Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Parenting and Advocacy is high school worth moving for?

If you had the ability to move anywhere in the US for high school for your rising 7th grader son do you know of any public high schools that would tempt you to do this? He has done very well in math, qualifying for the AIME as a 6th grader. He also likes sports and plays club soccer and is a competitive tennis player but he will not get scholarships in either sport but it would be preferable for him to continue playing sports as he really enjoys them.

His current charter school stops at 8th grade so no one from his middle school will be going to his local high school. He knows many kids in our area from elementary school and sports so staying put would be nice but the local high school is average at best.

Our personal situation is that once he graduates high school, we plan to sell our home and travel a bit before figuring out where we want to settle (assuming health and money allow). Since we plan to move in any case, we could sell early and rent for a few years to establish residency elsewhere if it is worth doing for him to get better opportunities. We do not want to send him to a boarding school or a private school.

We will probably stay where we are depending on how things go over the next two years but my wife and I were discussing a move this week so I was hoping for ideas/suggestions.

Thanks for your comments.

Davidson Academy of Reno, Nevada: a free public middle school and high school for profoundly gifted kids, brought to you by the same fine folks who maintain the Davidson Gifted database, provide these forums, and offer the Davidson Young Scholars (DYS) program

Thanks for your suggestion. DS is a DYS and we have discussed the Davidson Academy as an option. We are in NC and we have the NC School of Science and Math as an option also, although it is very difficult to get a spot. I am looking for a larger public high school with a larger student body and a sports program.

Ultimately hoping to get a list of 5-6 and show him the pros and cons and get his thoughts.

So you're looking for several options which are:
- a large high school
- public, not private school
- not residential/boarding school
- including a sports program (with soccer, tennis)
- understanding and serving the needs of profoundly gifted kids (those in the 99.9th percentile)

In general, there are only a handful of public high schools that are considered elite. They often tend to be magnet schools that require application and sometimes a lottery as well and therefore residency the year prior to matriculation. If you look up the high school teams that clean up at national/international competitions, that might get you a decent list of high schools with strong programs.

Off the top of my head for math/science and with soccer/tennis availability:

-Montgomery Blair in Silver Springs, MD
-Stuyvesant in New York, NY
-TJHSST (Thomas Jefferson) in Alexandria, VA

I recommend that you watch this speech that Richard Rusczyk, the founder of Art of Problem Solving, gave to parents at the 2009 Math Prize for Girls.

http://mathprize.atfoundation.org/archive/2009/rusczyk

Perhaps being at a smaller and less competitive high school would give your son more time to pursue his interests in sports and competitive mathematics. Instead of being bogged down by home/busywork in a "good" high school, he could have time to take online classes from AoPS or to study for the math and science olympiads. Moving to a bigger and better high school might also prevent him from making the varsity tennis or soccer teams.

http://mitadmissions.org/blogs/entry/applying_sideways

You may wish to see if there's a Middle College in your school district.I know they have them in North Carolina. Middle College is a dual enrollment program. Students spend part of the day taking high school classes and part of the day taking college classes. Some end up with AA or AS degrees when they graduate from high school.

Middle College is usually advertised as being for "at risk" students, but when we dug into our program (well, scratched the surface of that statement), it turned out that "at risk" was defined in many ways, including, "going through the motions high school and at risk in spite of having high grades," and "not desirous of a traditional high school experience."

Could be depends on the school. I just suggest that you be wary of High School 'rankings' in making your decision. Many of those are quite artificial and don't say anything about it being a good fit for your child.

Wow, tough issue. When we moved, schools were definitely a consideration and we picked a district with a district wide gifted program to try and give DD a larger group of peers. This meant that all the highly gifted students were pulled together in one middle school and one high school. This has meant that the high school was easily able to accommodate a four year single subject acceleration. However, as others have pointed out, this has also meant a higher pressure high school with little time for outside activities. DD is now finishing up high school and says she would choose the program again. DH and I are more ambivalent.

If I had a 7th grader and could move anywhere, I would move where:
1) my family would be a good fit (lifestyle, politics, religion);
2) the schools are safe (you'll need to decide what this means to you);
3) there is "enough" math in the high school (for us this would have meant 3+ years beyond calculus);
4) admission to the high school is automatic or test based (we did try to enroll in a charter school and wound up #435 on the list when the incoming class size was 70);
5) there are other school districts close by that are also good.
6) school funding is adequate (yes, debatable)

For me, I would consider if it was worth the risk. What if the school was not what was promised? What if it just wasn't a good fit for your child? Those would really be my primary concerns and I would want to be moving somewhere for another reason other than just the local high school. My two cents.

Thanks very much for the comments/suggestions. I will follow up on all of them and discuss with wife and son. It is easiest for us to stay where we are but if he continues progressing in math as he has the past few years I believe it might be better to try and go elsewhere.

Are there state flagship universities that allow qualified high school students to take courses and earn high school and college credit at the same time? Some high school students do this through dual enrollment at community colleges, but community colleges usually don't attract the best students. I'd consider moving to say Ann Arbor, Michigan or Madison, Wisconsin if my child could take classes at the universities there.

Suburbs of Berkeley are also a possibility for this. I took classes there for two years while I was in high school.

Massachusetts has a number of excellent public schools as well.

It wouldn't be unusual in public school jargon for the term "At risk" to be used in this manner. "At risk" can mean at risk of a lot of different detrimental outcomes or challenges.....at risk of suicide / depression, at risk of becoming educationally disconnected, at risk of dropping out, at risk of harming oneself or other, and on and on. As most in this forum are aware, such behaviors includes very high intellect students if not having a higher risk than average.

The Davidson Academy has its own basketball team, but no other sports at the school. However, students interested in sports are allowed to participate on teams at their zoned school, and quite a few do this.

When the students run out of classes at the DA they go to classes at UNR, which means it is really hard for them to top out in any subject area. These classes are free for the students as well.

We moved from Florida for it and have been very happy with our decision. PM me if you want more details.

There is one option in Winston-Salem, NC that might (or might not) meet your criteria. We have a few years before we decide on a HS, but I've heard some good reviews from those who have chosen Atkins here. It does have both sports you mentioned (although they don't win a lot of sports awards). It is not in the league of some of the schools mentioned across the country, but the school is primarily for Gifted Kids and offers some great Science and Technology options. Enrollment has been low (only about 350-400 kids when capacity is more like 1100). That is because it is located in the far eastern side of the county and the majority of kids in the HAG Elementary and Middle School Inclusive Programs live in the western part of the county. The kids there must choose a STEM major and finish at least 4 courses within that major. I don't know where you are in NC, but you may want to take a look in case it might be an option prior to your move. Here is their website: http://www.wsfcs.k12.nc.us/Page/19792, for more info.