Finding a school that embodies a learning community best suited for your child, involves a variety of factors. Exploring the options of public vs. private, homeschooling vs. learning pods, or small vs. large class sizes can sound overwhelming, but it doesn’t have to be!
In this digital age, flyers arriving at your physical mailbox is unlikely. Searching online using keywords may provide sites that gather results from parent reviews, school statistics and national norms, such as Niche.com – a popular and reliable front runner in comparative school analysis.
Most private schools offer some type of preview event such as an Open House. The value in these events is getting a general overview of the culture of the school. To take a deeper dive, customized grade level tours or student shadow days are often offered in person and virtually. In addition to asking questions about academics, see if the school offers the activities your child desires such as field trips, clubs, and school dances.
Exchanging experiences and stories with families in the neighborhood seems to be at the heart of finding a school that’s right for your family. Here’s the story of a local family, André and Hannah Smith, sharing their experience coming from a school year riddled with uncertainty due to the pandemic.
“As summer came to an end, we faced the realization that our daughter would be returning to in-person instruction. As we began to take note of what we wanted for her, we knew that the ideal learning situation included: a warm environment that instilled morals, taught family values, had smaller class sizes, promoted strong academics and offered academic support.
We were intrigued when a neighbor told us about Contra Costa Christian Schools. We viewed the school’s website and after browsing through the site for a few minutes, our family decided to request more information. Almost immediately, we received a response from the admissions office inviting us to take a tour of the campus the following week.”
The application process and timeline varies. Most private schools will ask for supporting documents such as past report cards and assessment records. An interview with one of the administrators can be offered to mutually get to know the other party better.
Deciding on a school and transferring may seem daunting, but I would recommend reaching out to different admissions offices and talking to neighbors and friends.
I’m more than happy to help with any general enrollment advice or specific enrollment questions!
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Lilian Im, M.A., Dean of Enrollment
Contra Costa Christian Schools, Preschool – High School
As our philosophy entails to ignite passion, impact mindset and infuse culture, it is a learning environment that engages students to foster collaboration, creativity, innovation, and teamwork. Applications for 2022-2023 open on November 29th.
By Lilian Im, M.A., Dean of Enrollment Contra Costa Christian Schools with special contributors Hannah and Andre’ Smith