[BCFD]

I will be attending 6 or 7 open houses next week for my 4 y.o. who will be starting kindy in the fall of 2009 (I can't believe they do this so early!) What are some things you would look for in a new school? I have had a few suggestions elsewhere and wanted to get the advice of MDC mamas.

*Quality of teachers - how to you really measure this in a 90 minute open house tour?
*teaching method and curriculum - for example? Our first choice is a Montessori charter and dd has been attending a private preschool, so I'm extremely familiar with that method. We are also looking at Open schools (I have a good understanding of the Open method) and Fundamental schools (need to hear more).
*Test scores - really? I'd rather my child learn what she loves instead of being taught to the test. Somebody play devil's advocate for me.

*Parent involvement - this is mandatory in the schools we are touring, so I think they all have a very high level of parent involvement (but the test scores are all over the place in relation)
*parental education - as a proxy of parental involvement. Should I really be concerned about this?
*budget of the PTO - somebody on another site said they would actually base their decision on this. Sometimes budget cuts affects positions such as librarians, art teachers, music teachers and a strong PTO can make up for this. It was suggested that I ask if they are keeping track of how many hours have been donated by the parents to the local schools because the school with the biggest PTO budget and most number of parental volunteers will be the best school. Thoughts?

What would you look for during an open house tour? What questions would you ask the principal during the tour?

 

[MattBronsil]

I have to ask...

...leaving the Montessori school?

 

[BCFD]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MattBronsil I have to ask... ...leaving the Montessori school?

Oh, not if I can help it!!! I am so in love with Montessori that I'm making myself sick over what will happen. I just don't know if we can swing $1500/mo. for tuition for all 3 kids unless I go back to work. My first choice is the local Montessori charter school. They pick students based on a random lottery, so if I can't get her in there, I have to consider open enrollment within our school district. We have a lot of good options (I love the idea of the Open school because they use a lot of Montessori ideas and the kids all work at their own level vs. a fundamental school that is more teacher led and everybody does the same work). The Open school would be 2nd best choice.

Just say a little prayer for me that she gets a spot in the Montessori charter kindy. Then I can breathe a sigh of relief. I just can't imagine anything BUT Montessori.

 

[supervee]

I don't hold test scores in too much regard. I don't think it says anything about how well my child is going to perform. I did peek at them in regards to how minorities performed in relation to the average. In some schools considered "great" minorities do not perform well, and since my kids are biracial, I was concerned that that not be the case. (Simply b/c I didn't want anyone to look at my kids and expect them not to do well.) But it was minor. Test scores are dependent on so many things that don't affect my children's learning.

I read somewhere that a mother's highest level of education predicted success in school. ??? The only reason that might matter is if you want your child to be challenged in a competitive environment.

Parental involvement... maybe. If you can go to a PTA meeting, you can get a feel for what that means to that school, and if you like the involved parents!

Quality of teachers... other measures are How hard is it to get a job there (how competitive are the teaching positions)? What is the director/principal like?... the general mood will flow down from that. What's the turnover rate (a low rate might indicate a good work environment; the kids pick up on this)?

Good luck with your charter lottery!

 

[MFuglei]

For me, parental involvement was a HUGE indicator of a good school. It's hard to explain - we looked at a dozen schools for my daughter. I visited several along the spectrum of best to worst, richest to poorest, etc. and what I discovered is that the school we chose *felt* good. It's hard to explain, I know, because there's no overly reliable way for me to give you measurements to help you choose, but the school I chose was the one that felt the most comfortable to me.

Their parent night opened the entire school - not just the Kindy room - all of the teachers were there, kids from every grade manned each room, 5th graders gave tours of the school, the PTO was there and already asking committed parents to sign up and become involved. The specials teachers asked me about who I was and helped show me where *my* talents as a parent could help the school. I tripped over the principal a dozen times that night - it seemed like she was everywhere.

Ultimately, I want my daughter in a school that feels good and reinforces a committment to education -- parental involvement was huge in fostering that feeling.

I know that doesn't give you any really reliable measurements to choose a school, but that's the thinking that went behind our choice. My daughter's school is neither the best nor the worst in the district for test scores, but it's the right one for us.