School Visits

English Articles School Visits

Visits by parents and their children to evaluate a school and determine whether it is appropriate for one or more of their children. Evaluative parental visits are usually somewhat unwelcome in public schools, where administrators believe that parents have little choice but to send their children to a particular school. However, parents do have a wide range of SCHOOL CHOICE, and, as in visits to private schools, visits to public schools can simplify that choice by providing such information as whether the school is accredited by the appropriate regional ACCREDITATION ASSOCIATION, how students are doing academically and the colleges to which the school’s graduates have been admitted. Visits also elicit such information as the quality of the school neighborhood, the physical condition of the school and grounds, the classroom teaching methods and atmosphere, the adequacy of the school library facilities, sports and extracurricular activities, special education programs, psychological services and guidance departments, and school security. A school visit may also include an interview with the principal or headmaster to determine the school’s educational philosophy and how that philosophy is translated into concrete results in the form of student achievement.