A Well-Lit Path: A Blog from Westtown School

Like shopping for clothes, shopping for a school is all about fit. Finding the right school fit for your child can be a daunting and confusing endeavor because there are many options available. All independent schools have a few things in common, such as great academics, dedicated faculty, and close-knit communities. So how do you find the right school? How do you tell the difference between them? 

Here are a few tips help you in your school search:

• Know your child’s and your family’s needs. In what kind of school culture would your child thrive? Would they do well in a large school or one that is smaller? Does your child have special academic needs to support or certain strengths and passions you would like to build on? Is a school with a religious affiliation important to you? Is diversity important to you? Do you want a school with a wide variety of clubs or extra-curricular offerings? Answer these kinds of questions to build a profile of a school that might be a good fit for your child.

It truly takes a village…and at some point in your little one’s life, school and teachers will become a part of yours. As we approach Labor Day, many of you are preparing to send your child to school for the first time. By now you will have received your child’s class assignment and teacher. There probably have been excited (and exhausting) trips to pick out the required school supplies and a new backpack. As a mom myself, I know what the frenzied days leading up to that first morning can be like, and I want you to be armed with some tools to help you (and your child) survive that first day “outside the bubble.”

As an Early Childhood educator and mother of two energetic boys in preschool and 7^th grade, I have spent a lot of time over the past 15 years talking to parents about their hopes and dreams (and even fears) for their young children as they try to find the perfect school in which to grow them into life-long learners.  Among the top five things that they list as the most important factors in choosing the right fit, are that their child will be known and that they will be loved. It should come as no surprise in today’s world that also making the list is that their child be safe. This takes on a whole new meaning for parents of a child with allergies.

Children spend 40 hours or more a week outside of the protective bubble of their home during the school year; hours when their parents have to trust that they are being cared for by teachers and professionals who have not only their child’s education in mind, but also their health and safety. As a mother myself, I can imagine how nerve wracking this must be for a parent of a child with life-threatening allergies. According to kidswithfoodallergies.org, more than three million children in the United States have food-related allergies. With that in mind, here are some tips to help you lessen the worry by creating a knowledgeable, caring community for your child at school: