Getting the Public School You Want

BY KRISTI HEIN
©1997 BY PUBLISHING 20/20

Choosing a School

The whole point of school choice is to find the best match for your child-her needs, interests, and learning style. Today most children enter kindergarten with some day care or preschool experience under their belts-knowledge that you can apply to your choice of elementary school. Still, the structure, expectations, and discipline of kindergarten, and the longer days beginning in first grade, reveal much more.

As your child builds up experience in the school system, you too have more to go on. You learn that your daughter languishes under a strict regimen, but comes alive when given independent projects. Your son finds two passions-soccer and violin-is there one school that will value both, and support him in pursuing them?

Making that match means finding out...

WHAT'S OUT THERE

The spectrum of choices encompasses magnets and charters, alternatives and academies, K-5s, K-6s, and K-8s, middle schools and junior highs. Some schools focus on the arts, others on science, technology, or business; others are proud of their traditional subject offerings. Start by differentiating the broad categories: the grades included (do you want your kindergartner on the same site as eighth graders?), any subject focus, and the school "mission," be it philosophical or pragmatic.

In some districts, you have a choice of kindergarten-through-eighth grade (K-8) schools; more often, elementary schools stop at fifth or sixth grades, and their students move on to middle schools (6-8 grades) or junior highs (7-8), then to high school. (There are still more variations; for example, until recently, Berkeley had a "quadruple"system of K-3s, 4-6s, junior highs and high school.) The K-8 structure provides continuity and a familiar environment to children coping with all the other unknowns of adolescence. Some children, however, are ready and eager for the move to a different school, away from the little kids, where they can feel more free to become "a whole new me." They may look forward to the junior high system that moves students to a new classroom and teacher for each subject. (Some middle schools accommodate both types of children by providing a gradual transition for sixth-graders; they may stay in one classroom for most or all subjects, or may be grouped in "families.") Most middle and junior high schools provide more subject variety, advanced programs, independent-study opportunities, and counseling than do the K-8s. If these are concerns for your child and your district offers both models, weigh them carefully.

By high school, your child will be as involved in school choice as you are-perhaps more so. He may also be strongly influenced by factors such as where friends are going and peer pressure about cool and not-so-cool schools.

There's a growing trend among high schools to specialize. Urban districts in particular have developed specialized magnet programs and academies to prepare students for specific career fields as well as college.

As your child's talents and interests emerge, you may look for a magnet school or an alternative school with a focus to match them: one that devotes extra resources to an area such as the arts, foreign language, technology, math, science, or commerce. Magnets and alternatives are often confused, but there are important differences.

Some alternative schools have a subject focus, but many offer a broad spectrum of subjects. "Alternative' describes these schools' overall structure and approach, not necessarily their curriculums. These schools strive to be responsive to individual learning styles, providing smaller and/or combined-age classrooms. Some implement creative scheduling-extending the school term to year-round, or adapting it to parallel that of a neighboring college so high-school students can take courses there. Alternatives fill all spaces through the open enrollment process; thus, they draw on a districtwide population. But because all alternative-school students choose the school, entering through open enrollment, alternatives tend to "screen in" committed, active parents who contribute extensive support.

Magnets each have a specific focus in addition to the basics; not all alternative schools do. Magnet schools are zoned neighborhood schools that receive federal grants to expand the program for their chosen focus. Of course, magnets attract students from other neighborhoods, too. In selecting students, ethnicity is considered-as one common program goal is to improve racial integration-but siblings of magnet attendees get no preference.

Magnet programs may feature rich offerings in "nonessential" subjects such as visual and performing arts; such programs have shriveled up for lack of funding at many traditional schools.

Some magnet schools have brochures that detail the subjects of focus (in addition to a core curriculum). In a large urban center, the range can be impressive. You may find arts, technology, environmental studies, architecture, law and government, engineering, international business, health, and teacher training The high schools with magnet programs may structure them as school-within-a-school academies; these all require applicants to interview.

The academy or academic school designation more often denotes a program or philosophy than an entirely different school category. Some academies are also alternative or magnet schools. In general, you can expect an academy to offer the structure, quality, and high academic standards of a traditional private-school education. Academies often require their students to wear uniforms; they strive to keep classes small, and focus on career or college preparation in the upper grades. Business partners often provide extensive support including curriculum development, equipment and materials, guest speakers, mentors, field trips, and summer employment.

Charter schools may offer the closest approximation of an autonomous private school model in the public school system, with intense parent involvement at every level. Charter school legislation passed in 1992 allows teachers and parents at an existing school (or, less commonly, with plans for creating a whole new school) to present a proposed charter agreement to the school board. Approval requires the signatures of at least half the school's teachers or 10 percent of district teachers. Charters set their own health and safety standards; they need not be accredited, nor do their teachers have to be state certified. The district does require annual progress reports. Charter school enrollment operates independently from district open enrollment, but must adhere to any court mandates for ethnic balance.

