HS grade trend: up, down or steady?

LeastComplicated
Tue, 07 Nov 2017 19:39:07 +0000

My oldest daughter was consistent all the way through her private high school. She is very bright and could have done better, but she coasted and did fine with about 2/3rds A’s and the rest B’s. She did participate in several EC’s and got into a very good college.

My youngest is now a junior in a good, but not excellent public H.S. She’s currently ranked 9th/420 in her class. She has made straight A’s since 7th grade, but she had to work her butt off during 9th and 10th grade (5-7 hours of homework/night - she pushed herself, not us). She took all honors with one AP course (APES) during her first two years. This year, for some reason, she’s still making straight A’s but is spending about 1/4 the amount of time on homework and she has two AP classes (Bio, Stats), English honors, pre-calc, and then a couple of standard level courses (including history because we didn’t think she could handle AP reading/writing intensive courses due to how long it took her to do her homework in 9th/10th grades - she is NOT a reader). She has only one time consuming EC, a winter sport.

I seriously don’t know what to make of this - or how to plan for her senior year when honors courses aren’t offered - only regular vs. AP’s. I mean, is this year a fluke, with a lot of easy teachers, or has she become more efficient and academically competent? I’m thinking she’s becoming more competent - but still worry about her having a full load of AP courses next year. I wish her school offered honors in 12th but they don’t.