A school primer A school primer (January 13, 2006)

Education writer's book helps parents decide on the right campus

By Molly Tanenbaum

Los Altos resident Nancy Gill has just released the sixth edition of her book -- just in time to help parents as they try to decide on where to enroll their children this fall.

First printed in 1985, the book, "Parents' Guide to School Selection in San Mateo and Santa Clara Counties," gives detailed information, including test scores, for both public and private schools in the area, and offers vignettes on different families. It's all meant to help parents choose from the multitude of options now available for their child's education.

Gill, a writing instructor at Foothill College, has been an education writer and consultant for more than two decades, working with families to help choose schools for their children.

For the latest edition of the "Parents' Guide," Gill collaborated with fellow Los Altan and educational psychologist Brendan Pratt, and the book now has a section on psychological evaluation as a tool for choosing the right school. It's available at Books, Inc. on Castro Street, as well as online through www.prattcenter.com.

Last week, Gill spoke with Voice education writer Molly Tanenbaum about the choices facing parents today.

Q: What happened to the good old days of just sending your kid to the neighborhood school and not giving it a second thought?

A: I think what happened is that the report on "A Nation at Risk" had come out [in the early 1980s], and there were lots of reports on the demise of the public schools. A lot of it was the increased affluence of the area, so there are a lot of parents who had the means to look at private schools. Also, people are having smaller families and waiting to have children so you're not talking about funding five or six kids in private schools. All of these things contribute to people looking at private schools in a way that they just didn't do when I was growing up.

Q: If Mountain View parents could take away one piece of advice from your book about choosing a school for their child, what would it be?

A: I think it's probably not getting swayed too much by hysteria and rumor, but really looking at what's out there because there are some good neighborhood schools in Mountain View. I've worked with a lot of families in Mountain View and I always say, first look at your public schools.

A lot of times when you have a school closure, that sets a lot of people off, but then things settle down and people realize the new school works too. When people say how the public schools are better than they thought, then down the line they've saved lots of money.

Q: In your introduction, you describe choosing a school as a "baffling and often frightening process." Why is it so hard?

A: I think a lot of parents now feel like, "What if I make the wrong choice? What if I ruin my child's chances forever?" I get calls from parents of 3-year-olds saying, "I didn't apply to Challenger on time and now it's too late."

There's a lot of competition in this area and there's a feeling that if you don't get your child in the right school then you've closed doors for them in the future. That's one of the myths I try to cut through. A lot of parents believe if you don't start out in the private system then you're stuck in the public, which isn't really true.

Q: Your book lists a lot of factors in looking at a school, like faculty, environment, class size, and so on. What are the top three things that parents should look for?

A: Probably the leadership -- in terms of, do parents and teachers feel real confident in the people running the show? That can increase morale among teachers with a strong principal. Also, paying attention to the educational philosophy of the school, and making sure it meshes with what you think is a good school. And whenever possible, looking at what's your child's learning style.

There's lots of ironies -- a lot of the people looking for private schools were looking for more academic rigor. Now, there are parents leaving public schools because they think there's too much testing and too much pressure.

Q: Right now, the Mountain View elementary school district is talking about ways to make itself more competitive with private schools by offering alternative programs and having earlier registration. What do public schools need to do to make themselves more attractive to parents who can afford to send their kids to private schools?

A: I do think that offering these alternative programs has been very healthy. Ironically, parents in Los Altos have gotten transfers to go to the PACT program because the Los Altos district didn't have that.

Q: How seriously should parents take API/AYP test scores in choosing a school?

A: To a certain degree, if you're talking about a school with really low test scores, then obviously that's an area for concern. I'm a great believer in test scores having an awful lot to do with the demographics of the school.

On the other hand, if you're a middle class family that has read to your kids when they're little, there's a valid concern that if the test scores are really low, then a lot of the things the teachers are doing may be things your child doesn't need.

There are times when what really matters -- which is a great principal and energetic teachers that love being there -- might happen at a school that isn't necessarily the highest testing.

Q: For parents of kids with special needs, what are the factors that they should consider in getting the best education and support for their children?

A: This is the constant story where parents will get their children evaluated and will be told, "This is the kind of school your child needs." But there aren't nearly enough private schools geared to take the kids, and they're expensive. Some teachers [at public schools] are better tuned into what's going on. Unfortunately, that can be a teacher-by-teacher thing.

Ironically, sometimes in low-testing schools what happens is there are so many kids with issues so the child with relatively minor issues will be overlooked. But if you're in a high-performing district, on one hand it's more likely you're going to get the attention and the identification and the evaluation you need. On the other hand, it can be very hard for a child with learning disabilities to be in a 99th percentile district.

Q: What about stress? How can parents tell if schools cater to the social and emotional needs of kids?

A: Very few schools are going to say they ignore these things. A lot of private schools have had issues, even though they have small classes. The culture itself has gotten so stressful -- the competition to get into just the UCs. Kids are getting accepted at Harvard but getting turned down at UCLA. Among students who really care about doing well, there's this feeling about having to do SAT prep starting in 8th grade or having to fill up your schedule with every extracurricular that's going to look good on your transcript.

There's talk of creating a balance but it's very hard to do in this culture. You can certainly ask, is there a flexibility in homework, and do you pay attention when kids are overwhelmed?

E-mail Molly Tanenbaum at mtanenbaum@mv-voice.com

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