Middle schooler transfer to private school for HS pros and cons

Eiholi. I’m in the Midwest. I live in a town that sends kids to two different high schools. School A is the New Trier-like high school - tops in the state/nation, lots of educated parents, more 1:1 GC, etc. School B is still a perfectly fine suburban school district, still very good by any measure but more diverse socioeconomically and a lot of the wealth there is driven by success in areas that don’t require a fancy college degree (owning car dealerships, selling real estate, etc.) Fewer kids go to elite colleges and there’s more of a culture of CC for 2 years and the transfer to U of Illinois due to the lesser affluence.

My husband grew up in this town and went to School A. Our kids were in School B. In hindsight, it was really the best move. They didn’t have the social pressure from peers to go to an elite school, or all the inevitable gossip and comparison, and when their applications were read, they weren’t one out of a couple dozen applying. Remember, elite schools get bored with the thirteenth applicant from a high school. Why do you want to be that?

If some of the kids go to top 20 schools, then you have what you need. You’re fine.