Parents should ask these four questions to help determine whether their child’s potential school has that uncommon mix.
1. Are you greeted? Standing in the hallway in between classes can reveal a lot, including students’ moods and how the teens treat one another.
One very simple thing to look for: If you’re standing there against the wall – does anyone come up to say hello?. I know that sounds ridiculous, but the truth is, happy, confident kids who feel very comfortable in their school, if they see a stranger there, they’re going to come up and say hello. Same for the teachers.
2. How are classrooms set up? There is no right or wrong way to arrange a classroom, but how the room is organised should align with what students are expected to accomplish.
While rows of forward-facing desks are fine for a lecture-style class, desks should be arranged in clusters if students are expected to work together.
Even during lessons, parents should take note of how engaged students are, whether the teacher moves through the room and how long students are expected to sit in one place.
The environment should be one focussed on child learning, not one centred on the teacher.
3. Do teachers listen? Parents should expect to see a lot of student-teacher interaction when touring a school.
You should see teachers and students engaged with one another – sitting on the floor tutoring a kid or in the cafeteria working with a kid. Those are all very, very telling and give parents a sense of what’s it like to be a kid here.
Teachers who don’t actively listen and respond to students should be a major red flag for parents.
4. What’s on the PTA calendar? Parent engagement is almost as important as student engagement.
Both parents and students considering high schools can take the answers to these questions into account in evaluating the most important number: the one high school a student will attend.
