What things do you look for/ask for in an elementary school?

[KpbS]

We are starting the process of trying to figure out our school options. We have several--a small private one, local public, urban magnet, etc. (and there is always homeschooling which I haven't ruled in/out :)

I have the names of a few people whose children attend the various schools--what sort of questions should I ask them specifically? Also what should I look for when I visit the various schools?

[SnuggleBuggles]

It's been a long time since I researched and toured schools so I have to sweep the brain cobwebs away. I have been running tours at my school so I can try and think about that.
Sorry this will be jumping all over the place. Stream of consciousness and all. :)

-How would you describe the kindergarten program? Do you feel it is more academic or developmental?
-What are your goals for reading? [the answer I was looking for were that the foundation would be there with things like letter recognition by the end of kindergarten but that it was ok for them not to be reading in k. All the schools gave me that answer so I was good. My friend is not finding that attitude to be true at her ds's school, however]
-tell me about report cards
-how involved can parents be at the school?
-what "specials" are there and when do they have them?
-how often do the kids get out for recess [this was one of my biggest issues since one school we toured did not have recess!]
-someone on the tour asked me how many half days/ teacher development days there were because her work schedule wasn't conducive to many of these
-is there and extended day program?
-do you offer a second language education?

Really observe the classrooms. You can learn more doing that than asking questions. Like they may sing the praises of their interactive curriculums or something but then you see class after class simply doing worksheets.

Don't put too much (or really any provided it is safe) into the facilities. I toured $$ private schools with gorgeous facilities along with schools with old run down spaces and it took me a few days to ground myself that fancy doesn't equal better. The dingier school was fabulous in terms of academics and supporting the child. Schools don't need fancy playgrounds, they can be plenty happy with a field or parking lot to run around in.

I know there are more and I'll post later if I remember them (and no one else has beat me to it).

Beth

[egoldber]

For me, I never considered private schools because they are too expensive for us. The elementary grades are all $10-15K+ and middle/high schools tend to be 15-20K+.

I debated for awhile about trying for a language immersion school lottery, but decided that 1) I couldn't deal with the stress of the lottery and 2) I didn't want to have to commit to transporting her everyday for the next 7 years. (No transport for non-neighborhood language immersion schools here.) So we pretty much decided to go with the neighborhood school by default.

Things I like about her school:

1) medium sized...large enough to have more than one classroom per grade
2) large amount of parent involvement....there are many, many parents who are committed to volunteering regularly and visit her school daily
3) large amount of ethnic, racial and physical diversity....her school is a center for children with moderate physical disabilities and as a result the school is VERY committed to teaching and fostering tolerance of differences
4) admin staff is very committed and caring
5) school is overall well run, calm and quiet (for a 500+ student body)
6) her school is a GT center, so if she qualifies for the GT program, she does not have to change schools
7) because it is a neighborhood school we have met MANY MANY children in our neighborhood we did not even know existed!
8) the commute is 7 minutes walking or 10 minutes by bus or car...we live at the end of the bus route, so she is last on/first off, otherwise some kids spend almost 40 minutes on the bus
9) lots of after school activities....foreign language, Scouts, Odyssey of the Mind, etc.
10) As a rule the teachers are energetic, positive and caring
11) They do not have language immersion, but they have a language "integrated into the curriculum"... her school's language is Mandarin which I think is fabulous.
12) Before and after school care is available, but hard to get into.

Things I do NOT like:

1) They talk a good talk about differentiation, but in our experience, if your child is advanced more than one or two grade levels, they will NOT have the sufficient resources to be able to adequately differentiate for your child
2) The GT screening process is arcane, cumbersome and way over the top....a factor in this I am sure is where we live and the sheer number of overachieving parents ;)
3) The homework expectations are too high...the written homework policy sounds OK, but I think the amount of homework she actually gets vs the policy is too much for her age/grade
4) The use lots of rewards and incentive discipline systems that I disagree with, although this is very teacher dependent.
5) The school has full day K....this can be a pro or con depending on your perspective...for us it was a con. But for Amy I think it will be a pro. :)

For us, while we have had a few issues, overall I have found her school to be a good one. The issues I have with it tend to be things common to all large schools.

[brittone2]

I'm not sure how seriously you are considering homeschooling, but I just finished How Children Fail (which is an oldie but IMO more relevant now than ever). It is really about how schools fail children (the title is misleading LOL). Even if you don't decide to homeschool, the book is so powerful in making us think about how *real* learning happens. Holt was a public school teacher for many, many years. I've read several of his books, but How Children Fail is so, so powerful. Even if you go with public/private school, it may help you think through what is really important with respect to schools/learning. I can't recommend it enough if you are even considering HSing.

John Taylor Gatto is another great author if you are at all interested in the idea of homeschooling.

[SnuggleBuggles]

I'm back...

-Standardized tests. What are there feelings on them? Do they stress them a lot? I wouldn't put much weight into the scores because I think some schools with high scores sacrifice other areas of education to ensure they ace these tests.
-Homework- how much per grade? Purpose of it (cover things they just didn't get to? reinforce what they learned?)
-How do they handle various learning levels within the class/ grade when it comes to math and reading? Do they divide the kids up? If so, how? Are the groups fluid or will the child be stuck in it all year regardless of progress?
-How do they communicate with the parents? Email? Website? Ds's old school used to send home a daily email telling us what the kids did (a highlight of a few key things). It was great because it was a good conversation starter.
-What sorts of resources do you see in the classroom? In kindergarten, do you see games, blocks, Legos, other manipulatives, imaginative play, books, computers...? What do you see in the older grades?


Something I love about my school is that they work hard to build a school community. The day starts off with the entire school gathering in the auditorium for a morning meeting. The kids get announcements there. Each month there is a character trait being emphasized (respect, kindness...) and they will read stories, do skits and other things that emphasize that trait. I love how it brings the whole school together. Some schools the kids just go to homeroom right away and never even really get to see the other kids. Just a nice touch. See what sort of community building events the school does (movie night, ice skating party, festivals...).

Just some more things I thought of.

Beth

[KpbS]

Thank you guys for all of your insights and pointers :bighand: