And fwiw, in my house waterboarding would not be off the table…I jest but some of us embrace “tough love” lol.
@NEPatsGirl - My God. If you had read the thread you would know that this particular family isn’t interested. I’m sure you have unlimited knowledge about boarding schools, and you’d love to suggest a few, but that bit about rubbing elbows with “common folk” is pedestrian and it gave you away.
Sounds like this young lady has taken responsibility and would like another chance at BS. Maybe you should wish this lovely family all the best and move along.
Duly scolded, moving on.
I think that many of the non-BS folks don’t realize that kids are “not invited back” (and occasionally expelled ) for activities that many kids who live at home engage in, specifically those of a sexual nature. Typically forbidden activities - the type that can lead to BS expulsion (alcohol and weed) are often not an issue to day/public school administrators unless they happen at school events or on school property. This isn’t to condone any of it, but merely to point out that the rules are vastly different. So the range of comments on a thread about having to leave BS runs from "sue the school " (for the BS following its “harsh” rules) to “lock 'em up” (for the kid not being able to follow the rules.)
This is not to say that there are kids who are expelled for bullying, cheating, stealing, and other behavior that wouldn’t be acceptable anywhere, and that is what we would all hope would be the case. But that other set of rules… it’s tough…
As mentioned in the first post, my daughter attended Boston Latin School grades 7-9 and other neighborhood public schools before that. Again as mentioned in the first post we have two other kids attending Boston Public Schools and neither of those schools accept Seniors.
Also as mentioned, if we lived in a leafy suburb with a solid high school option, there would be no thread.
We started this thread to brainstorm options, and are grateful for the many useful ideas put forth, as well as the helpful and supportive PM’s.
“Clearly this child is in need of a firm hand to steer her in the right direction. Instead, it appears to me that elite college admission is the focus.”
Continued academic development is the focus.
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^^and hopefully understanding that kids do stupid stuff, and allowing for second chances. Thank God for those!
You mentioned that you have some connections? I think this is the time to use them. If you go through the usual channels of contacting the admissions office, I suspect almost all competitive schools, which you seem to be targeting for academic reasons, will tell you that they won’t consider any new students at this time of year, especially a new senior. Competitive schools will have waitlists to draw from if they need to fill a spot.
I feel for you, OP. If you didn’t have other kids in the Boston Public Schools, the easiest thing would probably be to rent in a suburb for a year for your child to finish senior year - but that becomes much more complicated when you have 2 other kids.
I don’t know about MA but in some states you can pay tuition to attend public schools out of your district.
We used a consultant when we went the BS route and I found it invaluable. If there was a situation that called for a consultant, I’d say this is it. We had very good luck with the Holly Treat of the Bertram Group who are based in CT but well connected at every BS and day school you could think of. Good luck.
^^whether or not you get a consultant for high school placement, you may want to consider a consultant for college admission in this case. Tips about how to present the student in the best light and or how to use the experience as a life lesson in an essay, may be helpful
We’re considering a consultant for college guidance particularly: she had done a lot of work with the CC at the school and it doesn’t appear we will have access to any of that (though paid for - we’ll be having a chat about that) and may have to start over again. We’re inclined towards smaller schools and we don’t know what CC resources they will have. Finally, no matter what resources the next school has, they’d begin with a standing start in September.
Along with a school choice, an independent consultant can start now with her 11th grade transcript and SAT scores, and past teachers have already agreed to be references.
(in reference to repeating a year and playing sports for a 5th year)
It would depend on whether the ‘prep’ school played in a public league/state league for sports, and whether we’re talking about a ‘prep’ school meaning college prep or only boarding schools. I took it to mean non-boarding schools in the Boston area.
Almost all school/states do not allow the 5th year for sports. It’s 4 years from when you entered high school. If you are going to redshirt, you repeat 8th grade, not a high school grade. California allows one ‘free’ transfer of an athlete from one school in the California athletic assoc, but after that there has to be a qualifying reason (parents move, change of custody, school closes). Snoop Dog’s son went to one school and then another, but for his third school he moved to Nevada so he could play football. They don’t even allow you to return to the original school. One kid played basketball at a high school, then went to a basketball boarding school out of state and wasn’t allowed to transfer back to the original school. That would be similar to OP’s situation where her daughter went (and played?) at Boston Latin, then played at the boarding school, and now would be going to a third school.
Virginia has (had?) a restriction on 19 year olds playing in high school, and kids who were ‘redshirted’ in Kindergarten could be blocked from playing as seniors. I remember one guy who was born on July 29 and turned 19 before the cut off of Aug 1. He couldn’t play his senior year even though it was his 4th year of high school. Virginia’s rule is particularly harsh in the modern era of kids not starting K until they are 6 or 7.
If boarding schools have their own leagues, they can set their own rules.
The OP was talking about transferring to a public/local private school and repeating 11th grade. It is very likely that this girl will have one year of eligibility left to play in the public league, which would include private schools in the Boston area that play for a state championship under the Mass high school athletic association.
@twoinanddone, while I stand corrected in that there are a few private (mostly religious) schools that belong to the MIAA and therefore don’t allow kids to play a fifth year of sports, the OP is looking at NEPSAC (New England Preparatory School Athletic Conference) schools, and in particular ISL (Independent School League) schools.
Here’s a list of NEPSAC schools, all of which allow for a 5th year of play.
http://www.nepsac.org/page/2906
Do you still have to pay next years tuition at the boarding school that expelled your daughter? I thought that if the child gets expelled between years you are not responsible for tuition?
@HMom16 Is he from HP by chance?
@khakiboi12 HP?
Could she go abroad for a year?
^ yes, because going abroad for a year is what is needed for somebody who got kicked out of school for multiple offences. I’m no Dr. Phil, but maybe some counseling and tough love may be better than a year in Rome.
“It’s deja vu all over again.” - Yogi Berra
^ yep - when folks don’t read the thread . . .
I’m not sure you would consider this but you could homeschool via online HS. There are some good ones out there like Brigham Young Online HS (its secular). It is accredited widely accepted. Your daughter could do that and get a volunteer position or internship somewhere on the side. An internship could be really valuable in college admissions. My younger D was pulled from school due to illness and we went this route.