Underachiever

<p>I'm hoping some of you can help. My friend has now become interested in BS for her son. He doesn't have great stats so I am hoping you might have suggestions.</p>

<p>He has not taking the SSAT, but scores on nat'l tests in about the 30% for reading and 88% in math. (Assuming the SSAT will be low)</p>

<p>Athletic -Plays football, indoor soccer and lacrosse. Football is the passion.
Volunteers at the YMCA</p>

<p>NO other EC's - school doesn't offer much </p>

<p>Needs structure - but no uniforms. He always has a big smile and the devil in his eyes. Everybody loves him. </p>

<p>His Mom would prefer that he stays within 3 hours of Connecticut.</p>

<p>Any suggestions?</p>

<p>What year is he applying for? And, what grade?</p>

<p>He would be applying for ninth grade. She might wait and have him do 1 year at the local HS and then repeat. That would definitely help his academics and his sports.</p>

<p>I'd look at Westminster, Kent, and Blair as a reach.</p>

<p>The 88% in math would probably translate into a 25-30% on the SSAT, and the 30% in reading will probably be less than 10% on the SSAT.</p>

<p>When you say he doesn't have great stats, do you mean that his grades are not good? I'm assuming that is the case or you would not have called him an underachiever. Please clarify.</p>

<p>The school he goes to doesn't have grades but if it did his Mom thinks he would have B's in math and science and D's in everything else. She thinks the structure would help because he does very little work, but responds well to structure ( like his football coach). He isn't a behavior problem.</p>

<p>The school doesn't have grades?</p>

<p>It's a charter school and uses narratives. There are some scores in the body of the narrative but there are no traditional grades.</p>

<p>There must be schools that are right for someone like him, but I just don't know which ones would be good. They might look at Cheshire Academy. I don't know if he has the right profile for Cheshire; I just know someone who went there years ago when he was having trouble with his grades. They might also consider a consultation with an educational consultant who knows boarding schools and can point them in good directions.</p>

<p>I was going to suggest the Winchendon School and Gould Academy but found out they do not offer football. I guess if football is his passion, he wouldn't be happy at these schools. Sorry, I'm out of ideas.</p>

<p>Possibly Trinity-Pawling. It does have a "uniform" of jacket and tie but they have a great "effort" system. They do give traditional grades too, but your on campus privledges are determined by your effort - which is a combination of your academic effort (not achievement), athletic, dorm, clubs, etc.<br>
They have a strong football program.
They have very structured study time. As a new student (or a student earning below a certain amount in the effort scale), you have a required study hall during the day and then everyone has a required study hall at night.<br>
Their materials really talk about helping kids reach their potential. They quote many students saying "I wasn't getting very good grades at my old school, but I came here and with the support blah blah blah....i'm not getting A's and B's"</p>

<p>proctor is another one to check -- they have an excellent structured support system and approximately 1/3 of the kids meet with a learning specialist each day: Proctor</a> Academy - Owning Your Education</p>