Agree with the Andover suggestion and also take a look at Brooks in N. Andover which also has a day student population.
I would tho k there is a higher mass of bright students in most MA schools, compared to Fl.
Have you looked at what classes are offered at the high schools for the districts you are looking at? You might get better insight into what is offered that way. For example, our school district (not in MA) offers double accelerated math (and even triple) but it’s not advertised as a class you can take in junior high. Because the high school starts earlier in the day, students take a first bell math class at the high school and then go to the junior high for the rest of their day. But if you look at the high school math offerings, you would see Multivariate Calculus offered after AP Calc BC, so you know there’s a level higher than Algebra in 8th grade.
Many top schools in MA may have classes with the same name as the classes in FL, but as there are no national standards, the curricula may be very different. My D, not a math student, took standard Calculus in high school. She took Calc I as a sophomore in college, so at least an academic year later. She breezed through the first semester in college, and found out that her standard calc class had been tougher than many of her classmates’ honors or AP classes. Take a look at where the graduates go to college, and what their majors are; most high schools have that data.
At the risk of setting off some of my FL friends, I’m confident you will find, on average, a higher quality of education in public schools in MA vs. FL. Have spent over 25 yrs in both (full disclosure, raised in MA - middle school, high school and college, two kids gone or going through the whole system in FL). My wife was an educator in both states (and CA).
I actually think a major reason for this is MUCH SMALLER school districts. You’ll find the resources in MA stay much closer to home. Most towns are their own district, each with just a few schools. Larger cities like Worchester or Boston are the exception. Most towns have just a few schools and are funded from property taxes in the town (and maybe some state matching). My home town, suburb of Boston, had 4 elementary schools, 1 junior high, 1 high school. Funding came form RE taxes and issues were, and still are, decided based on their unique government process of town meetings. You literally would approve salaries, buying a school bus, adding a sport, etc via town hall that were well attended. In other words, people cared!
I live in Tampa. Hillsborough county is the 9th largest school district in the country. One school district for a county of over 1 million people. We have major resource issues that make education quite challenging (literally things like more than 50% of the schools having failing AC units with no money in budget t solve the problem. Classrooms get pretty hot in FL.)
Huge government agency with all the normal wastage that comes with that.
You’ll also find a very different employer base that requires a very educated population. They’re full of well educated parents who demand and expect a level of high school education that makes their kids competitive for the top area colleges, which then connect those kids to the top employers. Kind of a vicious circle.
I would actually move sooner than later in order for your daughter to assimilate to that environment and be ready for competitive high schools.
@delilahxc : I think that you should be more concerned that your daughter will be behind her counterparts in Massachusetts, not ahead of.
Consider having your daughter take the SSAT test in October. The achievement tests offered by local public schools in Florida tend to be quite easy. The SSAT will give you a better picture of her current standing among private school students–valuable even though she is currently in the public school system.
P.S. You will want to have an SSAT score for your daughter as Massachusetts has a tremendous selection of private schools–most of which will require an SSAT score.
Averages aren’t helpful in this situation. OP is seeking a school to meet or exceed her current magnet. I second the suggestion to look for high schools offering multivar. Calculus, linear algebra, differential equations, number theory.
Nevertheless, having an actual SSAT score is important as the family may want the option of attending a private school.
Here is a ranking of Boston public high schools:
https://www.bostonmagazine.com/best-public-high-schools-boston-2018-chart/
Seems that the suggestion to consider Winchester (17 miles from Tewksbury) is a good one.
You’ll find very competitive, high quality high schools with many of these public school districts. There’s just a different emphasis on education vs. your average FL program. With so many top colleges in the area, each school’s higher end students aspire to that path with the state flagship being more of a safety (and UMASS is a great school). In FL, the state flagship tends to be the goal. It was like that back in the 80s (when I attended Sharon High School) and is still that way.
One problem is that the towns with very good school districts tend to be the ones with the highest housing prices. The OP has already expressed some issues with MA housing prices so naming expensive towns isn’t really helping that much.
OP, we live in MA. Unfortunately I’m not close enough to Tewksbury to give you any local knowledge about the area, but I do want to stress that the schools here are generally very good even if the course names don’t seem to say that. Here is my take, based on a couple years of reading CC. MA schools do not accelerate kids as frequently as schools in other states. For example, in our school district, the most APs anyone could graduate with is about 10. Most smart kids graduate with about 5. Compare that to other parts of the country where kids are bragging about 15+. But, when our kids get to college they do very well. Having your D repeat Algebra 1 in the 8th grade could be a very good thing for her long term.
