In their book Choosing the Right School for your Child, school psychologists Brandi Roth and Fay Van Der Kar-Levinson say there is no such thing as a perfect K12 grades school. The question to answer is “What is the best possible school for my child?” Here are their child-development-research-based tips on how to answer that question.
Look for the School:
- That best school develops your child’s unique talents and meets his or her developmental learning and emotional needs.
- Where the student body is neither so large that the students cannot receive individual help nor so small that they feel smothered.
- That represents a perfect cross-section of all social, economic and academic strata, enabling its students to understand and appreciate the unique contributions made by all people in our society.
- That offers students a rigorous education designed to highlight their talents and prepare them for colleges or other schools of higher learning.
- That provides classes for the gifted and for students with special education issues.
- That encourages parent involvement in education and parent teacher communication.
- Whose buildings and equipment are well maintained and whose textbooks and other learning aids are innovative and exciting.
- Where it is fun to learn because teachers are talented, well-paid professionals who are eager to work with students.
- That is close to your home.
- That is affordable.
- That combines the positives of both a good public and good private school.
They say that good attitude is key. “In the real world, no school yet exists—or possibly ever will—that combines all or even most of these desirable factors. Each of the choices available will offer a mixed bag of plusses and minuses.”
Adapted from "Choosing the Right School for Your Child," by Brandi Roth Ph.D. and Fay Van Der Kar-Levinson, Ph.D, Association of Ideas Publishing, 1995.