@SouthOCGal I went to CTY and it was an incredible experience. I have a lot of good things to say about the program. The atmosphere is very much collaborative, a “learning for the sake of learning” environment. The classes are small, and people bond very quickly. You learn a lot, but the emphasis is on building your skills and understanding new concepts, not coping with an overwhelming workload. There is no homework, so there’s a lot of time to socialize.
That being said, most of the kids at CTY (at least, at the site I went to) were a year or three older than your son. There were definitely a handful of kids going into seventh grade, but they were the absolute youngest. People there will make an active effort to include everyone, but the age difference may be a little overwhelming for an incoming seventh grader.
I’d be happy to answer any more questions you have about CTY and maybe give a student’s perspective on it. The program is close to my heart, and I’m always excited to share it with people.