momto4kings Posted October 19, 2009 Share Posted October 19, 2009 If you were considering placing your child in a charter school, what questions would you ask when you meet with the principal? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cougarmom4 Posted October 19, 2009 Share Posted October 19, 2009 What curriculum will they be using? Is it uniform throughout the school (for example, do they start with Saxon math & stick with it...or switch at some point) Is there a reading program? Is there a writing program? Is there a scope & sequence for instruction at each level? (Are there specific books that each grade level reads, specific writing skills, specific history topics they cover, specific science topics they cover...do these concepts build on each other in following years?) What are the requirements for parent volunteering? How many students do they plan to have in each class? Will there be teacher's assistants? How do they plan to differentiate for students who need more help and/or more of a challenge? Will a student be able to move ahead to a higher math class if needed? What specialty classes will be offered? (music, art, computers...) Will any foreign language instruction be offered? Are parents able to choose which teacher they want their students to have? Are they willing to have part-time enrollment for homeschoolers? Will students need to take part in any fundraising efforts? Are there going to be extra-curricular activities offered? Will the students be attending field trips? If so, who drives? Is there a lunch program at the school? Some of these things are less important than others, of course, but these are all things we considered as we looked into placing our children at our charter school. (And would consider at any school, actually). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JennW in SoCal Posted October 19, 2009 Share Posted October 19, 2009 There are dozens of types of charter schools. What kind are you looking at? If it is a charter school that supports homeschoolers, then you'd have a different set of questions. For any charter school I'd add these questions: Are you accredited? Are you a public charter or a private for profit charter? How do you select students? Is there usually a waiting list? For a homeschool charter: May I choose my own curricula? May I use religious curricula if I purchase it myself? What will you buy for my use? What may I keep? How much money each month will I have for supplies and field trips? How often do I meet with a teacher and what kinds of sample work do you want? Do you know about Well Trained Mind? Charlotte Mason? Unschooling? or other homeschool styles? Do you offer classes, field trips and other supplementary activities? There are some wonderful charters out there, filled with creative teachers who care about teaching and are thrilled to get away from the typical p.s. bureaucracy. There are charters that aren't so great. For the record, I've been with a homeschool charter for the last 4 years, a school that is staffed mostly by homeschool parents with teaching credentials. It can be a Faustian bargain for a homeschool purist, but the school is very supportive of what I do and has offered many terrific extras for my teens. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momto4kings Posted October 19, 2009 Author Share Posted October 19, 2009 It is a public, site based charter school. It's basically a public school with smaller classes, based on the core knowledge philosophy, and heavy on parental involvement. They claim to be college preparatory, 7-12 grade. They are sponsored by the school district, meaning they get funded by the school district, meet CA state standards but do it by following different curricula. That's all I know. My husband is threatening to put our now 6th grade boy in the neighborhood public middle school, which isn't that bad for a public school, but I am researching other options. One of the obvious problems with son going to the neigborhood school that he is now in algebra 1 and by 8th grade there won't be anything for him to do at that school in math. In all honesty, I do NOT want my son going to a site based school, but I am willining to at least consider it. So now that you know a little bit more, what other questions should I ask? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sara R Posted October 19, 2009 Share Posted October 19, 2009 Core Knowledge is good. It's not quite the same as Well Trained Mind, but they do emphasize teaching facts, just in a little different order than WTM. My kids have been in a Core Knowledge charter school and I've been happy with it overall. I would imagine with 7-12, there would be different questions to ask. My oldest is in 6th grade, so I'm just starting to ask these questions myself, and might miss some. Off the top of my head-- Do they have a homeroom class they are in for most of the day, or do they trade classes? How big is the school? What math curriculum is used? Is grammar taught? What are the writing expectations? Are the classes leveled, so your child can be taught at the level appropriate for him? What electives are available? Music? Art? What do they do for PE? Any home ec/shop kinds of things? How long has the school been open? With new schools, often there are a lot of kinks to work out as they figure out what they are doing. Any sports offered? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carol in Cal. Posted October 19, 2009 Share Posted October 19, 2009 Find out a lot more about their track record as well as their curriculum. If their curriculum is in a non-standard order, and your child must transfer to another school at any point, it can lead to very sticky situations. In CA, too, high schools tend not to accept each other's transcripts' credits for classes--not 100% true, but definitely a trend. So I would say that once you pick a course for high school, you pretty much should figure on sticking with it all the way through. That being so, make sure that you have a reasonable expectation that the school will physically be there during your child's entire high school period. Where is this school? I am in the Silicon Valley area, and I don't know of any such charters around here. If it's close by, though, I would like to check it out for my DD. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momto4kings Posted October 19, 2009 Author Share Posted October 19, 2009 Carol, We are in the Sacramento area now. You'll be amazed with how many charter school, both site-based and independent study, we have around here! I know about the Bay Area, because we lived there until just a few months ago. I am aware of only one charter school like that that was just starting out this fall. I'll see if I can find the info for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momto4kings Posted October 19, 2009 Author Share Posted October 19, 2009 I met one of the organizers at a NASA field trip. http://www.southbayprep.org/index.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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