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Old 07-02-2012, 09:33 AM
 
1,024 posts, read 1,794,647 times
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Because this has come up in previous threads, I thought it might be a good idea if teachers could contribute to a helpful thread for parents who are looking for a good school. As teachers, we may have some valuable inside information that could lend itself nicely to parents interested in doing what is best for their children.

Because most of my experience is in the private school field, I'll start a list of important questions to ask when checking out private schools. I could probably also do a public school list, but I've only spent 3 years teaching in public schools, so someone else may be better suited to do that.

Anyhow, here it is …

When visiting a PRIVATE school, here is a list of questions you may want to consider asking:

1.) Is the school accredited?

Accreditation, put simply, means the school is accountable to an outside agency to meet different standards. Accredited schools typically have teachers with degrees and backgrounds in education. Most accrediting agencies have the expectation that the teachers will not teach out of field, meaning if you are certified to teach math, you will not teach another subject you are not certified to teach.

Accreditation may be important to you if your child is college bound. I did guidance for a year a little while back and found that some colleges in Florida will not accept students from high schools that are not accredited. University of Florida is one that has such a standard. University of South Florida is moving in that direction. There is a way around this, however. You will need to make sure your child takes the SAT Subject Area test prior to applying to these schools. If they perform well on the subject area tests, your child will be considered for acceptance.

I will say that I have taught in both accredited and unaccredited schools and saw excellent teaching in BOTH. Where it really starts to matter is at the high school level. I'd be a little more picky at that point with accreditation UNLESS your child is looking to go into a trade after graduation or a community college program.

An accredited school WILL cost more, by the way … sometimes twice as much as an unaccredited school. You can expect to pay anywhere from $7000 on up for most accredited schools in the Tampa Bay area.

2.) What agency is accrediting the school?

ACSI and FCIS are the two agencies of which I am most familiar. Both require the school to have degreed teachers. ACSI is a Christian accrediting agency. They require their teachers to have a college degree in addition to some kind of Biblical training. They also provide their own teacher certification which may be different from the state's. FCIS is used by many prep schools. It will accredited both religious and non-religious schools. I believe FCIS is a more rigorous agency. It certainly focuses more on the academic side of things.

3.) What curriculum do they use?

The big two in Christian private schools are ABEKA and Bob Jones. The general public typically has a very favorable opinion of ABEKA. I don't care much for it, however. (I've learned that most teachers with knowledge of solid curricula don't care for it.) I find it is lacking in several areas necessary for students to become solidly literate. Schools enjoy using ABEKA (especially unaccredited schools) because it is VERY user friendly. Anyone without a background in education can use it, so you will find it is very prevalent in unaccredited schools. Bob Jones is better than ABEKA, in my opinion. BOTH of these will work for the average to above average student. They are decent curricula, just not the best. Saxon is another biggie used by the private school sector, but it is not faith-based. It is also decent, but it is not the best.

Schools that have adopted a hodgepodge of curricula typically are stronger academically. When I see that a school has a variety of curricula, I know that someone has done some serious homework regarding selecting what works best for their population of students. There is a lot of curricula out there to choose from. If the school has a secular (non-religious) type of curricula and is a Christian school, you will want to ask how the teacher integrate faith into it.

4.) How does the school prepare the students to be 21st Century learners?

Does the school have internet access? Do they use interactive white boards? How does the teacher integrate technology into the classroom? Is there a computer lab where students will receive advanced instruction? These are very important questions for private schools because technology is expensive and many schools may try to cut costs in this area. You definitely want to make sure your child will at least learn how to operate a computer and perform some basic word processing functions. If the school does not have the ability to teach at least that, I would look elsewhere.

5.) If the school is a Christian school, how do they incorporate spiritual training?

A school with a pastor dedicated to the students is ideal. Chapel on a weekly basis is also ideal. You will also want to ask what the school is doing to nurture and grow the parent community spiritually. Daily Bible classes are a must, and obviously you will want to know if the school's teachers are expected to be nurturing their own walks as well. If you are a Christian, you will probably get a feel for the "spirit" of the school the moment you step onto the campus. Pay attention to that.

6.) What is the socio-economic status of the majority of the families that attend the school?

Most parents neglect to ask this question, but it is a very powerful one. You will more than likely want to match the status of the majority to your socio-economic status in the school you select. I've seen parents extremely frustrated when they come into a private school expecting high test scores, rigorous academics, and a program that will get their child into a great college only to discover their child has not been taught to that standard because the population of the school isn't geared that way. Your school is a reflection of the community in which it caters. Don't forget that. In my opinion, a nice balance is best. I wouldn't want my kids growing up thinking the only world that exists is a highly affluent one, nor do I want their circle of friends to only include the wealthy. But on the other hand, I also don't want them surrounded by students of poorly educated parents or parents who have used the private school as a dumping ground for their child.

7.) If the school goes up to 12th grade, ask about the alumni.

What do most of them do when they graduate? Do most of them go to college? Do most find work right out of high school? Are most employable? If the graduate's lives do not match what you want for your child, walk away.

8.) Does the school have a library or Accelerated Reader?

Believe it or not, I've actually toured private schools whose library was either nonexistent or no bigger than a walk-in closet. One school I visited did not even have an Accelerated Reader program, and the librarian looked like I was speaking in a foreign language when I asked her about it. (Needless to say, the tour ended right there for me.) Accelerated Reader (also called AR for short) is a reading program that allows your child to select books within his or her reading level. Your child earns points for scoring well on an AR quiz taken after the book has been read. As you can probably guess, I am a HUGE proponent of AR as I've seen it motivate even the most reluctant of readers. If the school you are looking at has AR, ask what they do with the points the students earn. Is there an incentive program in place? (Meaning, how will the students "spend" the points they earn.) Hopefully the answer will be yes. If the school doesn't have this, it means you may have to provide it at home.

