By Andrew Campanella
If you’d like to send your child to a different school next year, now’s the time to start the process of researching your options.
Believe it or not, seats in schools are already beginning to fill up for the 2015-2016 school year. Interest in school choice – the process of actively choosing a public, charter, magnet, private, or online school – is high. That means that waiting until the spring or the summer to begin researching schools for your children could restrict your options.
No handbook or tip sheet can truly guide parents through the entire process of selecting a school, because choosing schools is an individual experience that will be unique to every family.
However, parents can start by making a list of the attributes that they hope to find in an ideal school. Ask yourself: what’s most important to you and to the academic, social, and emotional well-being of your child? Is it the academic performance of a school, school safety, the instructional methods, the qualifications of teachers, the school’s educational theme, a school’s shared values, or other factors?
Once you’ve identified what matters most, start looking into the options available to you. In addition to the local public school, you may be eligible to send your child to a school outside of your ZIP code, or in a different school district. Look into nearby charter schools and magnet schools. Don’t leave private and faith based schools off your list! You might be able to find scholarships to cover the costs of tuition. And for some families, online learning and homeschooling work best.
To find the options available to you, look at information from the Texas Department of Education, as well as information on state-based education reform or school choice organization websites. For a directory of most schools in your area, along with parent rankings and some performance metrics, parents can visit this website: greatschools.org.
With your list of requirements and your list of schools in hand, start making appointments to visit the schools. Ask to sit in on classes, and make sure to ask as many questions as possible of teachers, the administration, and support staff. You’ll want to find out what motivates the adults in the building, while also seeing how the students in the classes respond to their teachers. Ask yourself: is this a place where I’d want to send my child for most of his or her weekday waking hours?
Finally, make sure to talk with other parents – and to your own children. Ask parents how the schools’ administrators treat parents, and whether they welcome, or discourage, parental involvement. And most importantly, ask your children about their perceptions of the schools that you’ve visited. Find out what excites and motivates your child at school, but also ask about their worries, concerns and apprehensions.
Making the decision to change schools certainly isn’t easy. And switching schools isn’t a piece of cake, either. But if you start now, and plan out the journey, you’ll find that the destination – a great school for your child – is well worth the diligence and effort.
Andrew R. Campanella is the president of National School Choice Week. National School Choice Week, which runs from January 25-31, 2015, is America’s largest-ever celebration of opportunity in education. Andrew lives in Miramar Beach, Florida.
This is some really good information about finding a good school for your child. My sister is looking for a good school for my nephew to go to. So, I liked that you talked about to ask people how the administration treats parents. I know that my sister would want to be able to work well with the school’s administration.
I loved when you mentioned how it is recommended to talk with other parents in order to find the best private school for your kids. It is important to remember that doing some research can help you find the best type of school that can meet your kid’s needs. We are planning on enrolling our son in a private school and want to make sure we find the best school that can offer the type of programs that can boost your kid’s learning.
These are some great tips for finding a school for my kids. I like how you said that after you make a list of requirements, you can start visiting schools themselves. Meeting teachers and administrators in person is the best way I see to find the right education program.
My aunt’s oldest daughter has been having problems at public school, so she’s been looking for a new school to enroll her in. However, she isn’t sure what type of school her daughter would do best in. Thanks for the great tip for her to make a list of requirements that she wants in her daughter’s school; this will really help my aunt out.
My daughter is going to start school next year and I want to make sure I put her in the best school for her. Thank you for pointing out that I should make a list of attributes I want in a school for her. I’ll have to do this and then do some research to find the best private school for her.