<p>One aspect of the boarding school world that could bear more discussion is the practice of applying to repeat a grade. Some families apply this strategy when the student is intellectually advanced but socially or emotionally immature. Other families with athletes have them repeat to help them mature physically and develop their skills. Still others seek to minimize the social and GPA shocks that often come in that first term at bs, especially afflicting those students coming in at the 11th grade level.</p>
<p>I recall from my bs days that there were repeaters and PGs in every year but my youthful impression was that those students were rare. But as a parent I am now finding that repeating is much more common than I had thought; one coach/teacher at a top school recently told me that 30% of students there came in as repeaters.</p>
<p>There are plenty of upsides and downsides I find. On the upside, repeat 9th graders have more time to get accommodated, make friends, get established with clubs and learn good study habits than if they came in as 10 graders. Also, GPA stats for bs students with four years residency tend to be stronger than those with 3 years, or 2 years. On the downside, repeaters have been known to burn out by 12th grade. And I understand from a family with a nationally ranked tennis player that repeat athletes in some sports are harmed as far as their collegiate eligibility is concerned (i.e., some sports begin their four year eligibility by age (18) not grade). Also, repeating means more tuition and ancillary costs.</p>
<p>Does anyone have any thoughts about /experience with this subject?</p>
<p>Great Topic! My D is in the intellectually advanced but socially immature camp. We are applying to a boarding school now… for next year. The school is a k-9 and our goal is to have her enter in 7th and complete the 9th grade. From what I can tell entering secondary and repeating 9th she can start 9th in the more advanced classes. I am not worried about burn out. If she chooses she can travel or do independent work study and so on to keep it fresh.</p>
<p>We attended a presentation at son #2’s K-8 pre-prep school about an optional 9th grade year they offer.</p>
<p>Four former 9th grade students and one mother spoke. Among the group was a kid who had completed 9th grade at the pre-prep and then repeated 9th at a GLADCHEMMS school. He described feeling like a “super freshman” during his repeat 9th. He said the extra 9th, in his case, was the best decision he had ever made as it made him more mature and independent, allowed him to achieve an honors GPA, drive a car as a sophomore, and pursue independent coursework a year earlier than most.</p>
<p>This kid was so eloquent and charming he stood head and shoulders above the other speakers; so much so that the crowd of 40-odd parents gave him a standing-o, which none of the other kids received.</p>
<p>The down side was when the mother spoke. Her son enrolled at Andover and she apparently resented the fact that the repeat 9th kid had, quite unintentionally, just upstaged him. She peppered her talk with comments such as, “we are <em>not</em> a repeat 9th family”, “repeating 9th is just <em>not</em> an option for <em>us</em>”…</p>
<p>Our takeaway was very positive toward a repeat 9th but obviously some see it as a stigma.</p>
<p>Interesting comments so far. Everyone, check GMTplus7’s excellent thread from 2011, cited above - excellent exchange about repeats, particularly how AOs view them. I site searched this subject to little avail yet this thread was here all along. I need to sharpen my skills…Many thanks GMTplus7 for that great thread and for providing the link. </p>
<p>I was thinking that the entire subject is framed within the content of “normal” school structures - everyone of one age is in the same class. Yet it is perfectly natural for people to mature in different aspects at different speeds. And since private schools, bs in particular, can and do accommodate students according to their academic progress, placing them in advanced or remedial courses, I am starting to wonder if grades or forms make much sense any more.</p>
<p>I occasionally overhear student conversations where they are laughing good naturedly and with surprise to suddenly discover the junior who is younger than the sophomore in their group. I rarely even suspect a repeat student in my classes unless it’s a 6’4" freshman with a bass voice and a permanent 5 o’clock shadow.</p>
