@gardenstategal @one1ofeach
You both bring up excellent points.
My daughter would ideally like to study abroad twice – once in high school and once in college. (She is even considering an international program in college like the Columbia/Sciences Po dual degree program, but she is 15 so that decision is still a ways away.)
Note that she would NOT be popping over to France and attending a French high school; SYA kind of feels like a college program abroad some ways. (although we considered that option before she decided to join her sisters at BS this past fall as a sophomore. She has dual citizenship so she theoretically “could” just pop over to France and take classes for free at a local high school.)
Of course, if she DOES end up doubling down on French or international studies of some sort in college (whether a truly international program like the Sciences Po/Columbia option or other), then I have no concerns about junior year rigor, as long as her BS creates a graduation path given the loss of a science year. But I don’t want to make a decision now that assumes that she will go that route in college.
Another element that I am considering is that she is NOT the super-high-rigor-intense kid who will be loading up on every tippy top hard class anyway her junior year. So maybe for her, this year abroad is less of a “loss” of rigor, if that makes sense? By comparison, my highly academic DD2 who is a junior now would NEVER want to lose any traction on her path because she feels like she has worked so hard to be in high level classes her whole life. Also: it’s kind of who she is. DD4 (study abroad daughter) is not that. She is a major empath who wants to live abroad, teach abroad, maybe work in film, and one day maybe be a high school math teacher. Again, she is 15, but she is not headed toward becoming some kind of business-mogul or some other highly intensive path. She is an A student, but not the valedictorian type. There is an inner voice inside me that says: let her follow her deeply-felt curiosity. Curiosity is always a wonderful teacher.
(am I answering my own questions here as I type? thanks for letting me work some of this out with you all.)