Hello K.:
first of all, in case you didn't know already, your daughter will need to be 5 years old on, or before, September of the year she starts Kindergarten. It's great that you want to start your research early. I started 2 years before my daughter was to go to Kindergarten. I started by finding out what school district I was in. Then I found out what my daughters home school was (you can find out by calling the Discrict's Office or checking their web page). I then checked the stats of every school in my district (test scores, demographics, schools vision and mission, etc.). I also went to independent web sites to cross reference the stats (note: stats are not always up to date or accurate, its just a reference) check greatschools.net to start. From there I narrowed my choices to about 15 schools and printed all the material on each school. I then called all those schools to speak to the Principal. In many cases the Principals will not speak to you as they have to deal with the parents of kids already enrolled. You will also need to contact the districts Open Enrollment office. Open Enrollment is when you apply to enroll in a school that is NOT your home school. You can open enroll into a school outside your district, but locals get preference and outsiders are last to be considered after all the locals get . Also to consider is transportation. Trans will not be provided for any school other than your Home School. When you approach the year your daughter will enter school, call the Open Enrollment Office to get all the deadlines (there are several as there are many steps involved). Call all the schools on your short list to find out when they are having Open House. That is when you get to visit the school and talk to the Principals and Teachers. Please keep in mind, that a great school on paper does not translate to a great school in reality. I have first hand experience with this as I narrowed my final choices to 6. I was hooked on one school in particular (Superior, CO) and thought it was perfect in every way, until I visited the school. It was a great school with exceptional Teachers, but the Principal and Asst. Principal did not seem to care much about my questions or concerns when I spoke to them at Open House. They were extremely standoffish and unattentive, even snobbish. Being that the Principal runs the school, I felt that attitude may transfer to the staff. On the other hand, the school that was my last choice moved to the top two, after the Open House.
The Principal was awesome and the Teaches were knowledgeable in every important field concerning child education and development (Peak to Peak Charter School). I was highly impressed with how they handeled the vast varity of parents and their questions. The commute to that school dropped it to my 2nd choice. My final first choice was originally my 4th, until I visited the school and spoke to the Principal directly. That Principal (John Kiemele of Coal Creek Elementry), first of all
was one out of only two Principals that spoke to me at length (even though he said he could not spare much time) when I called just to inquire about the school. He also impressed me with his passion for quality education and his strong focus on
the school's vision and mission. Through the Open Enrollment process, I was granted my first choice. My daughter will begin
attending Coal Creek Elementry this August. My selection process was two years in the making. It takes great care and effort to make this type of choice. I have also included several Private Schools and will reconsider them should Public School not meet high standards and my expectitions. This process was also my very first encounter with preparing my daughter for her post pre-school educational experience. I'm still learning as I go along though.
I hope this quick rundown is of some help.
