HELPING YOU ASSESS RIGHT-FIT SCHOOLS FOR YOUR CHILDREN
One of the most rewarding aspects of my work is helping families discover schools where children will thrive and develop strong foundations for success in the future. I invest time in learning about independent K–12 schools by visiting campuses, meeting with school employees, reviewing courses, and speaking to students and graduates, among other efforts.
However, it’s not always easy for families to really get to know a school and determine where your children will flourish and find a sense of belonging. In this blog, I seek to provide strategies to help you assess schools on a deeper level. Nobody could possibly produce a complete list of helpful strategies, but I hope some of these ideas will prove useful. In a follow-up blog, I plan to provid links to a more extensive set of online questions that families might find helpful.
Here are some suggestions to get started in really getting to know a school.
Engage in Authentic Conversations
One of the best ways to learn about a school is through conversations with current students, alumni, employees, and parents. While families often meet school community members through the admission process, engaging in conversations in more natural settings often allows deeper connections and opportunities to get to the heart of a school. If a school allows visitors to attend on-campus events, explore some of these on your own.
Many schools publish athletics and arts schedules online, so often it’s possible for applicants to attend games, performances, or other events. (Be sure to verify that a school allows this!) Many spectators on the sideline are happy to talk with prospective families. For other sources of valuable information, seek out student newspapers, especially opinion pieces, which are written by students and reflect genuine, sometimes unfiltered, perspectives.
Also, reach out to current school parents through Peerpal (found on many schools’ admission pages) or to other parents you already know, as these can also be valuable sources of information. And keep in mind that every school has blind adherents and angry detractors, so it’s probably best to assume that no single piece of data is definitive.
Observe everything!
One of the simplest ways to learn more about a school is by paying attention and taking a careful look around. I encourage you to attend school events and spend time observing how students interact with one another, their teachers, coaches, even referees! At athletic events, notice the behavior and interactions of players on the bench or spectators on the sidelines. Consider how they react when something doesn’t go their way, or the ways players interact after a loss as well as a win.
After attending a performance or speaker event, you might be able to linger briefly to notice how community members engage with one another. At some schools, there are lots of teachers on the sidelines cheering on students (and sometimes even a high presence of dogs and other unofficial mascots). These simple observations can provide a window into what ordinary school life and interactions among community members are like, to help you get a better sense of whether a particular school resonates with your own priorities for your children.
Learn About School Leadership
The culture of a school is often deeply affected by the Head of School (HOS) and other senior administrators. While some school leaders are more hands-off than others, and it often takes time for a HOS to make a major splash, a head can still play a major role in a student’s overall experience, even indirectly.
Well-liked and competent heads (and other senior leaders) often have a trickle-down, positive effect on others, usually linked to higher employee retention, commitment to students, and overall job satisfaction. A simple open-ended question like, “Tell me about your Head of School,” can lead to useful insights into the morale of a school community. I encourage you to learn more about the professional backgrounds of senior administrators, their tenure at the school, and their plans for their schools’ futures. Additionally, look into schools’ strategic plans (often posted online) and take notice of schools’ priorities.
Discuss Employee Satisfaction and Retention
Any organization’s retention rate is usually a strong indicator of how well it functions. While some annual employee turnover is expected, occasionally I’ll notice higher turnover rates that might indicate a larger concern. In addition to asking about retention, you can peruse school yearbooks and magazines (often, new and/or departing employees are highlighted), check the employment section of a school’s website (open positions are often posted, especially in the spring), and scroll through online employee directories. (Some schools list employees’ start dates.) To dig even deeper, explore Glassdoor.com and Indeed.com, which post voluntary employee reviews at different organizations. Take these with a grain of salt — disgruntled people are more likely to air their disgruntles online — but if similar comments are repeated, this could be an insight into a school’s culture. For example, some schools enjoy a number of the same kind of positive employee reviews, such as, “Everyone is willing to help and cover for one another; it’s a true sense of belonging.” It’s hard to read that as anything but positive.
Pay Attention to a School’s Messaging
What a school chooses to write or say about itself (on websites, videos, panel events) can be an indication of what the school values, so take notice! Think about whether these priorities align with your own. At one school, a number of online student profiles highlight prestigious achievements and selective college placements, while another school’s marketing videos spotlight deep connections between students and teachers, and how people take care of each other. The essay questions a school poses in its application can also indicate its priorities and values.
Dig Deep into Course Offerings
Encourage families to delve into curriculum guides and specific course offerings to get a sense of the nuances between classes offered at different schools. Some schools tend towards traditional courses, while others offer progressive curricula that’s updated regularly to keep pace with timely issues and evolving student interests. (One school helps students make sense of world news through a newer course, “Breaking News, Making News, and Faking News: How do we view world events through the lens of our own values and biases, and/or core American values?”)
Encouraging students to read through course descriptions is also a great way to see what excites them, and to help them choose schools that align with their academic interests.
Evaluate a School’s Commitment to Mental Health
We’re all aware of the increase in students’ mental health challenges, which schools have addressed in a variety of ways. Some have made great strides in destigmatizing mental illness through talking about the topic openly, inviting guest speakers, and encouraging students to seek support offered by schools. Families can ask about how student and employee well-being is evaluated in schools, whether ongoing surveys are conducted, and whether results are shared with the community.
Ask not only about ways in which schools respond to mental health needs, but how they’re implementing preventative measures and promoting student well-being. A few admirable examples I’ve seen include later school start times (allowing for more sleep), formalized peer support programming, affinity groups, grief-informed school initiatives, mindfulness programs, built-in breaks during the day, required mental health first-aid courses, and discussions during advisory sessions. Also, ask about what kinds of mental health training take place with employees and how often training is offered.
This post barely skims the surface of ways to get to know schools on a deeper level but hopefully it provides some ideas to help you get started in the school search process for your child. Be on the lookout for a follow-up post with detailed questions to ask when you start visiting schools and meeting members of school communities.
Note: This post has been adapted from an article originally written (in collaboration with my amazing colleague, Peter Braverman) in Insights, the Independent Education Consultants Association magazine: “Helping Families Assess Right-fit Schools for their Children,” Winter 2024.
About Glasofer Educational Consulting
At Glasofer Educational Consulting, we are focused on demystifying the admissions process and helping families find the right-fit school for each applicant, with as little stress as possible.
We employ insights and strategies from our experience conducting numerous school admission interviews with applicants to Grades 6-12 to help candidates prepare—but not over prepare—for an enjoyable and effective interview.
Dina Glasofer, founder, and Dale Seabury are former admission and marketing professionals who worked together at The Pingry School. As former members of the School’s admission committee, both Dina and Dale understand what personal qualities resonate with admissions officers and they work with clients to present themselves in the most authentic, polished way possible to bring their candidacy to life and maximize admissions success.
