What factors are important to you in choosing a school for your child?

[Anonymous]

Our children are approaching school age and choosing a school (at all levels, from preschool on... ) seems so complicated. When you consider what is best school for your child, what factors do you look for? Both positive and negative....

[Anonymous]

Age appropriate curriculum for the younger years -- DC doesn't need to be training for the Macarthur genius grants when he's 6 or reading Moby Dick by the end of 2nd grade.

In a related vein, lots of recess and no real homework for super young kids.

As a nice bonus, would like to see a math curriculum that's not EveryDay Math.

Art or music every day.

[Anonymous]

This question has come up so many times, but for obvious reasons. Which factors to consider depend so much on your child. Here are a few items we considered.

-- school size -- is your child a real self-motivated, independent kid (who would do well at any size school) or is your child more likely to need a smaller, more intimate setting with more individual attention?

-- is your child highly gifted (a good candidate for public magnet programs) or might your child need some special services (provided by public for free)? Or is your child the average to high-average child who might be a good candidate for private?

-- is your child likely to learn best in a traditional school setting or a more progressive school setting?

-- curriculum issues: what priority do you place on amount of time spent outside, how early would you prefer foreign language (immersion vs. periodic classes), arts/drama/music at school versus after school, sports team opportunities

-- culture issues: public? private? diversity? feeling of community? cooperative? whole child focus? rigorous academics?

Any implied answers to the questions/factors I listed are answers only for my own child and might be dramatically different for yours.