I’m afraid there isn’t. He hates online school, so that’s not an option. We’ll figure something out, otherwise he will have a steep (re-) learning curve next year 
Wow, hat sounds like an amazing experience! I hope the new school works out for him.
My S26 also marches to his own beat but so far manages “fitting in enough” to be fine.
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I think that’s where my S26 struggles. He knows he is different than a lot of his peers… he doesn’t fit a lot of the “buckets” that teenagers put themselves in (loves rock climbing but not athletic enough to be a sporty kid, not “edgy” or rebellious enough to be a skater kid, not alternative enough to be a true fit with the art/drama kids… great at math and science but not really a stem kid…). As adults, we know there’s room to find like-minded folks in life, but as a 16 year old who feels different, it’s tough.
However, the hardest part is that he very much wants a big social life and to be included. If he was ok with being on the outside or even if he were disdainful of the kids and just wanted to be on his own, that might make it easier. But he is lonely and it definitely hurts.
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I could have written this about my D25 (or myself somewhat back in the day). She has a very small group that I would call friends, but most just graduated. She had a very close friend through mid-junior year, but they had a very abrupt ending to their relationship. Otherwise, she has what I would call acquaintances, not really friends. She is well liked, or at least well known for generally positive reasons (she is, however, the person that would remind the teacher that homework had not yet been assigned), at school and is involved in several sports and many activities. She spends a great deal of time at home and not out on weekends with friends. Your comment - “But he is lonely and it definitely hurts” strikes a definite chord.
Its incredibly positive that your S26 continues to put himself out there and to try new things. Sounds like he had a wonderful summer.
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Sounds like it was an amazing experience for him! What a wonderful opportunity!
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D25 dislikes online school as well. However, last year she had to take Spanish class online or she would not have been able to have sufficient Spanish for college applications and it is the only foreign language at her school. Not optimal.
Is there an opportunity for him to take Duolingo or Rosetta Stone, or watch movies, or a native speaker that is local that he can work with routinely, or something else to at least stay engaged and familiar with the language over the year?
My son takes Japanese through LanguageBird, an accredited program that offers 1:1 lessons with an instructor over Microsoft Teams. It is approved by his school and appears on his regular high school transcript. It’s not cheap, but it’s been a good fit for us as a family until he has his driver’s license and can take himself to our local community college for classes. Also, bc it’s 1-1 instruction, he’s only in class 2x per week and he learns a ton very quickly.
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He has dabbled with Duolingo to take some Norwegian and Dutch just for fun. So he might be willing to continue Spanish that way. He has a very light schedule this semester, so definitely has the time.
I will have to talk to the school to see if they have any other options as well. Foreign languages are not held in high esteem in our district (and state). They only start teaching them in 10th grade now (due to block schedule it is theoretically still possible to get four years worth of FL though)
There is a parent on these boards that is a relative frequent engaged poster (@dfbdfb I believe) who I think is a professor of linguistics. He provides a lot of insight and is very helpful. He might have some suggestions that you might be able to present to your school that your son would find engaging.
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Yes, I am. I know more about linguistics as a discipline and linguistics programs than programs in languages, but I’m happy to help when there’s interest in that sort of thing—feel free to PM me or tag me in a post with questions.
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I think my kid is a lot like yours, and did face some bullying at elementary school (and still does a little tbh) but has been lucky to find their tribe at middle and high school. It’s interesting that D19 (neurotypical, “normal ” smart) found her tribe in drama classes, and X26 (2E) has found them through choir/musical theater. I don’t think these drama/singing kids are particularly alternative at our local high school, just in general very accepting.
Wishing your son all the best for his new school.
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D26 started Wed and the first 3 days were a bit chaotic but nothing terrible. We’re good for fall schedule but still navigating changes for Spring. It’s a small school so AP Lang is only offered once at the same time as AP Calc. They’ve agreed to let him skip to AP Lit instead (usually only seniors) but that’s only offered at the same block where he had AP Psych so we need to figure out one more course. Right now it looks like-
Fall:
Calc H
Spanish 3 H
Intro to Engineering
Physics H
Spring:
TBD
AP US History
AP Lit
AP Calc AB
Due to block scheduling, AP are only offered in the Spring. Calc H and Calc AP are set up as a required 2 semester sequence.
Intro to Engineering is a new teacher/class and it seems super disorganized so we’ll see how that goes. He also took Spanish 2 first semester freshman year (conflicts last year) so there’s likely to be some bumps there too with the big gap.
