HOW TO CHOOSE A GOOD PUBLIC SCHOOL FOR YOUR KID?

The oft quoted American dream is to give your child/children the best education possible right from pre kindergarten levels and send your children to college later on, so that they can grab the best job offers in the market, settle down to happy matrimony in a city suburb and lead an affluent, well off, comfortable life.

But when it comes to giving the best education to their child, parents are often confused by the divides between private and public schools. Though most parents desire to send their wards to the best private school in town, most American parents find it impossible to afford the prohibitive tuition fees demanded by elite private schools.

But don’t be so disappointed because there are plenty of excellent and very reputed public schools in every city and there is really no need to labor over the private school fixation syndrome that many parents tend to display quite so often. The best of students and the most successful of high-flying executives or techies or doctors or senators or architects or investment bankers used to grace the hallways of different American public schools in their formative years.

Following are the factors that will help you to choose a good public school and separate the wheat from the chaff.

Factors to consider while Choosing a Good Public School

I have collected and compiled the following information based on recommendations from NAESP or The National Association of Elementary School Principals.

• The very first thing you need to check out is the annual report of that particular school district to gain information on per pupil expenditure and compare the figures with national and state averages.
• The services that the school offers should be another key factor in your choice of schools. It is best to avoid a public school where secretaries or librarians or on site nurses or guidance counselors work in other schools as well to earn a living.
• The structure of the academic year is of paramount importance. You have to decide whether you want to send your kid to a school that follows traditional school calendars or to an annual year round school.
• When you are trying to enroll your child in a high school, the numbers of student pass outs who graduate to college, as well as the academic track record of the school often become the deciding factors. On an ancillary note, high schools with high drop out rates should ring alarm bells in your mind.
• Take a good look at the grading system and if possible, try to get hold of a sample report card and ask a teacher to explain the system of grading.
• A good public school should distribute updated, upgraded and thoroughly reviewed course material and textbooks at fixed schedules.
• Try to glean information on the school’s homework policy. There are many schools where it depends on the individual teachers to assign homework to students.
• You must also take a good look at the school’s discipline policy as you surely do not want to send your child to a school that encourages rowdism and inappropriate, hooligan behavior.
• The teacher-student ratio is another very important deciding factor while choosing a good public school. Most guardians prefer schools with smaller class sizes as it ensures better individual attention on the students. But a seriously capable teacher can single handedly manage a large class size and still produce flying records.
• Parents nowadays are also looking at the types and diversity of co-curricular activities that public schools sponsor. This includes lessons on drama, music, ballet, tennis, horse riding, basketball and football, baseball and volleyball, swimming, gymnastics, athletics, chess, fine arts and so on. Check out the sports grounds as well, if possible.
• An organized and well equipped media center or library is a very necessary aid for a student’s mental growth and stimulation. Kids should have easy and regular access to libraries, course materials and books as well as to the center’s resources.

• Enquire about the teaching methods employed in a particular public school. The most desirable methods are those where a team of teachers comes together to teach larger groups of students or where a single teacher caters to the requirements of a small group of students.
• The public school where you are hoping to enroll your child should have a great parent-teacher communication system in place so that each can be in regular touch with the other. There should be regular parent teacher meetings, regular newsletters should be sent to parents by the school authorities and parents should be welcomed to give a call at the school if the need arises.
• If it is possible for you, try to attend the first meeting of the parent organization and go through the schedule of events and plans to collect vital information about the school and its quality.
• If you are a working mother from a nuclear family, you should consider a public school that offers a before and after care program, something akin to day boarding.
• As a parting shot, you should make a list of prospective public schools and arrange a tour through these schools.

Things to Watch Out For WhileTouringSchool Campuses

• The school campus should be clean, well maintained, academically oriented, quiet and disciplined as well as conducive to learning.
• The teachers should be able to maintain desirable levels of classroom discipline.
• The students sitting inside the classroom, instead of loafing about or engaging in disruptive behavior, should be actively involved in the learning process and responding to teachers.
• Students’ works should embellish the hallways and classrooms.

Thus, as you can see, there are a lot of factors to take into consideration while choosing a good public school for your child. Of course, academic performance of the school, wide range of courses, magnet programs, scholarships, availability of special upper level courses from honors to advanced placement, college preparatory classes and tutorials, international baccalaureate programs, the academic track record of the school and the percentage of students who move on to college are the most important  and weighty factors .

But as the needs and requirements of each child are unique, you also have to look into the other factors mentioned above such as quality of teachers, classroom size and so on. This will help you to narrow down your choices.

And let me give you a tip – instead of making a beeline for the more renowned but over crowded public schools, try to check out smaller, lesser known counterparts that boast of an equally outstanding track record and a more disciplined environment.