With Few Public Options, Competition to Get Into Top High School Programs Is Fierce

DeMatha, an all-boys school, attracts about 630 applications each year but admits only about 270 students, according to Mike Jones, the school's admissions director.

At Holy Trinity, the high school application process begins in earnest in the seventh grade. By the next year, parents and students work through their applications, submitting transcripts, test results, two letters of recommendation and essays.

"It's basically like applying for college, and it's very stressful to the kids, to be honest with you," said Judy Smolen, the head of Holy Trinity's middle school.

The stress was etched into Nathan's face as he spoke with a reporter recently at a Borders bookstore in Largo, where he occasionally plays chess. Poised between childhood and adulthood, he knows that a lot is riding on getting into the right high school. Parents are important -- some lobby administrators, draw on their networking connections or change residences to improve their kids' chances of making it into one of the top schools -- but in the end, it comes down to the student.

Nathan is determined. His transcript reads like that of someone applying to an elite college: He has strong grades, good test scores, a mix of extracurricular activities, and he plays tennis and basketball.

If Nathan can't make it into Roosevelt or Flowers, he's hoping his skills at art and public speaking will land him a scholarship from one of the three private schools to which he's applied. That would ease the financial burden on his mother, Theresa, a single parent, who works as a financial manager.

"It's not a day gone by I don't think about this stuff," Nathan said. His mother, who sat at a nearby table listening to her son, had already described a typical day in his life.

"Tuesday, he got to school at 9," she said. "He was wrapping gifts for a homeless shelter from 4 to 5. There's choir rehearsal from 6:30 to 7:45. He'll get a sandwich between 5 and 6:30. He's doing his homework in the car to choir practice."

It has taken its toll on her, too: "I'm a nervous wreck right now trying to make sure he gets everything he needs to the schools," she said. But the effort is necessary, she said, to instill in him the habits of learning and the success that comes with it.

"It's tough to do what I do and have fun at the same time," Nathan said. During the few occasions when he gets to relax, he talks to his friends ("I've got to hang out with the best, because that's the only way you will get smarter," he observed) or turns on some music (his favorite rapper is Nas, known for his complex poetic style).

He'd like to be an architectural engineer, a doctor or a lawyer, he said. But before he can do that, he's got to make it into high school, amassing the tokens of a successful childhood.

Just then, his mother reminded him of one of his other feats: He is a black belt in karate.

Slightly embarrassed, he said, "My mom is trying to make it like I'm a hero all of a sudden."

"What I taught him was 'mind over body,' " she said.

"As long as I believe it, I can achieve it," Nathan said.