Picking the right elementary school for your child, or making sure your district option fits the bill, is crucial—and confusing. Our experts help you determine which schools really make the grade.

A handful of kids gather in a cozy classroom to chat about the latest book for their reading group. For third grader Jillian, 9, the daily session is a chance to dig into Inkheart, the Cornelia Funke fantasy with a 12-year-old heroine. Jillian reads at a sixth-grade level, as do the other kids—a mix of ages—in this group at Hillview Elementary School in Pompton Plains, NJ. They’ve formed a group, with a teacher there mainly to keep the conversation on point. Once they finish reading, dissecting and savoring their current selection, they’ll go to the library and, like members of a grown-up book club, vote on the next.

It delights Jillian’s mom, Megan Hollberg, to know that her youngest daughter is challenged at school. More than that, Jillian comes home excited. “When they picked a book about quilts, Jillian went on and on all weekend telling my mother-in-law about types of quilts,” recalls Megan, a vice president of HR for Atlantic Detroit Diesel–Allison. The special reading program is one of many reasons Megan believes Hillview is a great elementary school. But she didn’t always think so. Five years ago, her family moved back to the Pequannock Township school district to send their two daughters to the public schools she and her husband attended and loved. “We just assumed the schools were still good,” Megan, 41, says. Soon after the girls started, she realized things had changed: “I felt the district schools were now mediocre—and they weren’t striving for much more.” So she got active, ran successfully for the school board and helped pick a new superintendent, who boosted literacy and math goals and school programs. 

Many parents like Megan rely on assumptions about their neighborhood school or its yearly test scores to steer their decisions. But truly great schools share qualities well beyond a few benchmarking numbers, and even the busiest mom can ferret those out by knowing what matters, asking a lot of questions and trusting her instincts. To start, there are five things you want to know about a school: Do the principal and district have a plan to improve academics and challenge students to do better? Do teachers let kids work together on projects, and are they flexible in their teaching method? How are special needs like ADHD or dyslexia met? How diverse is the school, and do teachers infuse multiculturalism into their lessons? Is there an active parent organization to fundraise and watch the school’s progress? “These are critical points that parents should explore,” says Cindy Gnadinger, EdD, dean of the School of Education at Bellarmine University in Louisville, KY. Beyond these factors, you want to see classrooms buzzing with activity and opportunities for art, music and play. “Is the school warm and inviting?” asks Dr. Gnadinger. “If you’d like to spend your day there, you’ll probably want to send your kids there.”

Knowing how to discern a good school from a great one—and if a school is right for your child—is paramount now that families increasingly have school choice, depending on where they live. The number of public charter schools in the United States has grown to more than 4,500 since the first opened in the early 1990s, and magnet schools—public schools with themed curriculums—have more than tripled since the early 1980s. And since President Obama supports charter-school expansion, it’s expected that public school choice will grow. Voucher programs that allow low-income families to attend private schools also exist in some states, like Florida, and in large urban areas, like New Orleans and Washington, DC. But let’s clear up something about private versus public: One isn’t necessarily better than the other. “Both public and private schools have the potential to be great—or not so great,” says longtime education researcher Edward W. Pauly, PhD, director of research and evaluation for the Wallace Foundation and author of The Classroom Crucible: What Really Works, What Doesn’t, and Why. “Just ask parents of kids who go to different Catholic schools: Some have huge class sizes, some have intimate learning opportunities.”

Even if your zone school is your only feasible option, you should still make sure it has the right stuff, or at least the potential for improvement. So find out how parents can visit schools in your area (group or individual tours) and when (usually in the late fall or early spring—start checking a year ahead of enrollment). Then observe the halls, the lunchroom, the playground and the classrooms. Here’s an action plan.

Start At the Top If a school’s principal is available for one-on-one talks, get face time—one hallmark of a good administrator, says Sara Wilford, director of the Art of Teaching graduate program at Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, NY. Susan Lavington, a mom of four in Alexandria, VA, says she hesitated to ask for meetings with principals before choosing a school for her twin daughters, Emma and Leigh, now 6. “You think a principal wouldn’t have time to sit with parents,” says Susan, 40, senior vice president of marketing for USA Today. “But not a single one turned me down.”
  Principals manage teachers, troubleshoot disciplinary problems, handle budgets, establish plans for academic and staff improvements and set the tone for their school. But even busy with all that, a principal (or assistant principal in a large school) should at least listen to your concerns—for Susan, one was keeping her twins in the same kindergarten class. Find out how the principal chooses teachers and assesses their performance and also what’s in place to help them improve, such as training workshops or mentoring, says Bryan Hassel, codirector of the education policy group Public Impact and coauthor of Picky Parent Guide: Choose Your Child’s School with Confidence.
  Then walk the school halls with the principal, if possible. A good leader greets students and parents and fosters an environment where teachers can do their best work. “The principal should know the children and call them by their first name,” says Sister St. John Delany, PhD, an education professor at Pace University in New York City.
 
Observe the Teachers A low student-teacher ratio may be on your list of learning assets, but what trumps a small class size is a talented teacher. When you visit classrooms, look for teachers who offer an environment in which all students can succeed.

For instance, kids should learn with and from each other, working in groups and through hands-on activities, says Margo Pensavalle, EdD, an associate professor of clinical education at the University of Southern California Rossier School of Education in Los Angeles. “Hands-on learning encourages interest and draws out natural creativity.” Interactive projects like creating a mural that depicts part of a science lesson help kids better understand and retain the material.

