I’m sorry I didn’t have the time to read through the entire thread, but I’d recommend the OP asks himself the question I faced - "how well would my kid do in top-notch private high school after years of regular public elementary and middle? For me, the answer was “I don’t know”. Our oldest daughter went to private elementary school up through grade 3. She scored 99% in English and math in Iowa test for private schools for her grade level. Then we transferred her to local public school (considered to be excellent) and for two years DD did absolutely nothing still getting top grades. In 7th grade, her math teacher brought a team of brightest kids from their public middle schools to a local math olympiad. All the other teams were from private middle schools and the difference in level of preparation was amazing - our “public” kids were years behind. One of the kids who got the prize for his grade level was my daughter’s former classmate in private elementary, so my guess is if my daughter stayed in that elementary and then went to that private middle school, she might have been on the same level. No sense guessing “what if” or second-guessing my decisions. When it came to choosing high school, though, I realized I might be doing a disservice to my daughter: going from a star student at her middle school to an underdog in a top-notch private prep would be extremely hard. Yes, she is capable of catching up, but as a 13-year old she is way too sensitive about how others view her. I realize this gap in quality education between our public and top private is not going anywhere, and ultimately she will be less academically prepared for college than if she had gone to top notch prep. But by that time she will be a lot more mature, self-confident, not afraid to seek help (or at least I hope so). Will cross that bridge when we get there, in the meantime - a month into public school - so far so good.