<p>Anyone else out there with a potential 2016 high school grad? S is one of them - right now, in the throes of deciding which high school he should go to. Having been down this road with D (class of 2011), things do feel a bit easier - although S is definitely a "different" kid from D.</p>
<p>Hi, arisamp. I have been on this site off and on for the last several years to get some info for my goddaughter. Now it is officially my turn, because my eldest D is graduating from 8th grade this year. I am so happy and so not ready for this :)</p>
<p>Right now, we do not have anything set. We haven’t decided on a school, classes, potential ECs. It seems every few weeks my daughter changes her mind about everything, which I think is typical 13-year-old behavior (outside of CC that is). I am trying to be supportive, and not takeover, but it is really hard for me.</p>
<p>I have a son this age and he makes me pull my hair out. I also have a son-class of 2014. </p>
<p>Current issues: He is playing his last season of Lacrosse and doesn’t want to play. He will make my life miserable all spring.
His grade in geometry is diving. He has a bad teacher but also puts little effort into studying. He spent some time on khanacademy.com to get ready for a test tomorrow. If his grade drops any lower, I am taking away the PS3. </p>
<p>He has already scheduled next year’s classes. (disagreed about that too) but will go to the local highschool.</p>
<p>Great to hear from you folks - semiLucky and 29happymom26.</p>
<p>S is currently debating about private high school or the local high school. D went to the local high school and did very well - but the private high school might give him a bit more challenge. He’s very aware of the whole college process thing which could be a significant advantage. Very mature for his age - most of the time 
Right now, he’s in the middle of basketball playoffs for his team and the annual musical and I am just about ready to flip out with all the commitments!</p>
<p>D2016 is 4th kid to go to HS. She will go to the local public; Christian private HS is way too narrow-minded for us. She is in the process of choosing courses; our HS is changing from trimesters back to semesters this fall. She will take 7 classes all year as opposed to the current 5. I anticipate a lot more homework than she is used to. Her EC is year-round swimming and now the HS team also. She is giving up band to continue swimming and Tae Kwon do. Just doesn’t see how she can manage a fall sport and marching band with school work.</p>
<p>D2012 is a math/science student who swims; D2016 leans more toward history and languages, but also a good swimmer. However, much different than D12 and we are in for a wild ride with her!</p>
<p>After several brilliant academic siblings, D16 is a completely different fish - immature, ADHD, and challenging to parent. We’re just hoping to get her through high school, into a career preparation post high school program and into the working world so she doesn’t live with us (and drive us crazy) in our old age. We have 6 children by birth and adoption. D16 is number 4.</p>
<p>dentmom4, Apollo6 - I am in awe. 2 kids have been enough to drive me absolutely crazy. I don’t think I could have dealt with more!</p>
<p>I think this is the time for tough choices. D wanted to be a part of so much in high school, but playing 3 sports pretty much consumed her. She couldn’t take part in theater or some of the other clubs she was interested in since she had practice every day after school for her sport. S is not as interested in sports - so he has a chance at some of the other activities. </p>
<p>Our school is on a semester system with yearly classes. D was in orchestra and S is currently planning on taking band. Going by what D experienced, taking a music/fine art elective like this pretty much kills any opportunity of taking other electives. For example, S would like to take an architecture or business elective, hopefully participate in DECA later on - but if he sticks with band, that’s downright impossible at our high school. Aargh!</p>
<p>I have a 2016 son who recently found out he was accepted to a brand new county wide public leadership academy. It is a single gender school, so about 50 boys in this inaugural class. Quite different from the public school my D is about to graduate from which has about 550 student per grade…</p>
<p>Highbury- Congratulations to your son. That sounds like an amazing experience. </p>
<p>For all the kids still scheduling and picking out high schools- How much does the parent get a say? (I had a huge say in HS scheduling) He text me from school and said do it online. We had talked about it but he was a little surprised after. : ) We argued over 1 science vs. 2 science and chorus.</p>
<p>Present. 10</p>
<p>29happymom re: picking classes. D2016 wants to pick her classes. So far she has honors eng, honors geometry, honors bio, AP gov, Spanish 3, PE/health. She wants marketing for #7 and I want choir. Plus HS swim during fall: 3 hour practices after school, plus weekly meets. She seems to think that her homework level won’t be much different than now. And she does VERY little now, coasting on what she knows and getting A’s. She doesn’t have a clue.</p>
<p>Since I have to sign off on it, I think I will prevail and about mid-October she will say thanks. Maybe.</p>
<p>AP gov as a 9th grader? That would be impossible at our school! Just given the transition to high school, I agree it would be prudent to take a slightly lighter load - opt for choir instead of marketing.</p>
