Must-know facts on high school admissions

The second most important decision you will make as a parent — apart from deciding to have the child in the first place — is deciding which school for them to enroll in. Make the right decision and you could put them on a path toward lifelong learning, a prestigious college education and a successful career

Deciding what your child needs and what matters most are key steps in choosing a school with the best fit for your child. Sometimes choosing a school for your child is as easy as geography – the one closest to home is the right one. But for some parents, school selection can be a more complicated

For many parents, getting admission in the school with the best facilities and a good transport system is paramount -- after all, passing out from a good school is a ticket to future success.

Parents may not appreciate the gravity of the decision they’re making – after all, the child will spend the fourteen most formative and crucial growth years in a person’s life in the institute they select.

For most parents, a choice of school for their children is driven by perception, word of mouth, infrastructure provided by the school.

Most of these are shallow criteria, considering how important this decision is.Here are things schools will never tell parents, but which parents are asking of schools –

1.  How future ready is the school? It is important to equip children with skills in this context -- skills that can help them navigate the uncertain future and succeed in the jobs and workplaces of that era. Ask the school how they will teach your child to adapt to uncertainty and change. Crucially, are children learning how to learn? Are they being taught to work successfully in groups and think critically to solve problems?

2. How skilled are the teachers? : Rarely do the parents who go school hunting ask to meet the teachers of the school. This is a mistake, because these are the people who will mould your child. Your child will spend over one-third of his/her life with them for the next decade and a half. In addition, how many years of experience do teachers in the school have, on an average? Does the school encourage teachers to undergo periodic Professional Development to keep themselves abreast of the latest methods of teaching and learning?

3. Does learning happen outside the textbooks? : We live in era where a typical person is bombarded by information from a variety of sources. It would be a sad commentary on the school if learning were confined to reciting lessons from textbooks and answering questions from the lesson. Find out how much of the learning happens outside textbooks -- are children encouraged to look on the Internet and visit the school or local library, and to use the information they find in their learning .Are children engaged via hands-on activities or experiential learning methods? What are the sources of information and learning like project work and hands-on activities for the child other than the textbook?

4. What is the value system of the school? : Values must be practiced day in and day out within the school -- from the management and principal who address the children at the podium, to the teachers who interact with the children for one-third of the child’s day, to even the support staff. In today’s time most of us live in a nuclear family, children don’t get the regular guidance of elders like grandparents.

Your child will inhabit a world that we all know nothing about -- the best we can do is to ensure they are ready take on whatever comes their way.

Did you like the blog? What would you look for in a high school while admitting your child in one?  Please share your views and feedback in the comments section below.