9.) How are the classrooms arranged?

Desk arrangement is a big indicator of the school's overall philosophy. If the desks are in rows, facing forward, with large spaces in between them, the school is probably more traditional in nature … meaning the teacher is responsible for the delivery of the content, the room is probably highly structured, and the environment is fairly quiet. If the desks are in tables, the school is probably believes in more student collaboration and active learning. If you walk into a classroom where the students are in tables and you see learning taking place and not chaos, you are witnessing the work of a highly skilled teacher.

10.) What is the discipline policy of the school, and how quickly will disruptive students be removed?

Is the school highly disciplined? Or are they more laid back in their approach? Are they willing to remove disruptive students, or do they hang on to them as long as possible? Some parents mistakenly believe that private schools do not admit students with behavior problems. While it is true that some don't, many do because they need the money in order to function. A more likely scenario, however, is that the parent does not disclose that the child has a behavior problem until after the child is enrolled and acclimated to the school. Most private school administrators are reluctant to remove a child once they've been admitted.

11.) What is the student-teacher ratio?

You will probably get a good answer as most private school ratios are low. You will want to foliow up that question with another question: What is your largest class size? Most administrators in private schools see ratios as a goal. I've seen schools with ratios of 16 to 1, when in actuality they had 23 students packed into one classroom!

12.) Does the elementary school program have electives or "specials?"

I would avoid schools that do not have art, music, PE, and the like. Children need to grow in ALL areas, not just academics. You also want to ask about recess. Children, especially the younger ones, benefit from a break in the day to play with their friends and be social.

13.) Does the school accommodate learners who struggle or who are gifted?

Many private schools do not have extra programs for special needs or gifted students. If the academic program is a rigorous and creative one, your gifted child will probably do well there. The learning disabled child is the one I would be most concerned about as most private schools do not have the ability to help these students unless they are a private school designed specifically FOR these students. Accommodating special needs is very difficult for the typical private school as it is hard to do it right. Because of this, many opt not to do it.

14.) What kind of scholarships or financial assistance does the school offer?

Even if you are private pay, ask this question as it will give you a great deal of insight into who your child will be going to school with. If it's 100% private pay and tuition is $14,000 a year, your child will be attending school with students from a particular class or background. If 100% of the students are on scholarship or tuition assistance, you will have a different set of problems to deal with. I would personally avoid schools whose population is primarily on scholarships or vouchers. Think about it … what happens to the school in the event these vouchers and scholarships dry up?

You will also want to ask how many McKay Scholarship students your school accepts. The McKay Scholarships provides money (and oftentimes A LOT of it) for students with special needs to attend a private school. Many private schools will accept students under the McKay Scholarship and fail to provide adequate help for them. One school of which I am familiar made the mistake of accepting too many McKay students who had IEP's for severe learning and behavioral problems. In a period of a couple of years, the school's climate changed from one of learning and safety to one where the classrooms were filled with issues and problems. As you can imagine, parents made a mass exodus and the school has been unofficially branded as the place where you go when no one else is willing to work with your child. (And that's OK if you need that.)

If the school does accept McKay, you will want to know what TYPE of disabled students attend. All students benefit when a disabled child is in their classroom as it teaches empathy and compassion. What you DON'T want is there to be so many severely disabled students in your child's class that it negatively impacts the classroom climate. McKay Scholarship students vary widely from those with mild speech impediments to those with severe Autism.

If you are in need of financial assistance, you will want to ask about in-house scholarships and Step-Up for Students scholarships. In-house scholarships are harder to come by as they are provided solely by the school. Step-Up is a voucher program that will cover a large chunk of tuition through the state if you qualify.

15.) If you have a child with special needs, how will the school help your child?

Some private schools cater specifically to the special needs child. The ones I've encountered have some really excellent programs. If your child is dyslexic, for example, you will want to know how they plan on teaching your child to read. (Look for a program that is Orton-Gillingham based if this is the case. Your prospective school should know what this means if they cater to dyslexic students. If they don't know what this means, look elsewhere.)

If the school you are looking into caters primarily to the typical child, you will want to be especially careful about asking what support systems they have in place to help your child. Is there a speech therapist that comes to the school, or are parents expected to find speech support on their own? Is there a learning specialist who will work with your child, or will the classroom teacher be primarily responsible for handling learning needs?

So, that's all I have for now. I hope this list is helpful, and I hope if you are a teacher you will contribute to it as you see fit. Hopefully someone will write for the public schools.

Last edited by floridagirl777; 07-02-2012 at 09:46 AM..
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Old 07-02-2012, 11:45 AM
 
2,729 posts, read 5,189,214 times
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I am no teacher but just want to thank you for taking the time and writing this. I can see most of the questions are applicable to public schools too. Rep is coming your way
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Old 07-02-2012, 12:30 PM
 
1,024 posts, read 1,794,647 times
Reputation: 982
Thank you! Hopefully it will help someone out there who is checking out schools for their children.
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Old 07-02-2012, 03:56 PM
 
Location: Tampa, FL
27,798 posts, read 32,330,602 times
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This should be a sticky on this message board or added to the stickies at the top.

Thanks for taking the time.
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Old 07-02-2012, 08:10 PM
 
1,024 posts, read 1,794,647 times
Reputation: 982
Quote:
Originally Posted by BucFan View Post
This should be a sticky on this message board or added to the stickies at the top.

Thanks for taking the time.
Sure thing!
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Old 07-03-2012, 05:41 AM
 
13,768 posts, read 38,123,612 times
Reputation: 10687
We agree and I copied it to the 'sticky' at the top of the forum. We are only allowed to have 2 stickies however we can always add to the one above with info that is helpful and not biased
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