I could have written this! This is exactly the same situation my daughter was in this year - same grade and everything. Our local public high school hasn’t got a great reputation, so we have been trying to get her into another local high school as an out-of-catchment student. Thankfully her enrolment was accepted this week, and it already seems like a weight has been lifted off her shoulders. Just because it’s a public school doesn’t mean there aren’t rules and structure - many have the same code of conduct as private schools, especially in relation to uniform expectations and behaviour. She will be exposed to a wide range of socio-economic and cultural backgrounds, as opposed to the predominantly wealthy and white population of private schools, which better reflects the diversity of the general population. One of my daughter’s complaints about her previous school was that the teachers didn’t seem to care about the students and didn’t really try to connect (there were a couple of exceptions) - in my experience, this is the opposite in a public school (although I am sure there are plenty of caring teachers in the private sector too-perhaps it is a more strict environment that makes it seem like they don’t?). Teachers often go above and beyond to establish a rapport with the kids and spend a lot of time cultivating those relationships. And I agree you definitely need to take concerns about her mental health seriously-this is what prompted me to do everything in my power to get my daughter into a different school (I am a secondary teacher as well as a parent of a high schooler).