A good education is the key to any child’s future success, and naturally, all parents are interested in finding the best day schools for their children. These schools range from the best preschools around to the best elementary, middle, and high schools as well (and many parents also send their children to summer camp). Parents can look online to find schools for their children, with searches such as “elementary schools near me” or “best preschools in Miami” being common. Around 25% of all Americans schools are private ones, from elementary to high school, and the advantages of private schools are quite appealing for families who can afford the tuition. Still, a highly rated and well funded public school may be nearly as good in some cases, and parents can find them after looking up “elementary schools near me” and carefully sorting through their options. Finding the best schools takes some work, but it can be done, and is certainly worth it for your child’s sake.

Finding Good Preschools

While a preschool education is not mandatory for American children, many households are indeed sending their children aged three to five to pre-primary programs across the nation. Over half of all households do this, and from 1990 to 2000, the rate of preschool attendance growth was particularly high. A preschool is not just a day care center; it is an academic setting that will prepare the young students for elementary school in all sorts of ways. The students will learn how to learn and get used to following directions from teachers, and they will enjoy extracurricular activities and meet their peers. Studies show that over 80% of American five-year-olds are enrolled at pre-primary programs like these.

So, when a child becomes old enough for preschool, or when the family moves to a new city or county, it is time for the parents to consider sending their child to a good preschool in the area. Most often, looking online is the best place to start, with a search specifying the desired type of preschool (private or public, or even both), the city or town name, and the local ZIP code to help keep the results local. This may be especially important in large cities. A whole list of results will come up, and the parents can pick out the most promising ones and make a short list.

The family will then tour these candidate preschools in person, to get a good impression of what they are like. The parents can do this alone at first, and for the most promising schools, they can bring along their child to give that youngster a chance to form their own impressions of the school. Parents can consult the staff and review the credentials of the teachers, as well as review the school’s funding levels and see what sort of programs it offers for the students. If the child also likes the school and gets along with the staff, then that is a good sign; after all, the child should feel comfortable at any school they are sent to. The parents may tour any number of schools this way with their child, and decide which one is right for them. And while private preschools do charge tuition, they offer excellent funding and expert staff, which can make for a great education for any young student.

Other Schools

A similar process can be used to find good elementary, middle, or high schools, such as “best private elementary schools near me” or “top rated public elementary schools near me” or even “best rated private high schools Los Angeles” to find some results. The family may tour the most promising schools in the area to review the staff’s credentials and see what sort of programs are offered, and the prospective student may have some input, too. Perhaps the prospective student is looking for a swim team, or a soccer team, marching band, or well-funded arts programs. The student may also tell their parents between visits why they did or did not like particular schools. K-12 schools can be public or private, and private high schools tend to have robust college counseling services. Private school teachers also report much lower incidence rates of student apathy than public school teachers do.