ok...so my two cents is that I left our DD in a "smaller" school like that, believing they meant it when they said the small classes would allow for more individualized instruction. I would, of course, NEVER deny ANY child what they need to be successful, but there is a difference between fair and equal. The former school had NO IDEA of what to do with our DD and last year's teacher even SAID to take her to a different school...
right now we are homeschooling with a wonderful independent study program our district offers...
I would go over to the "big" school and check it out. Two school in the same district are likely mandated to use the same test, depending on how yours does it (in ours they test ALL the kids at the end of second, but some places, the kids have to be referred for testing), but the philosophies may be VERY VERY different...trust me...
Our experience was that the former school WAS wonderful at helping the struggling or left behind kids, but woefully inept at looking at my DD as anything other than a behavior problem....
