@me29034 - completely agree. I think this really came to light for us because we moved from out of state the summer before DS20 freshman year. So- new school, new neighborhood, new state. I think that was the true hindsight for me- find a friendly parent in the school who can help you navigate all the less obvious points. CC is good for advice and information, but the ‘inside scoop’ would have also been really helpful.
@TS0104 - the guidance services have been surprisingly absent for the entire high school process, unfortunately. It may be in part due to (what feels like) a lot of GC turnover, so not much relationship building. I see other parents on CC refer to sessions sitting down with GCs to talk about what schools they will/ should apply to which was never offered where we are. This was another example where requests for LORs from the GC needed multiple reminders. So- the combination of our ignorance of what should be going on, with their lack of resource led to a less than ideal situation. I can’t get overly bitter- DS has three great options, a couple of which have good merit aid. Just one of those things that I will definitely share with other parents in the neighborhood as they get started.