When I said that kids change tracks, I did not mean to imply that one can just say “I want an honors class.” Having an A average to move up does not seem unreasonable to me.
OP- I see the major concern here is sliding grades. “A’s and B’s” are okay does not mean it is okay for every child. You need to find out WHY your son’s grades have changed. Many possible reasons. It could be he had a super teacher in the past who got him to excel beyond his level, the work is more difficult, an attitude change on his part, poor teaching in a class, he’s bored… I recommend a discussion with his guidance counselor- parent, no child. Hopefully the school has gifted and talented programming so you can find out where your child fits into the scheme of things.
Agree with needing a firm foundation in math. Son’s district had some who took 8th grade algebra repeat it as HS freshmen. There will always be students who are borderline- should the more challenging class motivate them to do better or will it prove to be too much to handle… Now is a good time for you to find out what will work best for your son.
Do not worry about his getting into elite colleges- ever. Instead focus on him getting the most appropriate HS education for his abilities. This means having him take the classes where he learns the most- it may or may not include the most rigorous classes available. Even the top/gifted students attend many, many different colleges. The elite colleges are not the only places for students to get an excellent education- your state flagship U, for example, will have many elite students.
I’m in a college prep Catholic school.
I teach 5 classes of non-honors kids this year, 4 senior and one junior. Our classes are big, so that’s over 180 kids. And every single one of them will get into colleges.
As to the “academically focused” line-- sorry, I think that’s too broad a generalization. The Honors kids, at time can be far more “grade focused” than their non-honors peers, but that doesn’t always translate into academic curiosity or interest. Sometimes-- and, yes, this is another broad generalization-- they’re far more into grade grubbing and fighting for a tenth of a point than they are into the materials. Sometimes those non-honors classes are so much more interesting because the kids aren’t afraid to put in the work to understand the material, and sometimes the kids are far more well rounded.
In short, OP, put your son where he belongs. Where he can flourish. Where he can earn grades that are commensurate with the effort he puts in. I’ve taught the occasional honors kid who was misplaced, and had to put far too much work in-- at the expense of the rest of his/her high school life-- to earn decent grades. No kid should have to work that hard.
My own 2 older kids were absolutely non-honors… averages on either side of 80 when they graduated. Both ended up at colleges they loved. There’s a right fit for every kid.