We've now had a chance to visit the other two schools and dd's preference list and mine are pretty much the complete opposite. Here are the schools:
School A:
* Very high performing (one of the top few middle schools in the state)
* Choice only (not assigned to anyone, so all parents are committed to transporting their kids)
* Has more flexibility in math than any of the other schools in that they offer both the std 6th grade math and accelerated 7th grade math like everyone else does for 6th graders, but they also have an intermediary class that uses 7th grade curriculum at a slower pace for kids who are in btwn the two. In 7th grade the kids who did that intermediary choice can move on to subject acceleration or there is another intermediary class if they aren't ready to do so.
* Nearly 50% of their kids are subject accelerating in math, which could be high stress for dd.
* Has a smaller school feel although it has about 250 kids/grade.
* Offers all of the typical electives: art, orchestra, French & Spanish, etc. plus a drama club (dd10 is very into theatre).
* Conveniently located across the street from the high school dd12 will be attending.
* I liked the teachers a lot especially the math head who told the entire group that although the district tells us we know who is gifted and who isn't in 3rd grade that gifted isn't about who is achieving highly enough to be accelerated early on -- our kids are all special regardless of what they're labeled and only time will tell where everyone belongs and wants to be.
* While there is, again, no accelerated literacy in 6th grade, the 6th grade classes are reading intellectually challening fare like The Iliad and the Odyssey.
* Core knowledge
This is my first choice school and dd's last choice school.
School B:
* High performing, but not as much so as school A. For instance, about 25% of the 6th graders are subject accelerating in math.
* Dd thought that the science program looked fairly so-so like elementary science.
* Pretty std middle school for our area.
* STEM focus so it has a lot of interesting science electives in addition to the std electives: art, music, foreign language (French, Spanish, and German).
* They have a final period of the day that is used for extra support (a lot of kids get that for the final period) or enrichment if you aren't needing extra help. Dd would wind up in enrichment b/c she is generally ahead in math and reading.
* Also very close to the high school dd12 will be attending.
* I really didn't care for the GT approach. There are elective/enrichment classes that are only available to GT ided kids including an art enrichment for which the class description states that they will be learning about how being gifted impacts them personally and interacting with like-minded peers. Dd doesn't tend to find like minds in most of the GT classes as they tend to have about 25% of the kids in them and I didn't like the elitist feel of it. They seemed to misunderstand my dd's experience of giftedness in that they had an "8 gripes of the gifted" sign that had a list which talked solely about how hard it was to be smart b/c people teased them and how boring and easy school was. That isn't dd's problem. She isn't garden level high achiever who finds school easy and boring and feels smarter than everyone.
This is dd's and my 2nd choice.
School C:
* This is the expedentiary learning school.
They cannot get her in to shadow until after we have decided it is the school she wants to attend which would force us to turn down spots @ the other two schools first. I don't see any point in shadowing at that point.
I remain concerned enough about the low academic performance and what I've heard from others locally (it is really a school for kids who weren't making it in the other schools and there can be some "wrong crowd" issues) that I just don't know that I can be comfortable with it.
This is dd's first choice and my last choice.
