What questions should I ask when inquiring about schools for my child? What should I expect from the school?

Question

Besides cost what questions do most people ask when beginning this precess. I am looking at parochial and private schools and since I have always takes public school as a given I never thought about what to ask or expect. My son is now 2.5 years old and I'd like to be able to make a well informed decision for him by the time he is ready for Kindergarten.

Answer 1

Ask about the student to teacher ratio, the types of classes they teach. For example, will your son spend 2 hours a day on reading, 2 hours on writing/spelling and just 15 minutes in art, library or a p.e class? Make sure they have a well balanced curriculum. Also, I'd find out the schools policy on parents volunteering in the classroom. Some schools make it easy for parents where some schools make it difficult. I'd also check out their test scores, but just out of curiosity. I wouldn't base my entire decision on standardized test scores as they are pretty biased. Another good thing to do is to talk to current parents to get a good feel of the school atmosphere and the attitude of the staff and administrators.