I don’t know how I would feel if many classmates are a lot smarter than myself 
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It’s humbling and overwhelming, but after a while the kids get used to it. The biggest benefit is being around kids who are like themselves. The other benefit is being forced to work harder than they had to before. A lot of smart kids coast through K-12 without studying much. Then depending on the college, things get hard and they don’t have the study habits they need to master the classes.
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Definitely true. College was a rude awakening.
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Does it mean it’s better to attend a competitive HS instead of an easy one?
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Yet to experience that. I quitted because everybody around me are turkeys 
who don’t understand the Vision of a soaring eagle 
Please share your feelings 
I think it depends on the kid. If your kid is smart AND driven then you need competitive. If your kid is smart and lazy, maybe not. Not a one size fits all.
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I think smart and lazy kids should get a kick in the butt. 
But kids that are struggling shouldn’t be thrown off the deep end. I feel like kids should go somewhere that stretches them, but doesn’t destroy them.
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Personally, i would send my kids to Harker if i have enough money for tuition/donation/field trip to Europe etc.
However, i disagree with above statement.
At Lynbrook, there are many kids who take AP calc-bc at 9 or 10th grade. My kid took it at 10th along with many other 9/10th graders and over 95% kids got 5 from AP test.
After finishing all AP math courses, west valley college provides on-site college level math classes such as linear algebra, multi variable calc etc at Lynbrook.
When I was not sure if i should let my kid to skip pre-calc and move to calc-bc, i asked this question to one assistant principle. He said that school doesn’t discourage kids who want to skip courses and actually prefer those kids because they tend toperform really well.
I am not sure about other public schools but CU schools don’t mind skipping/acceleration.
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Thanks for sharing that Jane! That’s really awesome that they are supportive of kids like that. I wish that attitude was shared by more principals, especially in the elementary and middle schools.
Kind of wish I’d known that was a resource when we were house shopping, but I don’t think we could’ve afforded Cupertino anyways… Hrm.
I remember you have very good income, you can definitely afford Harker. 
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Can you share your reasoning?
I usually send my kids to Harker summer camp and they really liked it. They have Great facilities and teachers. Their STEM program is excellent.
On top of that, the school is not far from our home.
However, i invested a lot in my primary home due to school. Thus, i have to pay mortgage instead of tuition. 
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