My advice would be to check out those two schools before you consider moving. Is that great public high school great because of the teachers or because of the parents? Is it great because of test scores? What's the homework load like?
Around here, a lot of "great" schools get their reputations because Mom and Dad pay a small fortune for math and other tutoring --- so a lot of the instruction is taking place outside the school hours. All that tutoring drives test scores up.
And all of our top-ranked high schools pile on homework. Is this what your son wants?
He wouldn't want homework that was more of the same. The high school
is a college prep school and may do that. But what is the alternative? College is a lot of homework, and not all of it will be novel. As for the ranking, it's based on the usual...test scores, classes offered, percentage of college-bound. I'm sure you're correct about the test scores being unreliable due to tutoring. But this particular school (the public) boasts around 30% of their enrolled are TAG. I'm not sure what the criteria for that is over there, but the overall educational level of the pop. probably warrants a large chunk of that percentage...high ability or gifted. The private school most likely has it's share of high ability/gifted, though the stats aren't available. They only cite the colleges the grads are planning to attend.
I'm originally from your area and know what you're talking about concerning the tutoring and the plethora of private school choices. I've wondered if we should move back, but as you've pointed out the housing we would be able to afford would garner us a two bed, two bath ten year old condo. A shock in lifestyle for DS who has never known anything other than ten acres.
