Things are settled.

Michael has missed St. Mike's since he left at the end of last year, Grade 8.  He's in our local, highly-rated public high school, has made lots of friends, is in the band, and likes (most of) his teachers.  It became apparent three weeks or so ago that he was interested in returning, so we approached the administration to discuss this.  For a variety of reasons, they were anxious to hear directly from Michael, so last Thursday, he met with the principal and admissions director for an hour.  He had previously written a letter to the principal that Z and I delivered outlining his reasons for returning.  The administrators went over his pros and cons list with him at their meeting.

The list (with respect to St. Mikes) looked like this (pretty much verbatim).

Pros

• excellent teachers
• excellent equipment/resources
• sense of community/family
• lack of jerks
• art
• music

Cons

• sports-emphasis
• friends are scattered over a wider range
• uniforms
• no girls
• longer commute

We have all come to the agreement that it makes sense for him to finish up the school year where he is, and he's at the top of the waitlist for any spots that open up next year.  They typically have a few open spots from students who leave for whatever reason, so we are reasonably sure that he will be able to get in.

Z and I are ecstatic, to say the least.  We very much want a Catholic education for our children, one with high standards, discipline, and frankly, I like single-gender schools.  In weighing the pros and cons, Michael came to the conclusion that St. Mike's is the right place for him, and he'll work hard to finish strong this year, ready to return in September.