Continuation schools address the needs of high school students who have dropped out, or are at risk for dropping out and ensuing life difficulties-whether due to truancy, pregnancy, work schedule conflicts, substance abuse, gang involvement, illness, or family troubles. Using a host of adaptive strategies, these schools meet students halfway to keep them on course and see them through to graduation. Small classes provide one-on-one support. Business district locations bring education closer to working students, and flexible schedules and carefully monitored independent study help teen parents fit school into their lives. Some continuation schools strive to move their students back into a regular high school.

With all these types of schools in mind, you're ready to gather your research materials. Even if you have some schools in mind already, get a directory from your district--and from adjacent districts if yours is small, you're near the boundary, or you live and work in two different districts. If you've been in the area for some time, you can draw on the experience and advice of friends, neighbors, and teachers-those who know you and your child well. Read independent guidebooks such as those from Publishing 20/20.

Look first at schools near your home and workplace; if you really can't find something you like close by, you can expand your search. Think about logistics for each of your options. How will your child get to and from school, if it's too far to walk? Few districts provide buses for students enrolled by choice beyond their immediate neighborhood, reserving this service for students forced out of their residence school by class size limits. Are you willing or able to drive, drop off and pick up every school day? What's public transportation like?

Consider any current day care arrangements and before- and after-school programs you rely on, then scrutinize your options at other schools. Some schools that don't offer on-site care do provide buses to a facility that does.

Ask the district office for enrollment information: rules, policies, and the schedule. Find out whether you may apply to just one school, or more than one. Mark important dates on your calendar now; districts enforce their deadlines without exception. Although there are later rounds, waiting lists, and-if all else fails-mid-year transfers, your chances of getting your choice dwindle with every missed date.

District offices are required to provide School Achievement Report Cards (SARCs), but the level of compliance varies widely. Some proudly distribute nicely produced SARCs along with other promotional materials; others grumble that they haven't the time or funds to meet this requirement, and will resist parents' repeated requests. SARCs, when available, are often template material, offering only basic numbers (class sizes, ethnic percentages) and a veil of "ed-speak." For example, "The school's mission is to provide "positive learning environment" for your child." For the best selection, call or visit the schools for their brochures, newsletters, and other materials. And remember that independent guidebooks such as Publishing 20/20's do much of this legwork for you, and organize the facts so you can easily compare schools.

If you've got Internet service at home, at work, or at your public library, check out district and school World Wide Web sites. In both content and style, these can tell you a lot about a school (sometimes even more than they intended). You'll find some that present little more than a terse mission statement in off-putting jargon, and a list of personnel. Others engage you with lively stories and pictures produced by students and teachers. Note whether students have a hand in designing the pages, or the school handed it over to a professional-neither choice is right or wrong, but you may want to ask the school about this, especially if your child's eager to really use this technology.

Find out which schools are open to applications. As you'll learn, there are ways to get into "closed" schools...but you want to know your odds at the outset, and they will be longer if all your candidates are closed.

Ideally, you'll identify a handful of schools worth visiting. Four or five is a good number; touring too many more gets exhausting, while seeing only one or two won't give you enough basis for comparison. Always include your residence school. Despite anything negative you've heard about it, don't rule it out until you've seen it for yourself. If the bad press was right, you will be armed with facts to appeal an assignment there (see box). (And even if your child is already going to school there, not all parents have taken a full tour, clipboard in hand; if you haven't, and you're thinking about choice, now is the time.)

To cover your bases, include one or two "OK" schools-satisfactory if unexciting choices that may offer space when all your efforts don't earn your child a place at a dream school. Even if you don't tour these "fallback" schools, read their SARCs and other literature.

Now, it's time to visit the schools. Top choice for this is an organized tour, because you're there when school is in session, you have entree to many areas, and you'll see teachers in action, kids at their lessons and on the playground, and administrators, aides, librarians, and custodians on the job. You benefit from hearing the answers to other touring parents' questions-especially if you feel hesitant to speak up yourself.

If you feel forthright enough to explore a school on your own, do so, if the school's amenable, but call ahead for an appointment, and sign in at the office when you arrive. It's a security requirement and simple courtesy, plus staff can alert you to anything you should know (a scheduled assembly, a fire drill). The staff may insist that a guide accompany you inside the facilities, and even then you may not get to all the rooms you would on a tour. But you can take all the time at your disposal to check out the grounds, play equipment, parking, street traffic, and the buildings' apparent structural condition.

Open house nights, back-to-school nights, festivals and pageants reveal less about day-to-day operations, but do present a concentrated dose of school culture, values, and achievements. Go with friends or neighbors to these events at their schools: they can shed light on what you see and introduce you to staff members.

MAKE YOUR CHOICES—AND HAVE A BACKUP PLAN

Since school choice, with all its opportunities, also means the chance to be left out of your residence school, you need a backup plan. Remember the admonition to check out your assigned school, and identify several less-heavily attended schools you'd be willing to settle for? If you come up empty on the first round of assignments, you can ask the district which of these acceptable schools still has space.

And for those who can afford it, there's another way to hedge your bets: applying to a private or parochial school as well.

But we're jumping ahead a bit; there will be more on backups and final decisions in "Assignments."

TOP OF PAGE | PREVIOUS SECTION | NEXT SECTION | TABLE OF CONTENTS