<p>My D is 4th grade and we are in midwest. We may be moving to Boston, MA, NH area in a couple of years. She is very likely to go to a boarding school for high school education (grade 9-12). But we need to find a good junior school to fill the gap for grade 7 and 8.</p>
<p>I think we have two options, one is to stay where we are till she finishes 8th grade and then move to East coast. The other option is to find a good junior school in MA, NH area and relocate as soon as she finishes 6th grade. </p>
<p>One thing for sure is that we don't want her to attend junior BS. </p>
<p>Please recommend some good junior high schools in MA and NH area. I know there are feeder high schools to colleges. What about junior high? Any "feeder" junior highs to the top high schools? </p>
<p>On the north shore - approximately 50 minutes from Boston are - Shore Country Day in Beverly, Tower in Marblehead, Brookwood , in Manchester by the Sea, and Glen Urquhart in Beverly Farms.</p>
<p>Yes, Buckingham, Brown and Nichols. Winsor School in Boston. </p>
<p>LOTS of top rate schools. Winsor school is grade 5-12. High Ivy matriculation. Might be the #1 school in the nation for Ivy matriculation, along with Roxbury Latin for boys.</p>
<p>Fay, Park, and Shady Hill are wonderful schools but you might consider most seriously the schools that people have mentioned that have junior high grades but also run through high school (Buckingham, Browne and Nichols, Noble and Greenough, Milton Academy, Winsor). Admissions is supercompetitive at these schools so you might want to also consider Dana Hall, Rivers, and Newton Country Day which also run through high school. If your child really liked these schools that include high school grades, she' d be making one transition rather than two.</p>
<p>There are excellent public schools in the Boston suburbs too. Your daughter can attend one and apply to boarding school at no disadvantage. It is a myth that there are "feeder schools" they are really schools which just have a lot of students applying, but the boarding schools cast a wide net. In fact, she'll have a much better chance at a top boarding if she applies from the midwest.</p>
<p>What is the acceptance rate of schools such as Park School of Brookline and Shady Hill School, Fay, Milton at K-8 grades? Where can I find ranking of these junior schools?</p>
<p>Also, as Newyorker22 mentioned that my D might have a better chance for top high schools if she applies from midwest. I'm curious of the theory behind this. Do these top high schools take into consideration of the location of applicants?</p>
<p><a href="http://www.aisne.org%5B/url%5D">www.aisne.org</a> has basic info on all the private schools in the area - it is a good place to start. Acceptance rates are low at all the well known schools - probably 1 in 5 to 1 in 10 at a guess. There are also slightly different 'entrance years' - years when lots of kids are admitted. For many girls schools, it is 6th, for most coed it is 7th, but some are 6th. There are , indeed, very fine public schools in many towns as well.</p>
<p>You may find that if you circumstances permit you will want to rethink the boarding school decision as you get closer to it. Boston has a huge number of high quality private day schools that go up through high school (the ISL is one group, but there are many others) and many of them start in 6th or 7th grade as mentioned in replies elsewhere, so if you are looking for boarding school because you think it will provide the best possible education, that is not necessarily the case in Boston.
If you are definitely in the boarding school track, the Park School is probably the top of the list, and whlie it is wildly competitive, it does (or used to) get a little easier in 7th grade, since that is when a lot of kids peel off for the aforementioned day schools, and you can still have three years there through 9th grade.
Did anyone mention Dexter/Southfield? there are also a number of good Montesssori schools.</p>
<p>interestedmom5, actually I'm not against Day High Schools at all. My only concern is the commuting. Attending a day high school means we need to live closer to that school to minimize the commuting. That really limits our selections. For example, if one lives in Southborough and attends Fay school and then goes to Winsor or Roxruby for high school, how much time does it take in that area? Is it doable?</p>
<p>I'm overwhelmed by the uncertainties when taking into consideration of working place, private school, public school, junior high, high school and home location. :-( :-(</p>
<p>The commute issue is tough, but very doable. The kids in high school tend to get some work done in the car - and some even take public transport which gives parents a break. The difficult thing is that you really cannot know where your child will get in when you move. And, kids change - schools that look like a fit when your child is 11 may not seem as good when they are 13.
You might want to just rent for a while too until things are resovled. Buying a house and finding a private school at the same time is a big order.</p>
<p>Late to the discussion, but keep in mind that there’s a lot of carpooling in order to get kids to various private schools. </p>
<p>A few comments, though:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Dexter/Southfield has a rather unique philosophy. If you as a parent want to be involved, look elsewhere.</p></li>
<li><p>the public schools really are competitive with the prep schools. For example, Brookline HS had two alums become Rhodes Scholars in the same year. It routinely sends a dozen or more kids to Harvard, and an equal number to other ivies. </p></li>
<li><p>All the better prep schools are wildly competitive for admissions. Outside key entry years (where they add seats) the only additions are for attrition, so you might have 50-100 kids vying for one slot. </p></li>
</ul>
<p>Some schools, like Milton, have both boarding and day. </p>
<p>We too relocated from elsewhere when my D was starting 4th grade. She had been in an excellent private school (Greenhill, in Dallas TX) for 3rd grade, and it was tough for us to accept that she was going to attend a public school. But she did and thrived. She did attend BBN for middle school, but was back to the local public HS starting 9th grade. It was her choice, for more course flexibility. Best move she ever made.</p>