Monday, February 2, 2009

Not even college was this challenging

We are looking at high schools for my daughter and so many things have come into the selection process which we had no idea had relevance in our choice. The IB (International Baccalaurate) program was our first choice, with a secondary choice at a strong school with a recognized AP (Advanced Placement) program. Out final choice was/ is our home school which also has a strong AP program, but is small in size, and the social and athletic programs aren't as well received.
We visited each school, attended orientations, and Maddi visited each school herself. All schools had great environments and pushed their programs with enthusiasm. My daughter thought through each choice and made her personal selection based on her social life and the fun times she thought were soon to come. My ex-husband and I made our choices based on academia and the potential for her future collegiate success. Needless to say we did not choose the same school. My daughter chose school number 2, with the parental units choosing school number 1. With no votes for number 3, that was an easy vote off the island.
Each school has it's pros and cons outside of the academic environment(s) as well.
School number 1 is in an urban environment and their traditional academic program is marginal. The students in this Traditional program are not college bound and the program lends itself to stragglers trying to stay out of our court system as teens. TAP seems to be segregated from the IB program, which I still have not determined to be a good thing or not.
School number 2, I understand has a high rate of sexual indiscretions, pregnancy teen rate and sexual experimentation (with opposite and same sex). Like I don't have enough to worry about.

We have a month to decide and recently met with her current teachers to factor in their choices for each of the two finalists based on their recommendations and expertise of her potential for success as a student. They have led us to believe our choice for school number 1 is right on target, but agreed many students succeed in both environments, so we shouldn't discount school number 2 either.
Arrrgh!

...and this isn't even college.

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