San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
Parents weigh many factors when choosing a school
For the past two years, going to school — any school — has been considered a luxury. With the pandemic shutting down classrooms, learning became an online experience, and some might say, an equalizer, with students of all kinds following more standardized curriculums and all sharing similar Zoom conversations.
But now, as Bay Area students return to classrooms, parents may be taking a deeper look at what school really means for their child. Many parents want their school to offer worldly views, including developing important personal interactions and cultural exposure that might include field trips and extra-curricular activities.
For parents deciding which school is the best option for their child, the process may seem daunting. Choices include public, private, boarding, charter, performing arts, international language schools, and even new, permanently operating online schools.
The Bay Area is already known for its high-quality schools in various locations. The 2022 Niche School Rankings analytical report found that the private College Preparatory high school in Oakland is the fourth best private school in the country, and the Nueva School in Hillsborough is the ninth. College Preparatory and Nueva also took the top two spots respectively for the best private schools in California.
On the public school side, Henry M. Gunn High School in Palo Alto was awarded first place for the best public high school in California, while Saratoga High School took third and Palo Alto High School took fifth.
Niche rankings come from nearly 2.5 million school reviews from real students, parents and teachers across the United States, all combined with quantitative data from sources like the U.S.
Department of Education.
“Choosing a school is one of the most important decisions a parent will make for their child,” said Luke Skurman, Founder and CEO of Niche. “Our 2022 rankings come at a time when so many parents are curious about the different options for their children's education, including some they may never have considered before.”
Stacey Silver of Mill Valley has customized the school experience for each of her two daughters.
This spring, her younger daughter was in 7th grade at the public Mill Valley Middle School while her older daughter moved to private school in 6th grade and was a freshman at Marin Academy in San Rafael.
Silver, who serves on the Mill Valley Schools Community Foundation board, has found that her younger daughter thrives within her long-established social network.
“I love being part of the local community and watching my daughter grow up with friends she has had since kindergarten,” she said. “She walks to the school and has a variety of friends that will help her if she decides to go on to the public high school.”
Her older daughter was at the public Park School in Mill Valley but wasn't adjusting well to her classmates.
“We moved her to private primarily for social reasons,” Silver said. “She didn't feel connected and was having a hard time making real friendships with others. She also had a strong connection to her Jewish community via religious school and summer camp, so I thought moving her to a Jewish day school would provide that emotional support she was craving.”
Both public and private schools offer good education, Silver believes, though she does note that her living in an affluent area brings more resources for public facilities. Her daughters are strong students, she added, and take self-initiative, which does help in a public school setting.
“Mill Valley Middle School has some excellent passionate and seasoned teachers who I think are providing a top-quality education,” she said. “But I do think because of the large class size, my daughter may not be doing as many projects and writing assignments because the teachers can't take the time to grade all of them. On the plus side, I think she is learning important skills on how to advocate for herself.”
Other students might feel more secure in a private academy because of the smaller class size.
“If your child requires more services — either learning or emotional support — a private school setting is just better equipped to address those issues on an individual basis and can be more nimble than a public school that has to follow protocols,” Silver said. “I do feel that my (older) daughter created stronger bonds with her teachers at the private school and that the teachers and staff there are more invested in your children.”
Private schools, with their usually more solid funding, can also offer more consistent structure.
“I have been disappointed at the leadership level of (my younger daughter's) school,” Silver said. “She has had six different principals since starting elementary school.”
Public schools have been in the spotlight lately, too, because of COVID-19 challenges. Many in the Bay Area have been stricter with regulations and later to re-open because of crippling, pandemic-induced labor shortages, government vaccination requirements and stronger pushback from teacher unions. In January, more than 500 Oakland Unified teachers staged a sickout, causing a dozen schools to close, to call attention to what they said were unsafe classroom conditions amid the Omicron surge.
“It has been disheartening to see how many families have left the public school system since COVID,” Silver said. “I really do not think that because you are at a public school, you are getting a lesser quality education. Yes, private schools have been able to be more nimble and flexible, however, not everyone has that economic choice.”
Whichever school parents decide upon, it's important to realize that families shouldn't pile all of the responsibilities onto the teachers' backs.
“It is not a magic bullet and does not solve everything,” Silver said. “When my older daughter moved to a private school, she still encountered some challenges with friendships. Just because you change settings, it doesn't solve all the issues. Everyone's journey is different, so you need to understand that there is not a one-size-fits-all approach.”