How do I research a school?

[Anonymous]

I really think a private school would help my kid. I just don't know how to find more information about them. I have my heart set on one school at the moment. So what can I do to research the school besides their website and the greatschools rating?
I am really interested in other peoples experiences. How else can I determine if this is a good fit?
The school brochure and the tuors (I haven't been on one yet) sound more like public relations to me.

I do not want to get too caught up in this admissions thing. That is why I am looking only at one school.

[Anonymous]

One thing you can do is do a "search" on the forum site and see what others have already said about it. Also searching online to see what else is out there about it.

Also, when I was researching a school, I put a query out on a neighborhood parents' listserve and got in touch with some parents directly. I also called acquaintances of friends, in particular, the parents of three students who had left the school we were looking at to go to the school my dd was attending, to find out why.

Then also the usual things, visiting the school, meeting with teachers and the head individually.

[Anonymous]

While I think it's great that you don't want to get "caught up" in the whole private school admission madness, it might not be a good idea to get your heart set on one particular school. One reason is that many of these schools are VERY competitive and your child may not get in. Another is that by focusing only on one school, you may miss out on some other good choices for your child. Talk to other parents who have children in private schools and find out what they like and don't like. If your child is in preschool, talk to the head of the school to see what they think of the various schools. Good luck!

[Anonymous]

OP here.
I have no idea how to hack into the neighbourhoods listserve to get hold of anyone. Also I am not currently in the vicinity and do not know anyone so I am trying to do it all out in the cold.
We will be moving next year so I am looking at private for middle school. The area has good mo county schools, so I need to know that it is better than eg. Whitman or Richard Montgomery district. At the moment I have set my eyes on just one school. I am not so desperate that I will pick any private just to get in. I am looking for easy commute, single sex and uniforms. This might sound silly, but I could possibly pay for private, but not compete with the fashion brigade.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here.
I have no idea how to hack into the neighbourhoods listserve to get hold of anyone. Also I am not currently in the vicinity and do not know anyone so I am trying to do it all out in the cold.

Not suggesting you "hack" into listserves. Try doing a search on yahoo groups (many are based on yahoo groups) and if you find one, you may be able to sign up by yourself or you may have to request to be added. I found a PTA list for a school I was interested in and they let me join so I could get a feel for the school.

Also, do a general search on google. When I was researching one school, I used the school name and the name of the department my daughter was interested in and came up with interesting comments from a couple of graduates.

And as I mentioned earlier, try searching this site. There's quite a bit of traffic about certain schools. Not so much for others.

Overall if you're creative and persistent, you may find useful info -- but you will have to sort through a lot of chaff to get to the wheat.

[Anonymous]

First of all, you say you are looking for middle school, but the schools you mentioned in MoCo are high schools. You say you have your heart set on one school. Why that school? What is it that appeals to you? You list your factors as "easy commute, single sex, and uniforms." That's it? What about teaching style, class size, etc?

[jhuber]

Anonymous wrote:I really think a private school would help my kid. I just don't know how to find more information about them. I have my heart set on one school at the moment. So what can I do to research the school besides their website and the greatschools rating?
I am really interested in other peoples experiences. How else can I determine if this is a good fit?
The school brochure and the tuors (I haven't been on one yet) sound more like public relations to me.

I do not want to get too caught up in this admissions thing. That is why I am looking only at one school.

I believe that a parent who tours a school, brings well thought-out questions, and observes the interactions between students and teachers (tough to do in August, of course!) can get a very full picture of the school's mission and values. Of course, a parent could also ask to be contacted by a current parent (if the school doesn't arrange for that on their own as a follow-up).

As with other posters, I would urge you to visit a variety of schools, to get a sense of best fit.

[Anonymous]

jhuber wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I really think a private school would help my kid. I just don't know how to find more information about them. I have my heart set on one school at the moment. So what can I do to research the school besides their website and the greatschools rating?
I am really interested in other peoples experiences. How else can I determine if this is a good fit?
The school brochure and the tuors (I haven't been on one yet) sound more like public relations to me.

I do not want to get too caught up in this admissions thing. That is why I am looking only at one school.

I believe that a parent who tours a school, brings well thought-out questions, and observes the interactions between students and teachers (tough to do in August, of course!) can get a very full picture of the school's mission and values. Of course, a parent could also ask to be contacted by a current parent (if the school doesn't arrange for that on their own as a follow-up).

As with other posters, I would urge you to visit a variety of schools, to get a sense of best fit.

What are types of well thought-out questions?

[jhuber]

Here are a few that I've received from prospective parents during open houses that struck me as interesting and insightful:

* what commendations and recommendations did the school receive during its last reaccreditation visit?
* how does your school measure and evaluate its curriculum?
* what's the average teacher tenure? / how many teachers left last year?
* what are the Board and Head of School planning for the next 3-5 years? / is the strategic plan available?
* how many students did you exit last year?
* how much of the budget is devoted to professional development?
* how do you discipline students? (a delightfully open-ended question!)
* what safety measures are in place? / is the crisis plan available?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:First of all, you say you are looking for middle school, but the schools you mentioned in MoCo are high schools.
You say you have your heart set on one school. Why that school? What is it that appeals to you? You list your factors as "easy commute, single sex, and uniforms." That's it? What about teaching style, class size, etc?

I mentioned the high schools because those high school districts are the areas where I plan to move to in a years time, and if I was to pay for private I would expect it to exceed what is available as public.
I know my kids personality and have an idea as to what would constitute a good fit and that is why I am currently looking at one school. Of other schools that I was seriously considering, one was reputedly not better than Walt Whitman, another seems too pricey and too prestigious and would hardly want a kid like mine.
The teaching style is not the big thing for me. Kids are adaptable and can be taught in many different styles. Most of the schools that I was looking at had about the same class size.

And the kind of kid I have, a doable commute is important.

-- OP