1. Does your school focus solely on academics, or does the curriculum include other crucial subjects such as music, art, drama, physical movement and foreign languages? Nowadays, the “Three R’s” are becoming more dominant in conventional schools. Unfortunately, this is frequently 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 receiving a well-rounded schooling do as well or better at academics, as compared with their peers who receive academics only.
2. How do graduates of your school perform in higher education and in the world? Do they keep learning their whole life? In some ways, the quality of the graduates of a school say more about that school’s approach than any claim by school administrators. For us, it’s more important for a school to teach for a life-long love of learning than for next week’s test scores.
3. How happy are this school’s graduates with their education? It can take some time for students to understand how their schooling prepared them for life. One key question is: How many of your graduates would send their own child to the same type of school?
4. What disciplinary methods are used? 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 invite negative behaviors that distract those students who are trying to learn. A policy that is overly restrictive will prevent children from normal self-expression. Does the school address negative behaviors judgmentally, or with respect and support for the individual?
5. How do your teachers assess their students’ learning? Conventional schools focus on testing, which has both advantages and disadvantages, especially for young children. It does give an objective measurement. However, for many children, a fear of testing detracts from their enjoyment of learning. Kids who hate school may not learn as much. Poor test scores, for some children, creates a belief that they are incapable of learning. In addition, objective tests are generally limited in scope, and are often poor at assessing creative ability and social skills. Whether you prefer an emphasis on testing or not, it is probably a worthwhile topic to inquire about. And for those schools that avoid testing, how do they communicate students’ progress with parents?
6. How do this school’s teaching methods and curriculum fit with children’s developmental stages? Learning to read is important–important enough to find the best time for it in a child’s development. Although many educators are striving to teach reading skills to younger and younger children, few are asking what the long-term effect of this approach may be. Interestingly, children who learn to read a bit later end up reading just as well, and they tend to enjoy reading more! It’s worth taking some time to look into the knowledge we have from the field of developmental psychology regarding children’s stages of development and how that effects learning.
7. What is this private school’s approach to spirituality? You may prefer a school with or without a spiritual orientation. 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 how 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 class. 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 the 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.
Take television viewing, as an example. Time spent in front of the TV is linked with poor attitudes toward school, learning and attention difficulties, and poor achievement. And kids who have behavioral and learning difficulties make it difficult for other children in the classroom to learn, also. So if you are supporting your child’s learning by limiting television viewing, you will benefit from a school that encourages or requires all parents to do so.
9. What about social and emotional development? The happiest people can form meaningful relationships and communicate well with others. School can be a great place to learn positive social skills and also to develop emotional intelligence. You may want to know how a school supports these important life skills.
10. What types of play do young children engage in at your private school? Research shows the benefits of physically active play and imaginative games for young children. Yet in many schools, the time available for these important childhood activities is shrinking. Often, in their place are computer labs, flash cards and reading lessons in preschool and kindergarten.
11. Does the school focus on rote learning, or developing cognitive abilities? Many schools these days spend more and more time memorizing facts and learning to regurgitate pre-packaged ideas. These are useful skills, but sadly, too much emphasis on rote learning can come at the expense of creativity and reasoning skills. Do you believe your child will do the best in life if he or she is taught what to think, or how to think?
12. What else makes your school special and unique? It’s useful to include an open-ended question, so the school spokesperson can tell you anything that your more specific questions have left out. Who knows where this can lead?
I hope you find some or all of these questions useful to add to your list as you interview private schools in your area. I wish you the best as you make this important decision!
Before you choose a private school, be sure to ask the private schools all the important questions! Besides these 12 in-depth questions, check out this list of 10 basic questions parents ask private schools. For more information about choosing among the private schools in Boulder CO or anyplace else, visit www.PrivateSchoolsBoulder.com.
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