Please Explain About Schools

E., these questions are best answered by your local school district offices. Get in touch with someone there. Since you are from another country and this is all new to you, just reading the web site may be more confusing than helpful (unless they have a truly great web site!) because the information may be written with the assumption that people reading about the schools already know the basics.

Call and make an appointment to see someone and explain that you need a lot of basic questions answered in person. Don't let them just say "Oh, you have to go to the web site for all that."

If your concern is that the numbers of students in a school are dropping-- that has nothing to do with quality of education in most public schools. I actually would love it if the numbers in our school system dropped considerably because it would mean each teacher had smaller classes and could give kids more attention!

If you are talking about public schools, there will not be any fee -- they are free to everyone -- so you cannot judge a school's quality by the expense of its fees. Also, in many public school systems you have no choice over which school your child attends; your child has to attend the school closest to your home or the one designated for your neighborhood. But it sounds from another post here as if your situation in Arizona may be different (open enrollment) so you must check and find out.

Your child is still young enough that you probably do not need to know much about preparatory academies or vocational schools for a long time yet - but you are smart to start getting information. Again, your local school system can probably help.

If you are looking at private schools rather than your state or county's public schools, try to find a web site or local parent group that knows about the particular private schools you are looking at.

I know some folks recommend web sites that do "reviews" of schools but those sites can have outdated information. And sites with parent-written reviews can be full of negative reviews from parents with their own issues. So if you look at reviews onliine, just remember that the reviews may be written by people who had one bad experience that may never happen to you.

I can answer this, "What is the charter school, preparatory academy, vocational, traditional and how they differentiate from regular/public schools?"

Charter schools are basically a public school which fills a need in a school district that the other district schools aren't meeting. My kids go to a Montessori charter school. It's free, enrollment is done using a lottery system. The school is run by it's own school board and is only accountable financially to the school district where it's placed or which it serves (not always the same).

Vocational schools are usually high schools that train students for a job along side basic high school classes. My second oldest just got accepted to a vocational Information Technology program, upon graduating, he is well placed to go somewhere like MIT or start his own business. The same school has a culinary program, as well as others.

Preparatory schools focus on getting kids into college, they are usually private but many school districts set aside one high school (if there are more than one in the district) for college prep classes. The classes are way more challenging, and every kid there has to achieve a certain GPA to stay there (usually a B average).

Traditional school are there to fill a basic need for a basic education. There may be honors programs for the kids with higher grades. All of these school are required to provide kids with special needs what they are entitled to receive through FAPE, a law which entitles all children a "Free Appropriate Public Education", and provides the guidelines to how to accommodate kids with special needs through an IEP or a 504 plan. IEP is an Individual Education Plan, which your son has and you will revise twice a year with a group of people at his school. A 504 plan is mostly for kids with physical disabilities not learning disabilities.

I hope that helps.

Having less students over time is NOT a red flag. Is that what you mean by "going dowhill?" Enrollment is determined by many factors. For example, there may be less students in that school's district that need this kind of school.

Or are you saying the rating is going down? If the school is getting a lower rating then that is a red flag.

I suggest that you may not have another school to which your son can go since he has special needs. You are fortunate that your district has a special school for your son. There are not always a special school available. And the only way that you'll know if this is the right school for him is to try it out. There is no way to know all that a special needs child will need in the school until the specialists see him in action.

My grandson is in a special school. First the district put him in Head Start so that he would get help earlier than Kindergarten. Then he went to a special school for Kindergarten. That didn't work. He was transferred to another special school and that didn't work. Now he's in a special school and doing well.

You have so many questions that I could not answer in one post. Google each of the types of schools and you will learn about them. Talk with other parents who are more familiar with your schools.

Yes, you should be involved with the school. You do this by talking with the teacher regularly. Since your son is in a special classroom, I suggest that when you drop him off or pick him up you spend some time getting to know the teacher and the teacher getting to know you. If he goes by bus, make an appointment to talk with the teacher. The teacher will encourage you to talk with him/her.

Each child is different. I started my daughter in public school and for kindergarden, 1st and 2nd it was fine. Then 3rd grade happened and the cliques and the pta kids happened. It was horrible. We tried a few different schools, hit or mis and finally settled on a montisorri. I do like the open style classrooms and smaller size classrooms of a montisorri. My daugther can excel at one subject and get extra help. Teachers in smaller classrooms gives more one on one and can stop problems before they get out of hand. If your child is just starting kindergarden I do not believe the local public should be an issue. Just watch your child and the teachers. I'd definitely do a walk trhough before this year is over and see first hand if the kids look happy. Did the amount of kids attending yours go down because they opened a new school? Go there at car pick up also and see how the kids are doing.

If you do not like the school you are zoned for, most of the schools in AZ are open enrollment. Not only in the district you are in but nearby ones also. There is a site called greatschools.org