| Smart School Choice builds Strong Kids | | | | School, Math Magnet Prep, Military Leadership |
| Developing a selection scorecard to place your | | | | Academy or an online virtual school) |
| student in the best school to meet their needs | | | | Smart School Options: |
| Recently I had dinner with my friends Bill and | | | | Public- College Prep- Christian- HomeSchool- |
| Nancy Palmer and the subject of school choice | | | | Charter- Boarding-Private- Magnet-Military- Online |
| came up; mostly because at one time they had | | | | or Virtual School and so on |
| each of their five children in five different schools. | | | | Once you have created a list across the page of |
| If you think that schedule sounds crazy, then | | | | every available option you have available to meet |
| you've never met the five remarkable young | | | | the needs of your child, then it's time to add the |
| adults they raised who have launched successfully | | | | list of variables, (preferably in order of importance |
| out into the world. It was extremely stressful at | | | | to you in meeting the unique needs of your child), |
| times to keep things organized but they were | | | | to rank or score each school choice against your |
| committed to building strong kids and were | | | | own personal standard of what's most valuable to |
| creative enough to always find options to help | | | | bring out the best in your son or daughter. Create |
| each child grow in strength and confidence. How | | | | this list on the left margin of your legal pad and |
| did they do it? Simple, they picked the educational | | | | include factors like the following. |
| experiences that were the best fit for each of | | | | Smart School Features includes a combination of |
| their children at each stage of life regardless of | | | | major factors like: |
| convenience. | | | | Safety, Academics, Great Teachers, Strong |
| Many times parents are afraid of school change, | | | | leaders, Involved parents, PTA-PTF groups, |
| or don't realize they have so many choices | | | | Location, Transportation, Costs or tuition, Friends |
| available to them in guiding their kids toward their | | | | peers, Fits child's personality, Fits career goals, Fits |
| strength zone. First let's look at what makes a | | | | academic goals, School size, Well equipped |
| 'good' school actually 'good.' Since it's not really one | | | | classrooms, Class size to teacher ratio, Campus |
| thing it's a combination of many factors that | | | | well maintained, Clean school facilities, Hot lunches |
| when combined together can create a learning | | | | and cafeteria, Wide range of sports, After school |
| environment which can brings out the best in your | | | | activities, Tutoring- academic help, Music, choirs, |
| child. Here are some of the most common | | | | band, Fine arts and drama, Bible, world view or |
| elements to consider when you begin the process | | | | faith building classes, After school activities or child |
| of selecting a school to bring out the best in your | | | | care, Clubs, FCA, DECA, OJT, and so on for social |
| son or daughter. | | | | connection, School life- socials and proms, Trips- |
| -Key factors of a 'good' school: | | | | unique learning experiences, SAT or ACT prep |
| Strong parental involvement, as the old saying | | | | classes, Strong guidance department, Tuition |
| goes, a school is only as strong as the level of | | | | assistance programs, Partnerships with community |
| parental support that it receives. Clear community | | | | groups (Boys & Girls Clubs, Scouting, etc), |
| support, especially from elected officials. Focused | | | | Partnerships with business groups to develop early |
| school leaders, especially in administrative roles. | | | | career success, (like Junior Achievement, career |
| Well structured academic programs to cover | | | | training) |
| different learning styles. Committed and caring | | | | TOTALS of all of your comparisons of core |
| teachers focused on the needs of their students. | | | | values measured against each school option - A |
| A safe and secure learning experience. Budgets | | | | stronger score reveals a stronger school choice |
| that allow for extra-curricular activities to | | | | to meet the needs of your child. |
| positively impact multiple areas of development, | | | | Once you have developed your as many |
| such as the arts, music, journalism, ROTC, | | | | categories as fit the unique needs of your child, |
| languages and sports. Guidance departments | | | | then it's time to go back and score each school at |
| focused on a personalized plan to help students | | | | the top of the page against your specific priorities |
| achieve who 'think outside the box'. Smart | | | | listed along the left column on a numerical scale of |
| classrooms with access to current and cutting | | | | 10, (best) down to 5 (average) then on down to |
| edge computer and Internet technology. A | | | | 1 (terrible). |
| learning experience that honors your families faith | | | | Be honest and don't play favorites as you really |
| and values, instead of attacking or shaming your | | | | consider the needs of the students in your family, |
| child for holding onto a strong system of faith. | | | | since this process works from selecting a |
| Of course any parent would want the best for | | | | pre-school all the way to college. Leave any areas |
| their children, but it's been my experience that the | | | | blank that are unknown to you, yet since this will |
| word 'best' actually floats on many variables | | | | greatly reduce the score for that particular school |
| through the different stages of childhood. So, | | | | it indicates you need to do more research to |
| since 'best' isn't actually a single school campus this | | | | create a fair analysis on some of the schools you |
| opens the door to explore many experiences that | | | | may have selected for your child. |
| often accelerate the learning environment for the | | | | Another technique you can use is to do a detailed |
| kids who live at your house. | | | | web search about each school, however, I |
| This can only happen when you begin to see that | | | | recommend that you take your child with you to |
| the main goal is to find out what needs your the | | | | preview new schools with you in person. Walk the |
| child is facing to then select the school choice that | | | | campus, talk to teachers or other students, or if |
| can guide them to a position of greater strength. | | | | possible visit the school when it's in session and |
| This just going along with whatever may have | | | | 'shadow' a host student throughout the day to |
| worked for your child last year. Remember, a | | | | see what the school culture is really like first hand. |
| child's maturity changes year to year, and for | | | | This school choice process can be repeated every |
| many kids this means their academic choices | | | | year as needed based on the needs of your son |
| should change with it. | | | | or daughter. Add in the maturity level of your |
| - Chart to solve the confusion of discovering the | | | | child to complete the process of selecting what's |
| best schools | | | | best by identifying where you believe your |
| Begin to make smart school choices to help your | | | | student to be at during this stage of their |
| child be their best by building a chart to literally | | | | academic career. |
| 'score' the school options available to your child on | | | | Child (up to age 13) - Dependent and Irresponsible |
| a legal pad, running across the top of the page. | | | | Teen (13-19) - Developing, Maturing and Growing |
| You should include every option you can think of | | | | Young Adult (20-25) - Independent and |
| to do a complete analysis of what is available to | | | | Responsible |
| your child. | | | | It is wise to consider the maturity level of your |
| Even if you only think that you have one option, | | | | child since some school settings will require a |
| really sit down to consider the school choices | | | | higher level of responsibility or independent |
| available to your child in the coming school year. | | | | decision making. Once you have identified the |
| This way you will be able to actually track the | | | | maturity level then just factor in the scores from |
| metrics to see a visual number at the bottom of | | | | your school choice chart to narrow down your |
| the page to see what each school choice brings | | | | search to find the best school. Remember, the |
| to the table in best meeting the needs of your | | | | higher the score, the more likely that it's a better |
| son or daughter at any stage of their educational | | | | fit to help your student to reach their best during |
| development. | | | | this or any school year. |
| Here's a sample of how to structure across the | | | | Strong students often are able to build strong |
| top of the page, except it's more personal and | | | | lives, so the time you take now to guide your |
| more powerful if you actually place the name of | | | | children into the best direction, (even if it means |
| each of the schools you are considering in that | | | | making the sacrifice of car-pooling different kids in |
| particular column, (for instance list out the choices | | | | different directions for several years) will lead to |
| facing your child, like: Orange County High, | | | | strong and confident young adults for a lifetime, |
| Mountain Prep, Holy Family, The Community | | | | and that's an excellent trade. |