Over the next 2 weeks we need to make a decision about a middle school for DD10 and DD9. Both will be in 6th grade (as per other post, DD9 just accelerated into 5th). The girls and I have toured many schools, magnet and charter. DH and I had initially thought a small charter would be the best for DD9, but now we are wondering if we just place both girls in the same school. Here are the main contenders:
Large GT magnet (merely means all kids have gifts)- 1,000 kids, "whole child" oriented, many many electives, 1 girl in school who has been grade accelerated, math kids grouped with like learners, easy to move kids to correct level (this all from AIG specialist),use "Thinking MAPS" a graphic organizer method, no AIG classes in science, a few kids SSA in language arts. I was impressed by the fact that the AIG specialist set up an appt. with me to talk. I was worried when she said that that except for math, kids of all levels will be in the same classroom. She explained the "whole child" thinking is that life always has people of different levels working together so the school works that way as well. School is considered very safe, little bullying, 60% of kids AIG.
AIG Magnet middle school - 1000 kids, very diverse (good for us as a transracial family), "school within a school"= AIG kids take classes together (if child AIG identified math he/she will have AIG math and science, AIG language arts kids have AIG LA and social studies together), many many electives, asst. principal states several kids grade accelerated, some kids go to local high school for math (other school said this is not allowed so they don't understand how this school claimed to be doing this, BTW).My worries are that it has more kids with behavioral issues than the other middle school, and when I contacted them for more info listing specific questions about a child like mine, they gave the standard lines of how they are "a fantastic school, many AIG kids, we would love it" and did not answer my questions. Am I going to get the best care for my girls here? A side note, while DD9 is AIG LA and math, DD10 is only AIG math. I have been told that the kids who aren't AIG both subjects feel a sense of "less then" about not being in AIG classes. One mom who went there years ago still can remember wanting to be in all AIG classes. The student AIG tour guides spoke of "the other kids" when speaking of non-AIG students. Ugh. I don't want DD10 to feel bad.
We toured other schools with the idea that a small one would be good for DD9. Safer for a child who will be a year younger than all the rest of the students: a small quirky charter which is supposedly very supportive of it's kids, but whose principal gets mad when people ask about AIG services. She feels her school is very challenging. School does have excellent test scores. Not diverse at all. A "STEAM" school (STEM with arts) whose principal stated that their mandate is to help bright kids, but not cater to gifted per se. One mom I know whose very gifted kid goes there has been happy with the school. A "Math and Science" charter which has is award winning, but without a lot of the electives other schools have. DD is very artsy, claims to hate math (although she is good at it). If we picked any of these for DD9, we would put DD10 in the GT magnet listed above.
Oh, this is absolutely a hard decision. While DD9 absolutely needed to be accelerated, I am becoming so aware of how young she still is. She does get along well with older kids, yet holds my hand all the time while out and about. She gravitates towards bigger kids at school yet jumps in my arms when visiting relatives. Young and old at the same time!! I want her to be safe at school, and I want my DD10 to be happy, too.
My girls' opinions? They liked both magnet middle schools, especially the GT one though they couldn't describe why. They did not like the charter schools.
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