taxes and property prices are the next thing to look at once I have a list of schools for sure.
Any insights into ‘The Advanced Math & Science Academy’ or the 'Boston Latin schools is also appreciated. Not sure if there are any other schools in Boston that I am not aware of.
Advanced Math and Science Academy at WPI is for Junior/Senior year and there is an entrance exam to be admitted. Great school with the benefit of being on the WPI campus. D23 has a friend that attends.
It may be an application and not an exam.
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You could look at Stanford Online High School, which has a large number of advanced classes and students are placed into classes based on placement tests, not age. They are a strong community and very social, despite being an online school. Students can also attend part-time or take one or more enrichment classes. They start in 7th grade and are wonderful for highly academic students. It is run on a college-style schedule with classes at specific times during the day (ie, not all day 8-3), with Fridays reserved for school clubs or other activities.
It has lots of kids who are interested in/advanced in STEM, and they have an incredibly strong (required) philosophy core program for full-time students which usually are the favorite classes for many of the students.
Homepage OHS | Stanford Online High School
Here is their course catalog:
Course Catalog | Stanford Online High School
Please feel free to DM me if you would like additional information.
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Yes, you are right. Are there any feeder schools or schools from where students typically go on to attend Advanced Math and Science Academy?
We have SOHS on our list to apply; however, it needs recommendations from school teachers. And their school recently denied giving a recommendation for another online course.
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Your other pption is to move to a place with good schools that also meets your location needs. Westfield? West Windsor? And then to supplement with JHU/CTY courses. Choose a good private for 9th, which is where more specialization is more common.
That’s the plan! CTY/SOHS in MS followed by a STEM HS. But I am unaware of the top middle schools that feed into good high schools or prep schools.
Really, I don’t think that there “feeders” the way you may be thinking about it. There are definitely “good” districts, typically in more expensive neighborhoods. I believe that NJ public schools are the most heavily dependent on property taxes for funding, so that link is real.
But there are excellent districts throughout the state, from Ridgewood and Montclair to Rumson and Montgomery. And even where public schools are excellent (i.e., Princeton), there are private schools options. The prep schools don’t really seem to have preferences - they are picking the kids that will thrive with what they offer.
Our district was pretty ho-hum through middle school, yet had kids who went on to Lawrenceville. And my kid went to a BS with outstanding STEM and had wow classmates from terrible districts (not that I’d advocate for that either!)
My thoughts are that you don’t want a middle school that will hold your kid back, but you don’t need to seek out an uber accelerator either as enrichment can be personalized, and you want bandwidth and flexibility for that. In any of the “good” districts, your child will have peers.
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Your earlier post said they won’t give recommendations for enrichment. What about transfers? You could tell them that she wants to transfer there full time. Would they do that? OHS let’s you change enrollment from enrichment to part time to full time each semester so you are not locked in to the one you apply for.
And is this for next fall? I think OHS’ deadline is soon.
My son went there 10-12 and I would be happy to answer any questions you might have.
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This is interesting! I was not aware of changing enrollment.
We are trying for the Jan deadline for SOHS, provided the school agrees to give a recommendation.
I will PM you, thank you!
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