Does it makes sense to consider boarding school?

Periwinkle
Mon, 29 Dec 2014 15:30:37 +0000

Honestly? It sounds to me as if your DD is thriving at home at present. Looking at a few of your posts on other forums, it looks as if it’s unlikely you’re within three hours of a boarding school? So your daughter would give up living at home, a chance at qualifying for National Merit, a good chance of being at the top of her high school class, and her current friends and extracurriculars, for a relatively unknown setting.

There is a “just-right” level for every kid. There is also the potential to make high school grueling. Some kids want that challenge, but it has to be child-driven, in my opinion.

I’d recommend you seek out some parents of academically successful high school juniors and seniors in your town. Ask them if the work kicked up a notch or two in high school. Many American school systems are very focused on social factors in middle school, so the work level in middle school may not translate to her work level in high school. Also, for many high school kids, there are many extracurricular activities available at school. If she joins the chess club, student government, and the math team, can she get to and from school without your driving her?