Most parents are deeply invested in the education of their children, since a good education is the key to a child’s future. When a family moves to a new area or when their young children become old enough for preschool or elementary school, the parents may look up local schools of all sorts for their children. Most are public elementary, middle, and high schools, but one in four schools today are private ones. The best middle schools or high schools in the are may be private, and the advantages of attending private schools are many. Parents who can afford the tuition for those schools may expect great funding, quality staff, and a high graduation rate for their children attending them. And public or private, many schools today, even elementary ones, offer advanced learning tools such as personal tablets for the students. Personal tablets, or touch-screen computers, are making their way into modern education to further enhance the learning experience, and given how children today are growing up with such computers as a fact of life, these personal tablets may be a comfortable and familiar way to learn something new.
Finding an Elementary School
When a child turns three, four, or five years old, their parents may look for local preschools to enroll them in. If the parents don’t already know a good preschool or have a personal reference to use, they can use an Internet search to get started. A query such a “best preschools near me” or something specific such as “local private preschools that use personal tablets” may be useful. It may be noted that even young children are sometimes given personal tablets for learning, as many young children today grow up with computer tablets and smart phones already in the home. Older generations such as Millennials (born 1982-1995) and Gen Xers (born 1963-1981) didn’t have this option, but today’s students do. Many parents are interested in the potential of personal tablets in the classroom.
Parents may find a whole list of local elementary schools to send their young children to, and they may visit these schools in person to evaluate them. Their children should be brought along, too. There on the premises, parents may consult the staff to see their credentials and teaching methods, and check for tuition rates. The child, meanwhile, will get a first-hand impression of the school and the staff there, and determine if they feel comfortable and happy there. If so, that school may be a fine candidate. Parents may expect their child to get a head start on their compulsory education when they attend preschool, where the young students learn how to learn and develop gross motor skills and learn to socialize with their peers and adults alike.
Middle and High Schools
When a family moves to a new area, the parents will want to find the right schools for their older children, such as elementary, middle, and high schools. Here again, the parents may use an online search to find local schools, but this time, they have more factors to consider. When visiting the schools, the child will be old enough to articulate his or her interests, preferences, and opinions, such as wanting to attend a school with a great marching band or sports team, or a school with a dedicated art program. A school may work out well if the student is properly challenged but not overwhelmed by the course work, and if that student is accepted by their peers and not bullied or harassed.
Parents may also choose between public and private middle and high schools. Public schools are tuition-free to attend, but if parents can afford the tuition charged by private middle or high schools, they may expect their child to get a first-rate education. Private high schools dedicate a lot of resources toward college preparation for their students, and boast a very high graduation rate and college attendance rate among those graduates. The staff at these private schools report only low rates of student apathy problems or parental involvement issues. This is not to say that public schools are worthless, however, as many successful and famous Americans are in fact public school, not private school, graduates.