Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Age or Ability Specific Forums High School Hurray

I am so happy we have this subforum.
Thank you Moderator!!!!!

This will be much easier for me to follow threads!

Mark,
Did you mean to omit an �Elementary School� category?
Thanks so much.

Thanks Mark! I'm excited too! I hope we can get a variety of people and experiences posted here soon. I'm looking forward to it.

This is excellent! Thank you, Mark! Does anyone get edutopia magazine (George Lucas foundation)? The most recent issue highlighted some high schools (gorgeous facilities--I'm quick to notice that because ours are about 50 yrs old) and are for 650 students. Is there a new trend with smaller size high schools? I like 650. Ours is twice that size.

I also read recently that the trend is turning towards smaller high schools.

My daughter�s school is now 100 years old! (The girls whine about all the stairs, but do have nice, strong legs-which is good because they all wear rather short, plaid skirts.)

The entire student population is only 400. We love the size because dd has gotten to know the entire freshman class, as well as, many students from different grades by name already. She has had the opportunity to become involved in academic extras, such as mock trial team, that she probably wouldn�t have made until junior year at a larger school.

If the trend is smaller, no one told us! Our high school is about 3500 students. I thought it was a hospital or community college when I first saw it.

Our single high school (older building with multiple additions) also houses ~3500. Our citytown has two more state of the art facilities under construction. One will be a 9th grade campus and the other will be a second middle school. Each will accommodate fewer than 1000 as I understand it.

I like the feel of a small school and the fact that you get to know the kids and the parents. OTOH when it comes to HS bigger is sometimes better when it comes to course selection.
It is going to be a big move for our family, from a school of 500 to a school of close to 3000. Thankfully the IB is a group within the group, at least when it comes to parent communication.

That could definitely be an advantage of a larger open admissions public school.

It does seem like there's something of a "sweet spot" there--too big, and they have to start splitting off grades so they'll fit in buildings, and that's not great for GT kids and the chicken dance. Too small, and there aren't enough peers available.

Hmmm...