These days, choosing a school for a child can feel more like applying to a university than simply putting a child on a bus to the local elementary school.

Experts in Chicagoland say choosing a school may be more difficult than ideal, but with ample resources, the search doesn’t need to feel overwhelming. 

Dan Anello, CEO of Kids First Chicago, a parent advocacy group centering Black and Latinx families in Chicago Public Schools, says parents are the experts of their own children and they should feel empowered when it comes time to choose a school. 

“The instinct that parents have is normally right,” Anello says. “I want parents to know they are ultimately in charge of their child’s education.” 

Read on for more information on how to pick the right school for your child. 

Anello says parents prioritize different aspects of a school based on their own lived experience. 

“Thinking about my own children, if they have any special needs, that usually comes first,” Anello says. “My son has hearing loss, and finding a place that would support him with resources was really important.” 

Considering a child’s diverse needs is often a priority for parents. Anello points out that visiting the school and asking questions about the necessary resources for your child–whether it’s good coaches on the football team or English language learning support–can make all the difference. 

“It’s not just academic assessment scores, it’s a whole host of things,” Anello says. “Some people want to look at academic growth, but academic growth is an average, so your individual child in the classroom might have a very different experience.”

“I could have sent my son to the highest growth school in the world, but if they hadn’t addressed his needs as a child with hearing loss, none of that would have mattered,” he adds. 

Anello says other important factors for choosing a school often come down to practical decisions for parents. 

Parents might consider whether they have transportation, school hours, how close the school is to work or whether a grandparent is watching the child after school. 

Kids First Chicago can connect parents with a school in the Chicago Public Schools system. The organization helped create GoCPS, the online application tool for nearly all schools in the district. 

GoCPS also has a school search component. The search tool allows parents to compare different aspects of a school–like the earliest drop-off time available or which public transit options a student could use. 

For parents seeking school options outside of Chicago Public Schools, check out Chicago Parent’s guide to the best charter schools and the best private schools in the county. 

Anello says his best advice is to visit a school in person to get the clearest sense of how the school would teach your child. 

“I would never subscribe to something site unseen,” he says. “A lot of times people make decisions based on how they are greeted.” 

“Do the staff treat me like a human being? Do they see me as an asset?” he adds. “We know with research the more engaged the parent, the better outcomes for students.” 

When preparing for a school visit, Anello recommends parents make a list of the most important features or aspects of a school. Kids First Chicago offers a school quality checklist for parents with focuses on pacing and structure, social-emotional learning and extracurricular programming.

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