School info on line, but visit if you can

Computer Life column for January 3, 1998 by
Richard Gordon

News Item:
School Choice applications for Delaware students entering 1st through 12th grades are due January 10.

I remember that as a stressful time last year, particularly since the school we selected was full! I ended up enrolling my son in a private school. However, unless I win Powerball, he'll likely return to the public schools in the future. Therefore, I still pay attention to the school choice process.

If you still haven't submitted a choice application for your child, visit one of the several Web areas with school information.

Start with the Web site for the School Report articles that have been running in the News Journal (www.delawareonline.com/schoolreport/).

In addition to the value of the articles themselves, there's another reason to start here: The official State data has been re-formatted to allow parents to compare schools more easily. Enrollment figures, academic promotions, writing scores, number of Internet stations, size of library holdings, etc. are all easy to scan at this site.

After you use the News Journal's site to learn more about the schools you are considering, take a list of possible schools to the official State Department of Education (DOE) Web site (www.doe.state.de.us).

With in-depth information about each school included in the Delaware Public School Profiles, the official DOE site makes an excellent second stop. Because you'll find the information organized on a school-by-school basis and because you have to work from a cumbersome list of every public school in the state, navigating this site will be easier if you know in advance which schools you plan to research.

The DOE site also contains directory information for all schools and links to each school district's web area.

Raw data about a school does not tell the whole picture. You can make virtual visits to many of our public schools by visiting their Web sites (www.k12.de.us). Real visits to the schools you are considering for your child are even better. Last year, I took 3 personal days to visit several different schools-public and private, and visited others during weekend open houses.

For example, you might be discouraged by the high student-teacher ratio at a wonderful K-2 school like Richey Elementary-unless you remember that each kindergarten teacher has two groups of students.

Without visiting, how will you learn that Richey has a principal with whom the children love to read or a gym teacher who attends as many of the children's weekend T-ball, soccer, and basketball games as she can?

Staying in my home school district, without visiting, how will you learn what wonderful music and art teachers are at Richardson Park Elementary?

Without visiting, how will you learn how Forest Oak Elementary's principal creates such a positive learning environment or how the librarian and her gerbils help the children learn to love reading?

Without visiting, how will you learn how the children at Warner Elementary are scoring above the state and district averages on their writing tests?

Without visiting, how will you learn which middle school's honors program will best match your child's needs?

It is cool that you can find out so much on line, but a visit can make all the difference.

For example, on one of my school visits, the principal proudly showed me a computer lab filled with busy, typing children. I approached one child and asked what he was doing. He answered quietly, telling me what the lesson was and what the specific tasks were. All done in 30-45 seconds, all done in almost a whisper. I thanked the child, and the principal and I left the classroom.

In the hallway, instead of being proud of how well his student had communicated with a visitor, the principal berated me for "interfering in the learning process" in that classroom.

Clearly, I did not send my son to that school.

Copyright © 1998, The News Journal Company

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