I often believe that middle school administrators underestimate the capability of this age group. Kids will achieve and behave the way they're expected to. Children at my son's elementary school switch classes for various reasons and it's not a big deal or is it a challenging exercise.
We are faced with a similar issue with our 11 year old. Our 5th grade son is skipping 6th and going to 7th grade this fall. Middle school here is only 7-8th. He's accelerating because they don't know what else to do with him academically. DS is in pre-algebra, and is finishing 8th grade spelling and vocabulary.
His last two teachers and principal all agree he needs to accelerate, yet the middle school principal is making him jump through many hoops in an effort to keep him out of the advanced language arts class, saying it just may be too much for him. Sigh.
