What Parents Bring To The School Debate

Every parent wants to find a good school for their kids.

But what, exactly, do we mean by good? Is it about test scores? Favorable teacher-student ratios? Special activities, like music and art? Great outdoor space? A well-stocked library or a beautiful gym? Racial and economic diversity? And what constitutes diversity, exactly?

Here in Philadelphia, we’re spoiled for choice. Some of us will choose our public catchment schools. Others will find ways to get into out-of-catchment schools, publicly funded charter or magnet schools, or a dizzying array of private schools. And if none of those options suits us, there are tempting well-funded school districts just outside the city.

Whether we like it or not, casual conversations about the schools we’re considering reveal a lot about our financial situations, our own educational backgrounds, our kids’ strengths and weaknesses, our feelings about race and class and our politics. 

The conversations are even more difficult if we’re experiencing a lot of self-doubt. Maybe we get uncomfortable flashbacks to our own school days every time we visit the local school. Maybe we love the idea of a cooperative school like Project Learn, but we can’t imagine putting in the kind of time required.

Maybe we believe in public education, but beautiful, well-kept facilities make private schools like Penn Charter look tempting. Maybe we think our kid would thrive at the Philadelphia School in Center City, but we don’t want to drive down there every day.

Maybe we come from an old union family, but our child was offered a spot at Green Woods Charter, where the teachers are not unionized. Or maybe we sent our older child to Miquon, and now we’re considering public school for our younger child for financial reasons.

Conversations like this play out every Saturday on the playground at Jenks School: 

“We love Chestnut Hill Academy,” says one parent. “The kindergarteners spend so much time outside, and our son has a lot of energy.”

“We don’t believe in single-sex education,” another parent says aloud, even while he’s thinking, “We don’t have the money to send our son to CHA.”

The first parent doesn’t feel too sure about single-sex education either, so she defends it stridently, trying to convince herself that it’s a good thing. Both people feel defensive and judged.

The conversation makes them doubt their decisions, and increases their anxiety about the whole process. Most parents have different versions of this conversation dozens of times before it’s time to sign the papers to register for school.

Talking to other parents is the best tool for making your own school decision. But since anxiety can be contagious, it’s helpful to have somewhere else to go for information. 

In the coming weeks, Patch will outline your options. We’ll talk about public schools, including catchment schools that serve specific neighborhoods, and charter schools that use a lottery to select children from all over the district.

We’ll talk about independent schools that go up to 6th or 8th grade, and prep schools that educate kids through the 12th grade. We’ll look at religious schools, both the ones affiliated with a certain denomination and those that are independent.

We’ll look at homeschooling resources for families in Northwest Philadelphia, and we’ll address the question that’s in many parents’ minds—should you move to the suburbs? We’ll finish up with a discussion of the options for junior high and high school.

Throughout the series, we’ll point you to other sources of information where you can get real data about class size, test scores and more.

We’d love to hear your questions. Please leave them in the comments box below, or email vcmcguire@gmail.com.