Each year, parents face one of the biggest decisions they can make for their child’s future. In a never-ending cycle that has become modern parenting, you are likely to prepare your kids for kindergarten or plan where they should go to school next year. And, a final decision is looming.

It is undeniable that no two families will share exactly the same criteria for choosing a school for their child. Moreover, with the recent outbreak of the COVID-19, school planning and preparation will look relatively different than that of previous years.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has released a checklist for parents and guardians for the upcoming school year. Taking the situation into consideration, it is common and normal for parents to worry about getting the decisions right. Where to even begin with the complex process? To get you started, here’s a checklist of aspects to have while choosing the right school for your child.

1. Finding a Good Fit

To find the best learning environment, a parent must prioritize schools that care about each kid and nourish the whole child. It is important to make a list of what you or your kids want from a school including specific subject and practical matters along with financial, personal, and social needs.

It is imperative to note that some schools can be comparatively expensive, and financial concerns are likely to top a parent’s list. While location for easy commute and school-specific factors are key considerations, parents must learn about the school’s approach to identity, social, and emotional development. You can find everything about your preferred option through online school reviews.

2. Choosing the Right School

If you are looking to buy a car or electronic gadgets, you are most likely to talk to friends and family or find information on the internet, newspapers, and web resources.

Similarly, in the digital era, parents are increasingly reliant on websites and school reviews to have a rounded knowledge of the school. Additionally, reviews of teachers and the school by existing as well as previous students can be enlightening for parents struggling to make a right decision.

School reviews, practical information, and trusted ratings along with thousands of articles on the websites help parents find the right school and support their child’s learning and well-being. List every school, even lesser known schools, that fulfil your child’s academic and extracurricular as well as your financial and practical considerations.

Besides these considerations, it is important to look for online school reviews to find schools where students remain as key agents in their school experience. Online school reviews can also be helpful in finding schools where teachers majorly focus on building necessary skills for the children to succeed later in life. Furthermore, parents may consider the class size, school culture or philosophy, and single-sex or co-educational schools, where online school reviews can again, prove helpful.

3. Applying to Schools You Choose

After checking online school reviews, select the school that you think will be the best for your child. Next, you will go through a process of applying to a school and enrolling your child. While it is a good idea to visit to see classrooms and meet faculty and staff, the sudden shift to online mode in the time of COVID-19 is likely to influence virtual interaction or online application over in-person engagement.

Admission process may vary and your child may need to be tested or interviewed. The common process will include submitting the applications and necessary documents before the deadline and following up till the admission process is completed.

4. New Needs Call for Different Choices

Beyond the minimum requirements, teachers are expected to encourage a combination of soft skills, hard skills, and active learning among students to solve novel problems. Today, the application of old knowledge in new ways is considered the baseline for participation in the modern workforce.

While choosing a school, a parent may learn about the teaching methods that a school uses and ask a plenty of questions about these methods. In addition, over the past decade, technology has enhanced both teaching and learning in many ways. To that end, parents can make sure the schools on their list are cutting edge from a technology point of view.

With a plethora of options on the horizon, parents may rely on online school reviews, talk to teachers and students, and browse through websites and the internet to find the school which matches most, if not all, of their criteria. Moreover, it is important for parents to make sure that the school in consideration is capable of preparing the child for the new and changing world.