My DD has been in Grier since 9th grade. And one of her very close friends who I met a few times during Summer was in 8th grade.
One good thing about being in a BS since junior is that, if the student is mature and academically advanced, she can make older friends and take advanced classes.
DD was a year younger than the most, but probably the most mature and academically strong student of her same grade was nearly a year younger than even DD. Once you are there, no one cares your biological age.
DD also hated team sports where teams compete each other. She did rock climbing before going to Grier, and didn’t do much sports in the beginning.
Grier has very strong dance and riding programs, probably the strongest in the region. DD had been riding for several years once a week, but she felt that majority were riding team members who were way over her level - semi professionals, and its traveling wouldn’t leave her enough time for other stuffs. But she found it much easier to blend in it’s dance program as a not pre-pro dancer. We were all very surprised to learn that she was dancing and enjoying it because she used to say that she would never do it.
Grier has been very flexible regarding curriculum for her, and anyone who is academically advanced for exceptions. The only inflexibility we found was it’s non-standard Calculus courses. Instead of usual Pre-Calculus, Grier has Trigonometry and Calculus as prerequisites of AP Calculus. DD started with Trigonometry and will take BC next year. Her friend had too take a Calculus in Summer to take AB Calculus BC in her senior.
Grier’s art program is focused on 2D design which is only visual art AP that it offers. DD did not find it’s ceramic and drawing program as adequate for her level and haven’t taken art classes. For Grier’s defense, she had taken more than 10 studio art courses at community college and had exhibited in juries shows for adults, so probably only few not specialized high schools are. Beside, she stopped homeschooling and went to Grier specially to change her future career from art to science.
I don’t know much about 7-8th grade curriculum. But DD’s curriculum has been very flexible. Taking two languages was not a problem at all, although she didn’t do it. The flexibility was very nice. She had taken a bit of community college classes before going to Grier, and could waive or skip prerequisite for several courses. She also could repeat a class AP Physics 1, which she felt she didn’t learn much in her previous college course.
She was academically above average when she entered Grier with 97% SSAT score. But she had not felt a class too easy, and majority of classes harder than her entry level community college classes. She had plenty of friends academically very advanced. She is taking a regular English class this year because she wanted to change her schedule after school year started which cause some schedule conflict. But her teacher insisted her to do honors class assignments anyway so that worked out. Grier’s course offering would not have worked out a very advanced stem student who need AP Physics C and post AP level stem classes. But DD was stronger in English and Grier still offers all other AP stem classes.