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Tips for Finding the Right School for Your Child
By Andrew Campanella
Guest Column
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.
As Ohio prepares to commemorate National School Choice Week
later this month at 485 events across the state, and nearly
11,000 events nationwide, many parents will begin evaluating
the educational opportunities that are available for their
children.
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 Ohio 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. |