<p>I honestly don’t see that there’s any stigma for repeaters among my students. Kids are pretty aware that repeating in boarding school is not a sign of academic failure or anything necessarily negative. Plus, their math, foreign language, arts, and some sciences often have mixed grade level students.</p>
<p>I do love the anecdote of the miffed mommy, though!</p>
<p>There’s absolutely no stigma at all to repeating; the rich & famous do it. </p>
<p>An example of a high-profile repeat is the boarding school boy w famous last name who was dating the Grammy Award winning country music star who writes songs about her ex’s. He is a DOUBLE repeat—i.e. repeated TWO years.</p>
<p>Outside BS, repeating a grade may carry some stigma, but inside BS it’s something neutral. Think of it as being on financial aid. No one cares or even has to know about it. That said, repeating is not always a good decision, especially if you are planning on repeating 9th grade when you are still an 8th grader. In other words, you “artificially” design to repeat a year. While there are truly good reasons that warrant the cost (not just financially) for a 5 year HS career, if you are targeting to be more advanced and competitive than peers coming in the door, think again. By junior year, such advantages would be pretty much worn out. I’ve seen more than one kid who was repeating a calculus class in 9th grade and ended up “so-so” at graduation. I would take repeating as a making up measure for kids who evidently need it instead a routine solution just to “make sure” or “feel certain”.</p>
<p>Our son’s school discouraged a repeat year, at least in our case. We applied for repeat 9th because we were told the competition to get in for sophomore year was quite intense. Also, coming from a small public, we weren’t sure he would be ready academically. The admission offiice actually called in February with, “Really? Wouldn’t he be happier with kids his own age?” And they assured us that he was a strong candidate. This was great, because as a public school parent bew to the BS world how does one actually know where your kid fits? We didn’t. Coming in as a sophomore was hard for him in all the ways previously discussed, but it really was the best place all around.</p>
<p>we did a repeat year when son transferred from one school to another in 6th grade. The school he transferred into only accepted students in 1st and 6th grade unless a space opens in another grade. The school he transferred to had an accelerated program so it was not a complete repeat. Now that he is in 9th grade I see the value of his maturity as it relates to being able to handle the boarding school experience. The down side is that he is almost a year older than his peers and decidedly more mature. He is not very tolerant of some of the younger kids antics. Academically, it has made a huge difference. He is very self sufficient. In our case it all happened by accident but I would do it again especially with boys who are more immature than girls at the same chronological age.</p>
<p>My daughter did a pseudo repeat. She repeated 11th but only to correct for previous acceleration. She’s still one of the you her ones in her grade and will graduate at 17 but I wouldn’t have done it any other way. She’s still in classes with kids older than she but it’s okay. She won’t run out of courses to take. She was fine socially when she was two to three years younger and was in many ways more mature than the 17 and 18 year olds in her classes last year but I wanted her to go to college at a normal age. For the first time since second grade the majority of her friends were born within 12 months of her. For most of her life, it won’t matter how old her friends are, but at 16 it’s made her life a little easier. My son did not repeat and I wish he would have. </p>
<p>I don’t think many kids even know that she repeated 11th grade. Most know that she’s not taking the standard junior year AP track but I doubt she’s told them that it’s because she already did it. No one would guess, like I said, because she’s still a bit young. I’ve never even thought to ask her if there are other repeaters. It’s just not something that comes up.</p>
<p>We are considering a couple of options for my 13 year old 8th grade son.
