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Note for IB the lottery is to get into one of the schools that offers IB unless you already reside in said school's attendance area. I don't know what you have to do to get into IB but I do know they have some limits. I'll try to find something.
My point was that the OP wants to avoid a district that explicitly has a lottery, since the OP's son could qualify academically, but be excluded because he gets a bad lottery number. You then pointed out that even if the school does not explicitly have a lottery, they still need some way to handle a situation where there are more qualified students than seats, and somebody needs to be eliminated, so you suggested that a lottery always exists. I then agreed with you, and said that in some cases, there may be not be an explicit lottery, but some behind the scenes method of determining who gets excluded.
At first I thought it was Magnet Schools but apparently, those are lotteries instead of "Invites" based on academic grades.
Then there is the Advanced Placement (AP) Programs but not sure if they offer this for Freshmen or if it starts on Junior (Grade 11).
There is also an International Baccalaureate (IB) Program but reading through, it gave me an impression it is more of a cultural learning and appreciation program rather than academic.
I am looking for something straight Academic that invites qualified kids to the Program like the Gifted Programs in Elementary and Middle Schools.
My eldest is completing his Middle School this current school year and finding out High School is a different animal altogether. It didn't help I have no prior experience of HS in America.
TIA.
My son is in the IB program. I assure you it's quite academic. He will be through with high school courses a the end of his junior year, and could technically go to college in his senior year. He is at an advanced school however, where you have to be accepted. Be warned, the IB program will cause endless hours of homework every single night, but my son seems to handle it with ease even though he like to put things off until the last minute.
My daughter attends a public school, and she is enrolled in the AICE program, which is essentially a gifted program for high schoolers. I can't tell you exactly what the AICE stands for, so you'll have to look that up.
And yes, the school my son attends also has AP placement for freshman year.
Good luck and kudos to you for taking an active role in your child's education! We need more parents like you.
Is that something new? My high school very openly did "gatekeeping" as to who was allowed in honors and AP classes.
I've been retired four years so a couple or three years before that. CollegeBoard® has been putting a big push to have nontraditional students take AP. They've been aided by Jay Matthews and his Challenge Index.
As AP Coordinator I had to file a report with CollegeBoard® every year with a demographic breakdown of students enrolled and students taking the tests. You were then given an Equity score based on sex and race/ethnic group.
There were also grants from them to schools that developed strategies to enroll underrepresented groups in AP classes. It didn't help me because my underrepresented group was White males. They weren't who was meant.
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What about when facilities cause limitations? In my middle school and high school, the science labs accommodated 24 students. If there was approximately 48 students qualified, then they could have 2 sections. But if there were, say, 26 qualified students, then 2 students would have to be somehow excluded.
Also, the high tech computer lab had only 20 computers, so any class that required use of that lab would be limited to 20 students. In at least one case, the rule was to be that 10 had to be boys and 10 had to be girls. The minimum number of students for a class to run was 13. For that class, 11 boys enrolled in that class and only 2 girls, so the class had exactly enough students to run, and nobody had to be turned away. But there was a girl (who had no interest in the class) complained, saying that it should not be allowed to run, since only 10 boys should be allowed, not 11, regardless of how few girls were interested, and with only 10 boys and 2 girls, that was not enough students for the class to run. I could never understand what was being denied to her by having that class run.
Is that something new? My high school very openly did "gatekeeping" as to who was allowed in honors and AP classes.
What about when facilities cause limitations? In my middle school and high school, the science labs accommodated 24 students. If there was approximately 48 students qualified, then they could have 2 sections. But if there were, say, 26 qualified students, then 2 students would have to be somehow excluded.
Also, the high tech computer lab had only 20 computers, so any class that required use of that lab would be limited to 20 students. In at least one case, the rule was to be that 10 had to be boys and 10 had to be girls. The minimum number of students for a class to run was 13. For that class, 11 boys enrolled in that class and only 2 girls, so the class had exactly enough students to run, and nobody had to be turned away. But there was a girl (who had no interest in the class) complained, saying that it should not be allowed to run, since only 10 boys should be allowed, not 11, regardless of how few girls were interested, and with only 10 boys and 2 girls, that was not enough students for the class to run. I could never understand what was being denied to her by having that class run.
Then your school is the exception not the rule.
Most schools will run classes at anything above half size so they would have just had two sections of approx 13 instead of one class of 24 and one of 2. That literally makes no sense, nor would the school fill up a section before making a second.
Most schools will run classes at anything above half size so they would have just had two sections of approx 13 instead of one class of 24 and one of 2. That literally makes no sense, nor would the school fill up a section before making a second.
That will depend on where you are. I taught in a system that consistently had overloaded classes. Depending on the course the number for creation of an additional section ranged from 12 to 20. It wasn't unusual to have Science classes in the mid-30s to touching 40. My last year the English classes were consistently 40+, as were most Alg I and Social Studies classes. Biology, 10th Grade English, Alg I and Government were all High School Assessment/PARCC classes.
My electives were almost always around 40. Not just occasionally but year after year.
My point was that the OP wants to avoid a district that explicitly has a lottery, since the OP's son could qualify academically, but be excluded because he gets a bad lottery number. You then pointed out that even if the school does not explicitly have a lottery, they still need some way to handle a situation where there are more qualified students than seats, and somebody needs to be eliminated, so you suggested that a lottery always exists. I then agreed with you, and said that in some cases, there may be not be an explicit lottery, but some behind the scenes method of determining who gets excluded.
To clarify, I never said there was some "hidden" lottery. That's conspiracy talk.
Since every school is different, the OP needs to talk to the guidance counselors at his son's school. It sounds like his/her son is a good student, so there shouldn't be a problem.
Both my kids (boy/girl) graduated from IB although 7 years apart...if your child is not one who is willing to focus his attention 100% on school...IB is not for them...and if they aren't that's fine most kids don't...but don't push a smart kid into the program if they are not willing to make the sacrifice... the pay off is huge even after college admittance...the IB graduate will have developed a study time management skill that will see him through any graduate program...my son is a practicing attorney and my daughter is in her second year of med school...
Both my kids (boy/girl) graduated from IB although 7 years apart...if your child is not one who is willing to focus his attention 100% on school...IB is not for them...and if they aren't that's fine most kids don't...but don't push a smart kid into the program if they are not willing to make the sacrifice... the pay off is huge even after college admittance...the IB graduate will have developed a study time management skill that will see him through any graduate program...my son is a practicing attorney and my daughter is in her second year of med school...
And there are many attorneys and physicians who did not do IB in high school. . .
But that's not how the system works in most places. Remember that school administrators are responsible to the school board which, in most places, is responsible to the voters/residents in the district.
Most school systems with a competitive admission program have a surplus of qualified applicants so there is no compulsion to admit out of district students who maybe, might, move to the area.
I’ve looked at lottery systems in two different cities in two different states, both required any out of district applicants to show residency by a certain date after the offer was made. If it wasn’t, they would offer the spot to the next on the list.
I’ve looked at lottery systems in two different cities in two different states, both required any out of district applicants to show residency by a certain date after the offer was made. If it wasn’t, they would offer the spot to the next on the list.
That depends on the state. Colorado, Minnesota and possibly others have statewide open enrollment, which means anyone can apply to go to school in any district. There has to be room at the receiving district.
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