With the heavy focus on testing in this country, even kindergarten has become super academic. So find out how teachers fit in playtime, says Richard Kessler, executive director of the New York City–based Center for Arts Education. “Children learn and develop emotionally through play.”

Also look for flexibility. Ask teachers how they handle different learning styles, and assess whether they’re willing to experiment with new approaches. Dr. Delany suggests asking what math curriculum they follow or how they teach multiplication. “Listen to the teacher talk. Is she creative? Does she adjust to the needs of individual kids? You can pick up on this.” You can also pick up a teacher’s vibe. You want to see a relaxed atmosphere, not out-of-control kids and a harried instructor. “Kids learn when they’re emotionally comfortable, and when they connect with the teacher in some way,” says Dr. Pensavalle.

Being connected helps educators to discern potential problems. Margaret McGowen’s son, Patrick, 6, was teased at the beginning of kindergarten last year at John Eaton Elementary School in Washington, DC. “The teacher pulled me aside, and we worked on a plan to correct the situation,” says Margaret, 42, a chemist.

Notice Moms and Dads Successful schools value parent involvement, says Hassel. Along with being good for the students—running school events, helping out in libraries and classrooms and more—hands-on parents keep administrators on their toes by collectively advocating for changes. If your school is lacking in the arts or needs new books, a strong parent organization can raise funds for programs and supplies.

Susan Lavington (who set up one-on-one meetings with principals) ultimately decided on a school with a strong parent presence. The school her kids were assigned to was considered failing under federal education law, which opened the option of their attending another nearby. On paper, though, the second school seemed much like the first. So she sent out a note on the local list server to get more information. “All these parents called and wrote to me,” she says. “They understood my concerns and wanted to tell me all about their experiences. They were extremely committed and actively working with the teachers and principal.”

Focus On Special Needs If your child has a learning disability, a behavioral disorder such as ADHD or another special need, ask how the school handles it. The government guarantees students with diagnosed special needs the right to services like speech and language therapy or an aide in the classroom. If you think your child needs an Individual Education Plan (IEP), find out if there’s a committee to determine that and how IEPs are carried out.

Children with learning challenges should be included in the regular classroom, says Dr. Delany. And good teachers understand, provide and request accommodations that can help: They may offer tracking sheets for assignment management or team up classroom buddies for support (support that can benefit all kids). Hassel advises finding other families at the school whose kids face issues similar to your child’s.

Ask how teachers work with the kids and whether the methods are effective. Also ask about special ed teachers and whether a reading specialist is available.

Students who don’t have a diagnosed disorder but who struggle with studies or social interaction may also benefit from intervention. Retha Hill, whose son’s language skills lagged, chose a school based in part on that school’s having a resource teacher.

Look for Diversity Going in, though, a big consideration for Retha and 6-year-old Niles was whether a school was inclusive and made up of diverse kids and teachers. “I was hesitant to send him off to a school where he’d be one of just a handful of African- American kids,” says the 46-year-old director of the New Media Innovation Lab at Arizona State University in Phoenix. A single parent concerned about the sad statistics surrounding African-American boys, she looked hard at a racially diverse charter school.

“Children learn about varying beliefs, attitudes, values and traditions from other children,” says Dr. Pensavalle. “A diverse environment helps kids develop more open minds and a broader worldview of people, events and experiences.”

While true diversity is difficult for many schools to achieve, good schools offer experiences in multiculturalism and inclusiveness. You want to look for a diverse student body and staff (and that doesn’t mean the only adults of color are cafeteria workers) and a curriculum that honors differences—or some mixture of these.

Seek Great Expectations To assess a school’s achievement goals, talk to the principal. Hassel suggests asking: What’s the goal for improving the school in the next year? Is the focus on math, reading, kindergarten? And what actions are being taken? What do you do if a child is falling behind? What if a child is ready to move ahead? Get specific examples. Excelling students should have access to higher-grade level material; struggling students should have interventions such as individual or small-group tutoring.

Not everyone lives in a district with top-tier schools, so it’s important to know what’s being done to improve things. Find out if there are programs like supplemental reading and math instruction. For example, the local district implemented a Lexile program at Hillview Elementary School, using graded reading materials to help boost student skills, which led to the multiage reading groups. Other good signs may include use of extended learning time, like longer school days; plans and methods for improving math skills, such as greater use of computer programs to practice computation skills; and the addition of student portfolios and journals to enhance writing ability.

Consider the Extras Be clear about what you want for your child so you can find out if a school offers it. Music and visual art, for instance, are often the victims of budget cuts, despite studies that indicate their value in learning and student engagement. Another frequent cut: science—yes, science. Find out what the law requires. Often there’s a minimum for each subject, including art and phys ed, says arts education expert Kessler.

Talk to parents whose kids attend the school—who better to tell you what you can expect? Go to a parent meeting, join the neighborhood list server or visit a website like GreatSchools.net to find out what active moms and dads have to say. Before you wrap up your school visit, check out the student work displayed on classroom and hallway walls. This speaks volumes about the school’s expectations; too much similarity indicates only one way to do the assignment, but variation shows that kids are free to show individuality. “That speaks to a school’s appreciation of the different ways children learn,” says Wilford. “When there’s leeway for creative expression, that’s a sign of a great school.”

 

Read more about how to advocate for your child and school here.