If you want a district with a lot of kids advanced in math you may want to look at Acton-Boxborough. About 1/2 hour reverse commute to Tewksbury, nice suburban town, not particularly cheap but much more affordable than Dover-Sherborn or Winchester. My only concern is that it might be too intense. Has lots of kids doing Russian Math and math competitions. The middle school (RJ Grey Junior High) hosts an annual math competition.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acton-Boxborough_Regional_High_School
https://abmathcompetition.org
http://acton.wickedlocal.com/news/20180619/strongmathletes-meet-at-acton-boxborough-math-competitionstrong
The junior high and high school are right next to each other so if she did need to skip over to the high school for instruction she would have plenty of company and could simply walk.
Andover, mentioned upthread, is another good option.
I would have the conversation you’re having here with school administrators in some of these towns to ask how the schools handle accelerated students and what she would need to do for placement.
Re APs in Massachusetts – they are not emphasized at our local high school at all. My daughter took only one (US History) and attended Wellesley College, along with five of her classmates.
I have been in contact with several schools in areas we can afford to live and between the comments here, in messages and with various schools have had my question answered so thank you.
I did want to correct a misconception about Florida education. Yes, for the vast majority of students, a Massachusetts education will be far better than a Florida one. However, one thing (our area at least of) Florida does differently (and its highly questionable that for most students this is a good thing) is that it aggressively tracks students from a young age. Both of my children were tracked out of the general education system by second grade. This has been of tremendous benefit to them but I have definately seen than in their respective magnet schools, general education students were treated as second class citizens by teachers, administrators and an unfortunate number of students alike. So while the idea that a Floridian students would enter with a significantly inferior education relative to their Massachusetts peers could be a legitimate concern, it should not be seen as a universal one.
Even the idea that in FL, state flagships are a goal, is one you don’t see on the accelerated track. At the high school my DS17 attended, attending a state school was considered a sign of failure as most attended top 30 universities.
Thank you @publisher for the recommendation of the SSAT. I wasn’t familiar with that test. She is taking the SAT in the fall but I will look into that as well.
The differences in education within my state as well as the others I have researched during this entire process has been extremely illuminating.
I agree with @me29034 about the lack of acceleration in Massachusetts schools. I live in a town which has no gifted/talented programs yet the average SAT scores at the high school are in the 85th-90th percentiles. The school doesn’t offer AP English or any AP social studies (only art (1), math (3), science (5) and world languages (3)) yet 97% of AP scores are 3 or above. Of the over 300 kids who took an AP English exam, having just taken the standard honors curriculum, 95% scored a 3 or above. Lots of kids end up at Ivies and other very competitive schools.
The bottom line as that you need to look beyond what the curriculum is called (College Prep, Honors, AP, etc.) to see both what the kids are learning and what they’re retaining.
As UFlorida is currently ranked number 35 in USNWR, and is extraordinarily cost effective, aspiring to the state flagship makes a great deal of sense in Florida for top students, less so in Mass.
We too are a Massachusetts family and to echo @fendrock, Massachusetts is consistently over many years either the number one or number two school system in the nation as well as regarding standardized tests. You are moving to pretty much the best state for public education that you could move too! But it does differ somewhat from district to district so its worth looking at some stats instate. (google MCAS scores among other things)
And as @bromfield2 said AMSA (Advanced Math and Sci Aca) is an incredible charter school and when you look at its stats nationwide it usually ranks in the top ten of all jr/sr high schools. The classes they offer there are often not found at other public schools. That said, I am pretty sure they have shut down acceptance to towns outside their core which are the ones that @Bromfield2 mentioned. ad looked into it but are very happy with our current public choice).
Other charter schools can range from very good to poor so I would be very careful thinking a charter school is the only way to go. Several of my older kids have either done private or now currently public and both are excellent choices. Good luck and I hope you bring a warm winter with you!
Also be aware that you can see the school profile for many schools by simply googling “[name of town] High School profile” or by going through the school’s college counseling link. This will tell you things like AP and SAT scores, graduation rates, and colleges attended by graduates.
Just ran across this article. FL schools are doing well, but don’t be concerned about the general level in MA. See https://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/articles/how-states-compare
@deliahxc Agree that all charters are not created equal. Do your research. Don’t know what your price point is for a home but some of the districts posters mentioned above, i,e., Dover/Sherborne and Winchester, the median price of a home is probably $800K or more. Whereas Marlborough, which is one of the districts from which AMSA draws students, has a median home price around $350K. Also, take a look at Westford and Littleton–both are good districts where home prices are probably right around $4-500K and right near 495–which would be a fairly easy commute to Tewksbury.