Ack! High School!!!

Since WHEN is DS#1 old enough to go to High School!!!! PANIC!

Tonight I pulled him out of soccer practice a half hour early so we could go to the presentation for the DATA magnet high school. Essentially, these are schools "within a school." DATA and STEM (the other school he is interested in) are the equivalent of small, specialized private college prep schools at a "public school price." They are both impressive schools with very challenging curriculum and, frankly, DS#1 needs that sort of challenge to keep him interested. The magnet schools are all associated with a major public school, they either have their own wing or building on a public high school campus, and offer the full selection of electives and extra-curricular activities of the "host school." The extras that these schools offer are particularly impressive.

There is a downside though. These are public schools and to avoid any bias applicants are accepted in a lottery system. Basically, this means that acceptance is not based on qualifications, it is based on random numbers. OUCH! Well, it sounds like we'll know the outcome of the applications by next Friday evening. I have heard that the schools call the applicants that are accepted on Friday evening (Feb 6). If we don't get a phone call, well, it doesn't look good. I won't give up on it though. I know that DS#1 is very interested in going to one of these schools so I will do what I can to get him there. Administrators from both schools made it clear that there is a lot of "movement" and the waiting list(s) aren't necessarily lottery based.

The scariest thing is realizing that he'll be in high school next year.

Oh, Mom, if something is a different color like DATA or STEM in the post above, it is a "hyperlink" and if you click on it you will go to a different website.

C'mon CB, I posted *8* pictures last night... I will get more pictures up soon, honest.