re: Louisiana School for Math, Science, and the Arts (Natchitoches)

One of the main reasons I agreed to my daughter living there was because she had always been the numero uno in our local school. She needed some academic competition

quote:

---

Why does an 18 yr old need high school?

---

????? Most people are seniors at 18

Actually, my son turned 19 in December of his senior year without a holdback. He disappeared from the growth chart as a toddler so we started him late, hoping he would catch up. He’s 23 now and still built like a jockey, lol. But that is definitely the exception and not the norm. As far as the school goes, I had a classmate leave our high school in the early 80s to attend. She was much smarter than the rest of us, and a bit awkward socially. Never heard from her again so I’m not sure how it worked out for her. Her younger brother stayed at our small town public school and later attended Harvard. Both of their parents were teachers at our high school. Unbelievably intelligent family now that I think of it. They were both great teachers as well.

I attended the first year it was open. Great opportunity to earn scholarships to great universities, including Ivy League schools.
Met some amazing people up there.
Definitely a unique learning environment.

quote:

---

Entering their senior year? Literally no one who didn’t get held back.

---

Well that’s incredibly wrong

Probably not as socially awkward as you think considering how ghetto Louisiana is

quote:

---

Entering their senior year? Literally no one who didn’t get held back.

---

Maybe it was different when I was a kid, you had to turn 6 by a certain date in the school year to start the 1st grade, I didn’t make the cutoff and had to start the next year, I and a whole lot of people were 18 going into the 12th grade, almost every guy in my senior class had a draft card.

LSMSA class of 2000 here.

Listen to those who actually went there, or talk to the school itself to see if it fits for your child.

I consider my two years there the most foundational for my entire education. It saved me from an absolutely mediocre education at my local high school.

I'm not aware of any other school in the state that offers/offered its students courses like:
- Differential, Integral, Multi-Variable, and Vector Calculus (4 different courses)
- Differential Equations
- Modern Algebra
- Intro to programming with C++ (may be a different language now)
- Data Structures
- Assembly (it was a one-off, special course taught by a great teacher who is still there)
- Operating Systems (actual design of OS's, this is usually a junior/senior-level course in college)

The list could go on and on. The staff there was (and I'm sure still is) amazing. Many of them hold PhD's, and it really opens the students' eyes to what could lie ahead academically if that's the route they'd like to take.

After LSMSA, I found that the residential aspect became a huge advantage for me. As a freshman at college, I already had two years of experience living on-campus. I saw many around me flounder with the newfound freedom and responsibility of college life. LSMSA was a great "on-ramp" to living away from home, since it was a well-controlled environment that still gave us some freedom (but not too much).

If your child feels constrained by their current school, LSMSA should be considered.

quote:

---

Feedback please if you have any experiences with the school or heard reviews. Thanks..

---

My daughter is a sophomore and this is her first year at the school. She asked us at the beginning of her freshman year could she go there if she worked hard to get in. Well, she worked hard her freshman year, applied, and got accepted. Because she worked so hard to get in and reach her goal, we agreed that she could go and try it. If it doesn't work out, she can easily come back to her home school.

Right now they all doing all virtual classes. It's a lot more strenuous work than her home school, but she managed to do well and finish with a 3.9. I'm proud of how she did her first semester given that all of it was in an online only format.

When we visited, I liked the school because my daughter is very smart and if she isn't pushed, she'll get bored and not perform well. I got a sense that this school will keep her engaged not only by the workload, but the various electives that will be offered that she can choose from.

Very very liberal. Her kid will never be the same. Not worth it.