<p>That being said, when my D entered high school, she qualified for 5 honors classes. The word was that each class required at least an hour of homework each day and everyone I spoke to suggested that she drop a couple - so she could have a “life”. She dropped history honors and took regular history. Hated it! Said a lot of the kids in that class didn’t really care about studying or school and she just didn’t like the environment. And found that work was not as bad as everyone had made it out to be - she was an expert at juggling schedules and completing her work. S is waiting to hear the results of his placement tests - I suspect we will have the same issue with him. But given D’s experience, I am more likely to push him to take the honors classes than the regular ones.</p>
<p>Hi all! I’ve been reading CC on behalf of a 2014 high school sophomore but do have a child in this age group too! She is a year around swimmer and violinist and is super ready to leave middle school behind. Her classes for next year are honors alg.2, biology, honors English, PLTW Princles of Biomedical Science, orchestra, AP Human Geo, and Spanish 2. She’s a funny, studious kid. I know she will love the atmosphere of high school!</p>
<p>Well, been wondering of it was too early to start this thread! Glad it’s going.</p>
<p>Have a DD in this cohort after DS who is now sophomore in college. Will be a very different experience with DD than it was with DS who is/was a math/science nerd who is also a niche sport athlete and declined to apply to any Ivies off the top. Made for a niche college hunting. </p>
<p>DD could end up anywhere studying almost anything. Interested to see how she develops over the next four years. She is in public school (no rigorous private options in town) and the principal has promised to work with us in terms of her schedule. There are online classes (Health enhancement (!), AP sciences that are not offered at the school) that we will be looking at and she is accelerated a year in math and will be taking classes at local college as junior/senior.</p>
<p>I promised myself that I will be much more involved with her HS career to make sure she gets all she can out of it and is as prepared as we can have her be for college. DS coasted through and although he has done fine in college, it was only because he happens to have a lot of natural ability in his chosen field.</p>
<p>Looking forward to fun 4 years!</p>
<p>Our HS pushes AP gov in 9th grade. They have revamped it a bit to appeal to 9th graders (and their parents) by keeping some homework time during class. Not sure how they do on the AP exam. With the switch to 50 minute periods and semesters though, I don’t see how this will work well, but she wants to take AP US and that is way too much work for 9th grade. </p>
<p>She is looking forward to honors classes, very tired of having disruptive kids in class.</p>
<p>Hello and Congratulations to everyone!!</p>
<p>We have finally decided on a school, and a majority of her classes. Nothing out of the ordinary, but she will be on track to take college courses for credit during her junior and senior years. And she definitely wants to participate in volleyball and track. She still has to make some decisions, but I am happy with what she has chosen so far.</p>
<p>ihs76, I completely understand what you mean. After these 4 years, my DD can be almost anywhere doing almost anything. I will definitely be very involved in her HS career. This will be a very interesting 4 years indeed.</p>
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<p>Yes, I call her “my little stemcell.” :D</p>
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<p>I made the mistake of thinking that “his teachers will know best” with DS. At a public school with 2000+kids, yea right. Turns out if the kid does his job, gets good grades and doesn’t cause any trouble, they look right over and around you and never pay any attention. Maximizing potential is not a goal at our HS.</p>
<p>Apollo~ Your post cracked me up! Sounds alot like my ADHD 2016 son!</p>
<p>I was shocked to already see this board, probably because I am in denial that my baby is going to high school next year, and that we are in the middle of college stuff with D2013. My son will be at a public high school, not a whole lot of AP and H. He is a math/science kid, and language arts have been tough because he has a learning difference and dysgraphia. He is not really looking forward to HS. He is a young bday, and lacks some maturity.</p>
<p>On the bright side, he is a cross country runner, loves it, and is very good at it. He will be on the HS team this fall, conditioning will start in June. I am looking forward to this as it means practice 3x week, and running is so good for him mentally and physically.</p>
<p>Sounds good. We’ve never really found an activity for D16 other than Girl Scouts. She has a lovely voice but not enough confidence to try out for choir solos etc. She tried track in 6th grade but wouldn’t run outside of school so didn’t do cross country. She loves art. We’re sending her to a small charter high school with fewer than 600 students that keeps very close tabs on students. We know the large public that our older kids attended would be a disaster for her.</p>
<p>Signed off on the HS schedule today. D will be in choir. Counselor sent an email that choir director says she can audition for the upper level concert choir because she has a music (ie band) background. Made D’s day because I am sure she will pass the audition–nice voice and perfect pitch. Same counselor as D12; goes the extra mile and knows her stuff.</p>