He’s already asked for some Spanish refresher online resources from the teacher and totally unprompted said he wants to start doing some SAT prep on the weekends so he’ll be ready for PSAT in Oct. These are big wins for us as far as him truly owning his school experience and what he wants to achieve so I’m super proud.
Typically the first 2+ weeks go well and then reality sets in (ha!) but we have good support resources in place so hopefully we can navigate that successfully. We’re definitely using this year to determine what supports he might need in college and will likely have to add or eliminate prospects from the list based on what they offer. We have a short list of 6-8 colleges right now but will be interested to see where we land after the next few months!!
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Jumping in to join this thread! Just sent one off to college, and my youngest graduates in 2026.
Preliminary college list made - and now just waiting for Junior year to start.
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My Daughter considered not taking AP Lang her Junior year. She is very much a Math and science girl. Generally she does not enjoy the vibe of her English Teachers, luckily she got an A in Honors English both Freshman and Sophomore year ( but it was a struggle) she had planned on just doing a “ regular” English class for Junior year, but upon discussion with counselors and older students, she determined that AP Language was the only English class her junior year that actually focused on preparing the student for the SAT/ACT. so possibly it might be a good class for your son to be placed in even though it will be less then enjoyable @momsons2 sorry new here I thought I replied directly to your comment not sure I did
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Hello All
My oldest is starting her Junior year next week ! We are starting our college journey. It is very overwhelming so I am hoping this thread will help out! both me and My Husband grew up in Canada so the application process and choice of colleges is vastly different in the USA. Our daughter would like to major in biomedical engineering. She is also looking for a College that has an active Colligate Skating Club. This definitely narrows the choices a bit, unfortunately it seems like a lot of the colleges that have both have super low admissions rates and higher tuition.
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Welcome to the forum, @Mapk!
I cross-referenced the list of ABET-accredited schools for biomedical engineering with this 2024 list of collegiate skating clubs. My focus was on schools with BOTH higher admission rates and lower prices, but I did let a few in that didn’t meet these qualifications. If they’re not easier for entry but have significantly lower prices than their competitors (like Purdue or Georgia Tech) I included them. If their admissions rate was significantly higher than their competitors and they give merit aid (like Case Western or U. of Rochester), then I included them. If you’re a California resident, then a couple of UCs could fall in here (Davis, Irvine, & San Diego). The schools that are struck out had their skating programs listed as inactive per the list above.
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Arizona State
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Case Western (OH)
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Colorado State
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Duquesne (PA )
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Gannon (PA )
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George Washington (D.C.)
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Georgia Tech
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Grand Valley State (MI) -
Marquette (WI)
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Miami U. (OH)
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Michigan Tech
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North Carolina State
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Northern Illinois -
Oakland (MI)
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Ohio State
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Penn State
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Purdue (IN)
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Rensselaer Polytechnic (NY)
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Rutgers – New Brunswick
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Stony Brook (NY)
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Syracuse (NY) -
Trine (IN)
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U. of Alabama – Birmingham:
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U. of Central Oklahoma -
U. of Cincinnati (OH)
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U. of Connecticut
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U. of Iowa
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U. of Maine
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U. of Maryland
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U. of Massachusetts – Amherst -
U. of Massachusetts – Lowell
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U. of Minnesota – Twin Cities
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U. of Nevada – Reno
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U. of New Hampshire -
U. of Oklahoma
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U. of Pittsburgh (PA )
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U. of Rochester (NY)
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U. of South Florida
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U. of Vermont
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U. of Wisconsin - Madison
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Virginia Commonwealth
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Wayne State (MI)
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West Virginia
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Wichita State (KS)
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Worcester Polytechnic (MA)
All in all, there will be lots of options for your family to explore!
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Thank-you for this, we will take a look at these schools and make a focused list of schools to have her explore
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Just got back from dropping my S24 off at school for freshman year 
Now it is on the junior year for D26.
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Mine started school this week – she has a weird schedule but she’s really happy with it. She’s still not entirely sure of a major/career direction -so I suggested she do some shadowing. Mostly students don’t really NEED to know those things -but she’s considering audiology now --so while NOT necessary for that graduate program - Communication Disorder/Speech and Hearing related majors are not at every school. (Again, I know you can go Audiology from other majors Neuroscience being one --but if that is truly a field of interest – it would be worth looking at schools with those majors.)
My college freshman seems good? I get a text every so often — hope things are working out with his roommate!
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Hm, question: at X26’s high school, most of the people in the school musical are (as you would expect ) in musical theater, but they also have auditions for other kids. Would a non MT student who gets a part in the musical list that as an EC? To be clear, practice runs for months before the musical - the time commitment is probably similar to a seasonal sport.
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