| So you're relocating and need to find a school in | | | | area,if you move often and want to maximize |
| your new area for your children. The hard part is | | | | academic consistency for your child, or if you |
| that you want to make sure it's the right school, | | | | work from home and can monitor your children's |
| and you might not yet know the local | | | | activities. However they don't work well if your |
| neighborhoods yet. Here are some things to | | | | child is the type to spend their day playing |
| research so that when you decide on a school, | | | | computer games. |
| you can be confident it's the right one for your | | | | City web sites are also usually a wealth of |
| kids. | | | | demographical information. If you want to know |
| Whatever the region you are moving to, chances | | | | the average income or racial profile for a city or |
| are they have a city web site. These usually have | | | | sub-area within a city, this information should be |
| a list of local schools. If this isn't possible, ask your | | | | there. It can help you to understand the area you |
| real estate agent if they have any information | | | | are moving to, and in extension, the types of kids |
| about local schools or districts. | | | | yours will be going to school with. Perhaps you've |
| While public schools don't necessarily have their | | | | chosen a home that's close to a new job, but the |
| own web site, school districts often do. Private | | | | best schools are in another part of town. You'll |
| schools, at least the good ones, will definitely have | | | | want to know, and plan your routines in advance. |
| their own web sites. Many communities have | | | | School District web sites should have contact |
| more than one denominational school as well as a | | | | information for individual schools, allowing you to |
| variety of specialty schools such as Waldorf, | | | | find information about available bussing, school |
| Montessori or those offering an advanced or | | | | start and end times, etc. |
| university prep curriculum. | | | | Waiting until you move to research local schools |
| Online schools are gaining popularity and many | | | | could mean your child misses more school days |
| school districts now offer distance education | | | | than they have to. In addition,6 a.m. the Monday |
| programs, which essentially act as online | | | | morning after your big move is NOT when you |
| extensions of their regular curriculum. These allow | | | | want to be wondering whether the local public |
| students the flexibility of studying from home at | | | | school will suit your child, or if a bus goes by the |
| their own pace, while providing them with a | | | | neighborhood of your chosen school. Planning in |
| teacher to email their questions and assignments | | | | advance will save you stress at moving time, and |
| to. These programs work well if you have an | | | | considering everything that is involved in a move, |
| advanced, self-motivated teen, live in a very rural | | | | the more stress you can remove, the better. |