Introduction

Neighborhood school? Open school? Magnet School? Charter School? K-5 or K-8? Today, even within the bounds of public school systems, parents confront an increasing array of options for enrolling their children, starting but hardly ending with kindergarten. Many school districts have either given up the concept of the “neighborhood school”—children attending whichever school is within the boundaries of their immediate neighborhood, or allow at least limited alternatives, offering a menu of choices and annual deadlines for selections. Often decisions regarding family preferences must be made by February or March for the following year.

Whether this is to be their child’s first school experience or a decision regarding middle or high school programs, parents often face a frustrating and stressful process of ensuring that their child enrolls in the “right” program—a process that many did not anticipate having to cope with before the college application dilemmas of high school. And certainly everyone will have an opinion and offer advice, from grandparents and friends to next-door neighbors. How can parents smoothly navigate the options and knowledgably weigh their choices?

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