How to Choose a Good School (for Parents)
Define your ideal school., Keep an open mind to multiple options., Know the numbers., Visit your possible choices., Ask the right questions., Ask around for school recommendations., Know the details of application and enrollment., Have a backup plan.
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Define your ideal school.
Before you even start looking, it's important to decide what is most important to you for your child.
You can use criteria like foreign language opportunities, strength in arts and sciences, or a variety of other factors you find important to narrow down your choices.
Once you decide what is important use the school's website, information available in pamphlets, or in-person visits to make sure the prospective school has proper offerings.A great way to understand how important something is to a school is to look at their available faculty and resources.
Schools that have a lot of teachers and a demonstrated willingness to invest will be more likely to be strong in an area.
Also keep in mind things like travel time.
If it is a public school, find out whether where you live has available bussing.
If you are going to need to drive your child to school every morning, make sure the distance and start-times work with your own schedule. -
Step 2: Keep an open mind to multiple options.
If your area has a variety of school types ranging from public, private, or charter schools, don't limit yourself.
How a school receives its funding, whether government or privately funded, does not necessarily correlate to quality of education.
Look around online, go to a school district office, or attend a information fair to get a closer look. , Schools should have statistics available to prospective parents that demonstrate performance on tests, student-teacher ratio and how many of the students continue on to college or employment, depending what you find important.
Contact the school's main office and request this information.
For public programs, states will make available school district performances. , No amount of research, reading, or calling can substitute for an in person examination.
When you go to the school, make sure you talk to the principal, teachers, and if possible other parents.
This is a great time to get an overall feel for what sorts of people run and attend the school to decide whether it's a good fit.
Look at the classrooms, the artwork on the walls, and if possible watch a teacher in action so you can see what sorts of interaction and activities your student will get.
If a school doesn't encourage pre-enrollment visits, this may be a red flag to inquire about.
This may mean that they are not transparent about their teaching methods and it could be predictive of how responsive they will be in the future to any concerns you may have.
Choose a school that is transparent and tries to assuage your concerns.
Ask why they do not allow pre-enrollment visits. , Once you're at the school, it's important to ask the right questions.
Make sure you know about the school's hours for your own schedule, what sorts of lunches they serve, their foreign language offerings and sports teams.
If you want to get even more in depth you can ask how their teachers are trained, details on homework and how they handle poor behavior. , You may have friends who already have children in a particular school.
Find out from them.
You may want to consider enrolling your child into the same school. , There can be a lot details that help dictate your decision.
If it is a private school, find out about financial aid offerings, whether your child will need to be interviewed or whether admission is lottery based, and whether you'll need to secure recommendations on your child's behalf.
Make sure you are able to financially afford tuition prices.
If you want to move forward, you may need to secure paperwork verifying your child's age, identity, vaccinations and residency.
If you are unable to do any of this, you'll want to know to avoid any unexpected surprises. , Even if you have a dream school, sometimes there are waiting lists, a rigorous application process, or even financial obstacles.
Make sure you have other options waiting so that you are not shut out of all your options and forced to send your child to a less than ideal school. -
Step 3: Know the numbers.
-
Step 4: Visit your possible choices.
-
Step 5: Ask the right questions.
-
Step 6: Ask around for school recommendations.
-
Step 7: Know the details of application and enrollment.
-
Step 8: Have a backup plan.
Detailed Guide
Before you even start looking, it's important to decide what is most important to you for your child.
You can use criteria like foreign language opportunities, strength in arts and sciences, or a variety of other factors you find important to narrow down your choices.
Once you decide what is important use the school's website, information available in pamphlets, or in-person visits to make sure the prospective school has proper offerings.A great way to understand how important something is to a school is to look at their available faculty and resources.
Schools that have a lot of teachers and a demonstrated willingness to invest will be more likely to be strong in an area.
Also keep in mind things like travel time.
If it is a public school, find out whether where you live has available bussing.
If you are going to need to drive your child to school every morning, make sure the distance and start-times work with your own schedule.
If your area has a variety of school types ranging from public, private, or charter schools, don't limit yourself.
How a school receives its funding, whether government or privately funded, does not necessarily correlate to quality of education.
Look around online, go to a school district office, or attend a information fair to get a closer look. , Schools should have statistics available to prospective parents that demonstrate performance on tests, student-teacher ratio and how many of the students continue on to college or employment, depending what you find important.
Contact the school's main office and request this information.
For public programs, states will make available school district performances. , No amount of research, reading, or calling can substitute for an in person examination.
When you go to the school, make sure you talk to the principal, teachers, and if possible other parents.
This is a great time to get an overall feel for what sorts of people run and attend the school to decide whether it's a good fit.
Look at the classrooms, the artwork on the walls, and if possible watch a teacher in action so you can see what sorts of interaction and activities your student will get.
If a school doesn't encourage pre-enrollment visits, this may be a red flag to inquire about.
This may mean that they are not transparent about their teaching methods and it could be predictive of how responsive they will be in the future to any concerns you may have.
Choose a school that is transparent and tries to assuage your concerns.
Ask why they do not allow pre-enrollment visits. , Once you're at the school, it's important to ask the right questions.
Make sure you know about the school's hours for your own schedule, what sorts of lunches they serve, their foreign language offerings and sports teams.
If you want to get even more in depth you can ask how their teachers are trained, details on homework and how they handle poor behavior. , You may have friends who already have children in a particular school.
Find out from them.
You may want to consider enrolling your child into the same school. , There can be a lot details that help dictate your decision.
If it is a private school, find out about financial aid offerings, whether your child will need to be interviewed or whether admission is lottery based, and whether you'll need to secure recommendations on your child's behalf.
Make sure you are able to financially afford tuition prices.
If you want to move forward, you may need to secure paperwork verifying your child's age, identity, vaccinations and residency.
If you are unable to do any of this, you'll want to know to avoid any unexpected surprises. , Even if you have a dream school, sometimes there are waiting lists, a rigorous application process, or even financial obstacles.
Make sure you have other options waiting so that you are not shut out of all your options and forced to send your child to a less than ideal school.
About the Author
Edward Kelly
Dedicated to helping readers learn new skills in pet care and beyond.
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