My son has ADHD (from school evaluation) so he had a lot of problems (mainly missing home work, poor organization and discipline) at school. I am not expecting good recommendation from his English, Math teachers and school counselor. But his French teacher, piano and sport coach gave him strong recommendation (as optional) . His ISEE score is competitive, Math 99%, 99%, Reading 96% and Verbal 91%. He plays soccer at private club (not top team) and town team. He have been playing piano for 6+ years. We have a lot of hiking experience as family and community service.
Anyone has experience about the schools we applied for as ADHD but super smart kid?
@doreanli, those schools are all very competitive to get into, especially BB&N and Nobles. But even if he were to be admitted, you should think about whether they will be able to and interested in giving him the type of learning support that will help him better cope with his ADHD. If he’s already having problems with executive function skills in middle school, it’s only going to get worse as he gets older and the work because more challenging. Much better to have your in a school that maybe doesn’t have such a prestigious name, but is able to help him master skills so that he can succeed. This is a critical time period for him to gain some of those skills, before the ADHD really starts to hamper him further in school and cause him to doubt himself or to dislike school. I’d encourage you to look at some schools that have strong academic support programs - not just available tutoring (they all have some level of tutoring and help with academic skills), but a school that really has a robust program. I don’t necessarily mean a specialized school like Landmark, where pretty much all the kids have a LD diagnosis of some sort. But there are non-specialized schools that have strong academic support programs, and I would look for those. You might also think about whether a junior boarding school is something that might work for him, some of the JBS’s are very strong in this area, because their whole point is to help kids be ready to succeed more independently in high school. Take a look at Fay, for example (which is 5 day boarding).
I agree with @soxmom, I don’t think a kid who is already having a lot of trouble in school would be well served at BB&N or Nobles (I cannot speak to Rivers as I have never been there). The kids we met there were very smart but also super organized, highly motivated, the super achiever type. I have heard several stories from parents with kids who have LD diagnoses at private schools being told they need to hire a private tutor.
What did they tell you about their ability to support your son?
As a parent of a child who was diagnosed quite late (9th grade) with ADHD, I would agree with the other responses. Having support for ADHD is so important in high school, especially if it’s going to be a school with a big workload.
My daughter was able to get by in elementary and middle school when there weren’t a lot of long-term assignments. But by 8th grade, it was clear that even though she was smart and enjoyed learning and could work hard, she had trouble planning and getting started on papers or projects before the last minute, and it led to a lot of anxiety.
Although it wasn’t our first plan, now she’s at Cushing Academy, a school with a strong academic support program and experience with students with ADHD, although it has all kinds of students and only some are in the academic support program. I hope she will be able to develop better study habits there and learn to manage her time better, so that she can learn a lot in high school, and also enjoy her sports and other activities and be in better shape for applying to and attending college.
Is your son getting any help with executive function skills at his current school? Or can you figure out a path to get him help for the rest of this year or over the summer? I would definitely add some schools to your list to explore—ones with ADHD support, including Chapel Hill Chauncy Hall, and maybe Cambridge School of Weston.