Smallish Mid-Expensive Quality 12-fret Acoustic Guitar

[cynic]

I've been half-assedly looking around for a small acoustic for my granddaughter to replace one destroyed by a younger sibling.  My daughter is shit for teaching kids how to take care of things.

Long story short, she asked if I would give her one of my guitars to replace it and I explained I didn't feel good about giving her one of mine while the threat (seriously, they're fucking brutal) still exists.  She really enjoyed playing and was making progress so it felt a little shitty to tell her no.

She's about to start her senior year of high school and I'm thinking I might give her something reasonably nice ($1000-$1500) for her graduation if her plans to move away from the terrors hold firm.

Anyway, I'm aware of the usual suspects but am wondering if anyone can recommend any hidden gems.  I ran across Pono which looks interesting.  They're primarily a Uke company but have dabbled in smaller guitars.  Any ideas or suggestions would be great, as well as any offers for something you've got laying around that would be well suited for a five-foot tall woman with mini hands.  12-fret body and shorter scale are a plus.