Searching For the Right School: Where to Begin?

‘Tis the season for 60-percent-off sales at 2 a.m. and the smells of holiday cookies and pepper spray.

‘Tis also the season for exploring what school is right for your child next fall. So what should be on your check list? 

To create your check list, sit down with your family and write a list of what’s most important for your child’s education. Do you want a coed or single-sex school? Episcopal or non-secular? Montessori or traditional? Preschool to grade 5 or kindergarten to grade 12? Sometimes we don’t know what we want, so I always encourage parents to talk to friends and neighbors or better yet, teachers.

Next, be realistic about what’s best for your child. There may be a great school in your neighborhood where your best friend sends her son, but if your child is extremely gifted or has special needs … well, why try to force an oval peg through a round hole? It may be a very nice school, but is your child truly going to flourish and succeed?

Once you have an idea of what you are looking for, research school websites that fit your criteria. One area I always encourage parents to look at first is typically the least popular page on a school website. I'll write about that in part two of this post.