Questions to ask on your school tour

By Times staff writer

© St. Petersburg Times, published October 29, 2000

• Is day care available on the premises, or is transportation available to nearby day care? What is the cost?
• What time is lunch served? What are class sizes?
• How does the school keep parents and the local community informed about happenings in the school?
• What role does the parent play in disciplinary decisions?
• What percentage of the parents are involved in the school daily? What are typical parental roles in the school?
• Does each child have a textbook, and can children bring the books home?
• Are the gifted classes on campus, or does a gifted child get bused to and from another school to attend a gifted program? How often is the gifted class held, and how long are they? What sort of activities do they do in the gifted classes? What percentage of the students take these classes?
• Are there hidden costs for programs or extra activities, such as field trips?
• How often and for how long does each child get to work on the computer? What kind of work is it?
• Are the computers in the classroom, in a central location (such as the library), in a computer lab or in all of those places?
• Do children have access to the Internet? Do parents first sign an agreement allowing their children to have access?
• What do children use the Internet for? Is their time on the Internet monitored?
• What does the school expect students to know by the end of the fourth, eighth or 12th grades in basic subjects?
• How does the school determine that students are academically ready for promotion to the next grade?
• Does the school sufficiently emphasize the basic subjects -- English, math, history, government, geography, the sciences? How often are they taught these classes, and what sort of activities do they do?
• How does the school show its pride in student work and creativity?
• What is the suspension/expulsion rate of the school?
• Ask to see a copy of the Code of Conduct or discipline plan.
• Is the school clean and neat?
• What opportunities do parents, students and members of the local community have to participate in school governance? What is the evidence of their actual involvement?
• How much contact with parents are the teachers expected to have (besides discipline)?
• What books do the students read/study as part of their school work?
• How do teachers coordinate curriculum from grade to grade? How do they coordinate curriculum among subjects at each grade level?
• How do teachers accommodate different styles and rates of learning?
• What percentage of students are in special education? What is the socioeconomic/ethnic breakdown of the special education students?
• Does the school include the scores of its special education students when it reports achievement results, or does it separate them out to improve total school scores?
• What is the quality of the school's library/media center?
• How much and for what purposes is it used?
• What are the age and quality of the resources (e.g. textbooks, equipment) for teachers and students?
• How often are physical education classes held? What sort of activities do they do?
• What are the teachers' qualifications? How many hold a master's degree or doctorate? Are all teachers certified in their subject areas? If so, how many and what courses are they teaching?
• What special programs or activities, if any, does the school offer?
• Are any classes held in portable classrooms?
• For private schools, what are the costs? Are deposits refundable? Are scholarships or tuition discounts available? If so, how do students qualify?
• For private schools, is the school accredited? If so, by whom? If not, why not? If it is, ask to see the accreditation report(s).

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