I have a boy who is extremely smart, highly focused on the visual arts, and really interested in the performing arts. He is ADHD, but very independent. He is working many grades above his age-level and needs a school that can offer either academic challenge with subject-level acceleration, or compressed academics that would allow him to devote more hours to his non-academic interests. Ideally, the school would have the arts integrated throughout.
He’s also a quirky, nerdy kid who’s really into Dungeons & Dragons, comics, etc. He’s not much of an athlete but he enjoys recreational swimming and fencing (saber); a school without a sports emphasis would be preferable.
Someday, we hope he’ll be able to attend Interlochen. But for the meantime, we’re trying to find a good school. He’s interested in the idea of a JBS and we’re not opposed to allowing him to go.
We know nothing about these schools other than their websites. Does anyone have a suggestion for likely matches?
Of the junior BS I know, none really fit that bill. You might be better off just finding a good day school in your area, supplement with programs outside of school and then apply for 9th. Or, consider home schooling for the next few years.
Do you have a Montessori school in your area that goes through 8th? That may meet your needs.
Take a look at Rectory School. They have a one-on-one tutoring program that helps students with learning challenges including ADHD. When my son was there, they had an active Magic the Gathering group although I’m not sure if they still do. They also offer fencing in the winter.
Take a look at Stanford online high school, which despite its name, also has 7th and 8th grades. Almost all class placement is by ability, not by age/ grade standing . It is (or can be) extremely rigorous—depending on the classes the student is placed into/selects. For the older students, they have a large number of university-level classes. No sports required outside of PE—and the student can choose what they do to meet that requirement. It is also surprisingly social. He would need to do performing arts locally outside of school though.
My son attended for high school. Feel free to DM me if you have any questions.
Unfortunately, Whittle became defunct two years ago, starting with rapidly deterioration of the school and many mid-year faculty and administrative departures, and ending in a cascade of fraud accusations. We’re really glad we didn’t pick them, as attractive as they seemed on paper.