So sorry! I didn't mean to confuse, ZM, let me try and explain better. After that, CFK, I'll answer your question.
9 and 10 year olds at the DA do have peers, but the majority of kids are indeed 11/12 and up. The younger kids do tend to stick together, and they do have friends to choose from, but they are not exclusively in an environment with their age peers the way they would be typically. If you have a 10-year-old ready for Algebra or Geometry, he/she will not be in a classroom comprised of only age peers, he/she will be in a class with older students. I'm guessing the staff does try to keep ages in mind when they are scheduling classes, but primarily the classes are ability grouped and students are not assigned grades (6th grade, 7th grade, etc.), so the age range within a class can be big. Of course, the middle school classes tend to skew younger, so the problem does self-correct a bit for the lower level classes.
As for why there aren't more 9 or 10 year olds? Who knows? My guess would be maturity level. It also doesn't hurt that Washoe County has excellent self-contained gifted classrooms throughout the city for grades 3-6 (with similar test score requirements to the DA). Many younger kids are happy to stay in that elementary school environment, doing advanced work, until they finish 6th grade. Many DA siblings attend that GT program, and only apply to the DA when they are through.
Anyway, what I was trying to say, was that the DA may be perfect for some young kids, but the atmosphere is not like being in a typical middle school, and nothing like being in an elementary school. The only reason I stress that here, is that I'm not sure I really grasped that when we applied. Back then there were no 9 or 10 year olds (my ds, now 14, was 11 and one of the younger ones), and I never really thought about how interacting with older kids might impact him. I probably should have, and that's why I bring it up. But my impressions may not be relevant to anyone else, so please take them with a grain of salt. Again, I don't mean to imply that younger students should stay away. Absolutely, not! Each kid is different, and will have a different DA experience. The DA has plenty to offer kids of all ages, there are just a lot of things to consider when making such a big decision.
CFK, the social scene is indeed a big draw at the Academy. It really is much nicer to be a part of a larger group, then alone on a college campus. Our former school district was one of the best in the country, with a gazillion AP classes, so there was no need for dual enrollment, but I was concerned about age. He would have hit high school very young, without knowing anyone (b/c he was attending a private school for the gifted that went until 9th grade, at the time). I kind of thought saddling him with new kids in a new school full of older kids would have been a social nightmare. The DA also offered other perks to my math/science guy: the ability to do university research, the ability to work at different levels in different classes, and the ability to take college classes without me having to spend my days driving him back and forth between campus and middle and/or high school (DA students are escorted to and from UNR classes).
The biggest perk of all, though, is the cluster of other families. Reno has become a community with so many other families in a similar situation, that it is an absolute blessing being here (even if the transition has been tough). Not all are DA families, not all are even YS families, but all know what it's like to raise these kinds of kids. You can share victories w/o feeling like you're showing off, find sympathy when setbacks happen, and have numerous avenues available for BTDT advice. This time next year my ds will be moving on from the DA, but no matter where we end up, I know I will have the friends I made here forever.
Again, I apologize for any confusion I caused.
