How do you choose the right elementary school?

August is all about School Spirit when you Blog With Friends

Long time no see. That’s me, of course, not you. I’ve been kind of MIA for a few weeks, but as some of you know from my Facebook page, my family bought a business, sold a house, bought a house, moved 250 miles and took over on July 1st. Some days, I think I’ve lost my mind. Other days, I figure, might as well stick around and see what happens next. Thankfully, some of my blogging friends are great at supporting me and keeping me on track with this outlet that I love, so I’m back in the saddle for a School Spirit Blog With Friends for the month of August. Since Annie begins kindergarten this fall, and since commuting to our old Montessori school seems pretty much out of the question, we’ve been thinking about school and spirit. A lot.

For a cheery School Spirit dedication, seven bloggers are presenting you with their ideas on how you can feed the need for school colors, clothes and more. There’s excellent after-school snack ideas, accessories for being the coolest kid on campus, thoughts on getting organized, and my piece on how to choose the right elementary school for the whole family. See the links at the bottom of the post for these fabulous ideas from the beautiful Blog With Friends team!

And now…finding the right elementary for your child – and you.

Kindergarten Blues

I’m a first-time mom. This is my first time to go through the “let your little birds fly” moment of school. Sure, she’s been in preschool for 2 years now, but somehow, sending this tiny little person out into the world alone makes me want to burst into tears. My baaaabbbbyyyy!!!

But I digress. Since we just moved to a new area, and our place of work isn’t in the same zone as our home address, we debated back and forth on where to send the girls. But in the end, it had to be the same school. They would either cry or argue or just yell whenever we tried to talk to them about attending different schools. There were not having it.

Turns out, finding a Pre-K with any availability for fall is damn near impossible. Most schools are full before the school year ever lets out in the spring. So when I’m coming in August to try and seal up something, let’s just say I could have used a few helpful hints.

Essentially, your choices boil down to:

Public School
Private School
Charter School
Homeschool

There is no one right answer. If anything, we found a handful of schools we thought were great, which made the decision harder. But in the end, asking ourselves a series of questions helped us decide which one would fit our family.

Does the schedule and location meet your basic needs? If you pick a school that’s 45 minutes from your house, is someone going to bite the bullet and drive the kids everyday? What if classes start at 8:30am, but your work day starts at 8am, and the school doesn’t have before-school care? Do you need a school that has after-school care? If a particular elementary doesn’t fit into your schedule, there’s no reason to pursue it and drive everyone crazy.
Does the school have the kind of program you want? Since we came from a Montessori beginning, we wanted to try and stay with that format, which has really helped both of our girls stay excited about learning. But maybe your child needs more gifted/talented classes or special needs classes, or maybe your kid wants to play sports. Try to look at the big picture so you don’t find yourself and/or your child wanting to change schools before the year is even out.
Does it “feel” right to you? It’s just like buying a house; from the moment you walk in, you get some kind of “vibe” or feeling. You like it or you don’t. You’re willing to fix it up a little for the longterm benefits. Go take a tour of the elementary, see how colorful (or dismal!) it is, how new and updated the furnishings are, whether or not the necessary technology is in place. There’s plenty to be said for the upkeep of a building and the condition of the bathrooms!
Does the discipline system fall in line with yours? You should always be clear on what it takes to “be sent to the principal’s office” versus being sent to timeout. If you don’t believe in corporal punishment, then it may not be the school for you.
Does your child need a more specialized school? Arts and science magnet schools are possible, while special needs offerings differ from district to district.
What about the physical space? Is there a playground for recess? A gym for PE time? Elementary kids still need time to run off some energy during the day, and play is a key ingredient of childhood learning and development. If it’s one of the school that has had to cut recess due to time constraints, then it might be best to keep looking. ;

Now…ready for more ideas for showing your School Spirit? Keep on reading!

School Spirit – August Blog With Friends

Need some Pinterest-worthy projects for August? How about suggestions on food, organization, jewelry and more? Check out the other bloggers in this month’s A Blog With Friends Project!

School Spirit Mini Cupcakes by Karen at Baking in a Tornado