1. Does this school focus solely on academics, or does the curriculum include other crucial subjects such as art, music, drama, foreign languages and physical movement? These days, the "Three R's" are becoming more dominant in conventional education. Unfortunately, this is often to the exclusion of the arts, physical activity, and foreign languages. Luckily, some schools still offer the arts and physical movement integrated with a full plate of academics. Some schools even teach foreign languages in the first grade! And amazingly, with certain integrative approaches, children with a well-rounded schooling do as well or better at the academics, compared with their peers who receive academics only.
2. Does your educational approach have a track record of successful graduates? How well do they do after they graduate? Ideally, a school will be imparting to students the skills they need to have a meaningful, successful lifetime. This can include a life-long love of learning, as well as success in college.
3. Are your school's graduates pleased with the education they received here? If we parents make sacrifices to send our children to a quality private school, we hope that one day they will be glad we did so. The long-term benefits of a school program may take years to sink in. A revealing question is: how likely are a school's graduates to give their own children the same type of education they received?
4. What disciplinary methods are employed? What behaviors and attitudes are acceptable in the school? A school's approach to discipline and student conduct will effect every single child in the school, directly or indirectly. A policy that is too lax will permit negative behaviors that distract those students who want to learn. A policy that is overly strict will prevent children from expressing themselves in normal ways. Does the school address negative behaviors judgmentally, or with respect and support for the individual?
5. How do you assess how well students are learning? This is an important aspect of education. Does the school focus on testing, or on other types of observation? Does the school only evaluate academic skills such as reading and math, or does it also take into account abilities such as social and artistic skills? You may also be interested in the ways in which the school communicates these assessments with parents.
6. Does this school's curriculum and approach fit with a child's developmental stages? Because of the importance of learning to read, many educators are pushing the envelope with introducing reading skills at younger and younger ages, with the assumption that younger is always better. But what if that assumption is false? A young child does not have the same mind that an older child or an adult has. A great deal is known today about the developmental stages children go through. To us, it is important for a school's philosophy to take these developmental stages into account, rather than simply pushing academics earlier and earlier.
7. What is your school's approach to spirituality? You may prefer a school with or without a spiritual grounding. In any event, you probably want to understand how teachers will address spiritual subjects.
8. What expectations or requirements does this school have of parents? You know that the way you raise your own child makes a difference in his or her behavior. For better or worse, the same is true for the parents of the other children in the classroom. Their parenting will end up strongly effecting your child's learning. If you are willing to make the effort to be the best parent you possibly can be, wouldn't you want other parents to be doing so, too? It can be greatly to your child's benefit if a school gives some guidance to parents, and this will also attract conscientious parents to the school.
As an example, the average American household watches TV 8.2 hours a day. Even one hour or more of TV per day has been linked to poor attitudes toward school and poor achievement in 14 year olds. Three hours or more is associated with learning and attention difficulties. Kids who have trouble paying attention end up distracting the whole classroom. Do you think your child would learn the best if most children in the classroom were watching three or more hours of TV a day, or if most were watching less than 1 hour a day? If you are willing to make the effort to limit your child's TV viewing, then it's greatly to your benefit for a school to require this of all parents. I would not be surprised if TV viewing played a significant role in the poor performance of so many schools today.
9. How does your school support emotional and social development? Meaningful, healthy relationships are an important component of a truly happy life. Does the school emphasize cooperation and relating well with others? Does the school support healthy emotional development?
10. What kinds of play do you offer to young children? Young children have an innate capacity for imagination, and a need for physically active play. Does the school provide the maximum opportunities for physical activity and imaginative play, or does the school put them in computer lab and reading lessons in kindergarten or preschool?
11. How much time is spent on rote learning as opposed to gaining cognitive skills? Unfortunately, many children are taught what to think instead of how to think. Memorizing facts is important. However, creativity and reasoning skills are also important. Those at the top of any field are able to reason beyond what they are taught.
12. How else is this school unique? No matter how many specific questions you ask, there may be something unique about the school that you didn't know to ask about. So a general question can give a private school spokesperson an opportunity to let you know what's special about their school.
Once you get past the basics, these in-depth questions can yield information to help you make a more informed decision. I can only hope that you are as thrilled with the private school you choose as we are with ours!
Make sure your list of questions is complete! Here are 10 more questions parents often ask private schools. Visit www.PrivateSchoolsBoulder.com to find out what private school the author chose in Boulder County, Colorado.
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