Best high School Choice !!

olivia jo

Active member
In a perfect world which high school would you send your 8th grader to if he was an above-average wrestler and loved the sport.
 
 
How about choosing between a mediocre program with your kid being a 3-4yr starter or one of the power house national ranked schools where your kid would would be better but have to wrestle on freshman, JV, B team and then only a 1year probability of being on Varsity.
 
Pick the best academic school you can afford and conveniently attend. Look for a stable program with the support of their administration. Look for a good sized room with motivated kids that want to work year round. My question to you is , is his current club affiliated with a school or two? Best to stay with same group of kids and coaches that got him to where he is now. Chasing the magic program ( especially with no prior connection) rarely succeeds on all fronts ( wrestling, academics, social) . Also decide if you can live with small fish big pond scenarios and or not starting all 4 years.
 
I've had the opportunity to do this twice. Whether I did it right depends on your Figure of Merit.

First time was a great school that was coming off of two Top-10 finishes at state tournament. They are now a perennial contender in bottom half of their conference. But the academics and friends were very good until the scamdemic.

Second was a mid-year transfer, so getting academic calendars to align was the biggest driver. Overlooked better wrestling programs for this detail. The practice room is soft and a reflection of a head coach who is only mildly interested. But academics are very solid, and the school culture is very positive. Oh, and they actually go to school instead of sit in front of a computer.

With unlimited time and resources, I could probably have found more ideal match. I can think of a couple of schools that seemed like alternatives. But you never know.
 
One where the AD/admin doesn’t cave to crybaby/clueless parents’ every complaint.
One where the AD/admin have a backbone.
No daddy politics (red flag # 1: daddy on school board and that’s how I’m AD) (red flag # 2: daddy is the super and I don’t have to show up for practice).
Happy new year everyone!!!
 
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One where the AD/admin doesn’t cave to crybaby/clueless parents’ every complaint.
One where the AD/admin have a backbone.
No daddy politics (red flag # 1: daddy on school board and that’s how I’m AD) (red flag # 2: daddy is the super and I don’t have to show up for practice).
Happy new year everyone!!!

Good luck finding a school with no politics and people who don’t cater to the parents. Parents are voters and you need them. I hate it too... but it’s just a reality in modern school districts.
 
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