Middle school is hard. I would let him stay where he wants and just have him take the honors class. At this age for me, it's more about finding the right social group. These kids have a lot to navigate at this age and if he has a solid group of friends then I think it's best for him to stay with them. My sister teaches 6th grade and was mentioning all of the stuff they have to deal with: vaping, drugs, bullying, etc. All of the typical MS/HS stuff. I would want my kid to have a solid group of people during that transition to help make right choices. If he goes to a new school, he'd have to make a new group of friends. Which can be hard and you wouldn't want him to get into the wrong group of kids, which often happens at first when you are the new kid. Not always, but it happens. Something else I would consider would be if he'd be able to socialize outside of school with his new friends. Are they close enough to you that you don't mind driving to see them or pick them up, etc. If he wanted to change that would be a different story, but 6th grade is just such a change for these kids.