Having my son finish the year in 7th grade at an all boy boarding school
Having my son do 8th grade again in Sept. at an all boy boarding school
Having my son finish 8th grade at an all boy boarding school
Have my son start 9th grade in Sept. at whatever H.S. he gets into</p>
<p>Here is a little background on our situation my son use to go to a very small Catholic school was that was all boys since he was 5 years old. He was a pretty immature boy and babied by his teachers and my family (he is an only child) at his old school they almost let him skip a grade in 6th grade since he was so advanced but decided not to since he was so immature. Unfortunately the school closed and he had to go to a new Catholic school for his 8th grade year. This school the class size is much larger and is coed. Within the first week of school a girl start taking interest in him, she sat right next to him but has since been moved to a couple of desk away. He goes to an after school program not at the school that she doesnt go to. We didnt find out about this in school romance till late in November almost December, much to our horror since we feel that it is inappropriate for 13 years olds dating and cant believe that the school allowed this relationship to start. His birthday is during the summer so he is younger than a lot of the children in his class now and the girl that likes him is almost 8 months older than him. His State tests is all way above grade level in fact some are college level.</p>
<p>Much to our surprise this year his grades start significantly falling and his first report card was all 70s and one failure, we have since got him tutors that he goes to everyday single day. We just got another progress report card the day before the holiday break and now he is failing four classes. The teachers say that he is distracted the whole day talking or trying to talk to this little girl. I have talked to the girls mother who is much more lenient with this relationship even though her daughter is also starting to fail classes. She has agreed that they shouldnt see each other outside of school but still thinks they should hang out during group events and can talk every night on the phone (which we think is inappropriate and have tried to ban). He also hasnt been handing in homework he has been leaving the work in school and not even taking it with him so the tutors cant work with him. Approximately every 3rd assignment he gets a zero on. As far as studying for test one in every four test he is unprepared for due to not taking good notes or just not writing that he has a test. His SSAT scores were above average but not that high. We are majorly concerned that he wont be able to get into a good H.S. I know his teachers especially his homeroom teachers are trying to work with him however they do not seemed concerned enough and feel hell get into a H.S. school. I have begged them to send me and his tutors all his assignments and testing schedule to no avail. I dont think switching schools in the area will make any difference since I feel hell try and see this girl or start dating another girl. Also I know that the class size and more independent teaching styles have largely impacted his grades. He has midterms in two weeks and we dont know what to do. We cant guarantee high grades on the midterms. We are thinking to pull him out before the second report card since we dont want a bunch of low grades on his records or to wait to the end of the year and he have to repeat anyway due to failing so many subjects Sadly money is something to factor in and we have spent way too much on tutors that havent seemed to help much.
Any advice?</p>
<p>Have you considered home schooling as a interim solution? The home school kids outperform public,parochial and private school students. There is a huge network of home school families that help each other out with subjects. K12 is an online school that has instructor led classes that are delivered over the internet. Kahn Academy offers online learning and it is free. The emotional maturity should weigh heavier in your decision over the advanced learning. Having time to develop emotional maturity will make his high school years more enjoyable especially if he is planning to attend a boarding school. I am a strong believer in single sex for middle school. My daughter also attended an all girls school for high school and it is paying dividends now that she is in college.</p>
<p>Have u discussed the option of BS w yr son? Is he amenable to it? If not, are u not simply adding another problem to his present situation-- will he not feel he is being punished and locked away? If he is resentful, I have a hard time seeing how he will be motivated to perform academically.</p>
<p>Unfortunately due to work schedules I would have to hire someone to stay with him if we homeschooled him unless I quit my job which isnt an option. Also I think he would feel very isolated if we homeschooled him. </p>
<p>We have always considered boarding school an option for high school so for over two years we have been looking at schools. He has visited 6 schools and we have gone to a bunch of boarding school fairs. When he found out his school was closing last year he really wanted to spend 8th grade at a boarding school. He loves art, computers and sports so he was sold on going after the first school we visited. However a lot of my family and friends felt that he was too young and that it was too expensive so I decided to wait till high school. Which I now think was a mistake.</p>
<p>There is a distinct advantage in your son repeating the entire 8th grade year at a new middle school and continuing there through 9th grade. He can apply to high school for entry in the 10th grade, with a clean academic slate from the new middle school, leaving behind his present school’s problematic grades. Be forewarned though that in the high school application, u will be asked about any unusual sequencing in his child’s education. Answering truthfully about the repeating should be a non issue if he performs well at the new middle school.</p>