De-Mystifying the Business of Choosing a School for your Kids
When families choose to move to the Dallas area, and primarily North Dallas, the Park Cities, Preston Hollow, Bent Tree, Northwood Hills, or Plano, they begin their search based on the public schools serving a particular subdivision, or they begin the arduous task of researching the many private school options the Dallas area offers.
I often get the question from young parents, “what are the best schools in Dallas?” Many times, the parents doing the asking, have pre-school aged children. I have to remind them, that each public district is set up a little differently and what might be a perfect size for one child, might leave another falling through the cracks. Parents often times, have not even figured out how their child learns, or what environment might be best.
Private schools each have their own mission statement. While most of the private schools seek to attract the brightest students, each has its own strengths, and in many ways does not compete with most of the other options. Take for instance, The Hockaday School, all girls, grades Pre-K-12, day and boarding, grades 8-12, and St. Mark’s School of Texas, grades K-12, all boys, attracts some of the brightest students in the Metroplex. ESD, a co-ed Episcopal school, grades K-12, requires the students to take religious classes and Greenhill, a co-ed non-religious affiliated school, K-12, each attracts its’ share of the top students in Dallas. The Shelton School and Winston, each offer students with learning differences, a way to succeed. Jesuit College Preparatory, an all boys Catholic high school, grades 9-12, integrates a college prep education with the principles of St. Ignatius Loyola, “Men for Others”. With approximately 250 boys per class, Jesuit offers honors degrees for its’ top students, but accepts a wider range of students than its’ private counterparts. It’s sister school, Ursuline Academy, all girls, grades 9-12, accepts approximately 200 girls each year, and certainly gets its fair share of talented students.
Parish Episcopal, Prestonwood Christian Academy, Trinity Christian Academy and Cistercian are other religiously affiliated schools. Each has its’ target student, as defined by a unique mission statement.
How does a parent, then, learn to crack the code? If you are considering moving to the North Dallas area, it is important to understand the school timeline. The major public independent school districts as well as most of the private school websites can be found on my Community Links page of my website, www.judysellsdallas.com.
After you have done some basic research, you can begin narrowing down what you think might be choices for your child(ren). Public schools hold ‘round-ups’ in the first part of the calendar year. Plan to contact the district or an individual school in January or February. Most will welcome the opportunity to show you one of their schools. If you find yourself doing this research at a time other than the first couple months of the year, make sure you inquire about the available spaces in the particular grades your children would be entering. In some cases, kids are on a waiting list and must be bussed to neighboring schools until spaces open up at the neighborhood school.
As for private schools, listen carefully. Shortly after school starts each fall, the process begins. Schools have individual tour days at their schools as well as group open houses, with representatives from all the schools, in a single location, for prospective families to gather information. The location of the Group Open House rotates each year to a different school.
At these functions, parents will learn that most schools require prospective students to take the ISEE test, to measure verbal quantitative ability, math and reading achievement, and writing skills. It is the one way that an admissions director can compare students from different schools, apples to apples.
The tests can be taken worldwide. I had clients moving to Dallas from India and they were able to take the test in India. Another one of my clients took the test in California prior to their move. The ISEE test is given at many locations in Dallas and Fort Worth. The deadline for test scores and application to most of the private schools is typically mid-January.
Interviews and school visits can also accompany the process. Jesuit College Prep has all of its’ candidates interview on one of two weekends in January. It is a short twenty minute meeting with administrators, teachers and/or current students. At The Hockaday School, prospective students are asked to spend a day at the school to sit in on classes and interview with a teacher or administrator.
Once all the steps are complete, parents and prospective students “play the waiting game”. Most schools notify their accepted list the second weekend in March. Most also have a waiting list because some students may have applied to more than one school and received acceptances from more than one. Obviously, they will have to choose, and that then, will open up a spot at the school they decided against.
If you are considering to the Dallas area and you want more information on private schools, you can visit www.dfwprivateschools.com. Also, be sure to contact Judy Switzer & Associates at 214.801.7273 or judy@judysellsdallas.com or visit www.judysellsdallas.com to help you get answers to any education- related questions you have, for any public independent school district (ISD) or private schools.
