And then there is my daughter

My oldest daughter also needs a new school next year. I have several choices: the neighborhood middle school that her elementary feeds, our neighborhood middle school, a magnet middle school, or a Catholic school. Her first preference is the school her school feeds, but that just isn't practical as they do not offer afterschool care and since we are not in the district, she would have no way home. I haven't heard much good about our neighborhood middle school and she doesn't know any of the kids there, so that choice was never seriously considered. Right now my choice is our district's magnet middle school. I'm not sure how competitive that's going to be, or how she'll rank if it is very competitive (she had the best test scores in her grade last year, but they were not in the high 90th percentile). I like the idea of a school that will challenge her academically--something I'm not convinced most of the Catholic schools would do as they seem aimed at the child in the middle rather than the exceptionally bright ones or the ones with learning problems. I like the fact that she will be going to school with kids from different races and cultures. I like the tuition (or more precisely the lack thereof). I think being with high-achieving students will encourage her to excel. Hopefully she'll be admitted.