Most insightful question asked during tour?

[Anonymous]

A question for those who have been there / done that.

I am beginning to gather information for looking at elementary schools. What were some of the best questions you asked / heard when you were going through the process?

Thanks!

[Anonymous]

"How do you handle bullying?"

I want to hear that they have a program/curriculum in place that addresses bullying before it happens and gives kids tools they can use to defuse conflict. I don't want to hear "bullying is very rare here," "we take it very seriously and meet with the child and child's parents to make sure it doesn't happen again," or "we teach children the importance of respect and other values."

[Anonymous]

Don't ask about how the school will help your Pre-K kid who is already reading and how you don't want his or her's reading to suffer because of the non-readers. Many of these young kids already read, but all of them benefit from the skills and lessons taught in Pre-K, K and 1st to become strong readers. This line of questioning flags you as a potential problem parent. Ask about differentiated teaching, how they work with a range of learners, etc, but don't focus on just your kid since you are applying to join a community.

[Anonymous]

Who do I make the check out to for your new gymnasium?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Who do I make the check out to for your new gymnasium?

Ha ha ha. Quite insightful!

[Anonymous]

Get to know who your child's teacher would be.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Who do I make the check out to for your new gymnasium?

Ha ha ha. Quite insightful!

Check out the "getting into St. Alban's thread".

[Anonymous]

I asked several questions about recess and PE during every tour and/or interview. Timing, duration, etc.

[Anonymous]

You could ask about foreign language instruction and art classes - these often vary from one school to another.

[Anonymous]

At one really competitive school I asked what the kids read in high school. Everybody -- other parents and administrators too -- stared at me like I was insane for not having memorized the webpage that dealt with this. Then I got an answer that essentially blew me off. So be careful about questions that could be read as "naive".