Changing Schools: Tips Every Parent Should Know

Changing a child’s school is never a simple decision. Sometimes a family moves to a new school because of divorce, job loss or illness. In other cases, parents may realize their child has learning or other challenges or may need to be challenged more academically.

Determine When

For students with learning challenges or behavioral or mental health issues, the search for a new school typically begins after the first grading period, after the first semester, or in March when parents realize that a private school contract will not be extended to the next year, When students seek a school change for any other reason, such as to be challenged academically, moving, financial reasons, or to seek a specialty school, parents typically start the process before the next academic year. — Elizabeth “Betsy” Donnelly, an educational consultant for 14 years and founder and president of Atlanta Educational Consultants. 

Get Advice

Donnelly says parents can work collaboratively with schools and educational consultants to find the best fit school based on their child’s individual needs. Atlanta’s education landscape has many progressive public and private schools that focus on students who are high achievers or have learning challenges, Donnelly says.

Find a Good Fit

The most important criteria is determining if a school’s academic model works with a child’s individual learning needs. Does your child need to be in a very structured environment, or does he or she need to experience education in a multi-sensory kind of way? Many students need both – structure and a multi-modal academic environment. — Donnelly

Be Your Child’s Advocate

Spooner encourages parents to be proactive about determining the best learning environment for their child. “As parents, we have to be our kids’ advocates. When they are young, they can’t speak for themselves as to what their needs are, which is why we have to watch closely and see where their deficits are and how we can help by putting them in a setting to help them succeed,” she says.

Siblings May Need Different Options

Acworth resident Tara Thompson, a mother of three, decided to change her daughter’s public high school in Cherokee County mid-year to another high school in Atlanta Public Schools. Thompson says it’s important as parents to recognize that their children have different personalities, which means one child may not be comfortable in the same academic environment as his or her siblings.

Specialized Needs

Paige Spooner of Milton, also a mother of three, opted to move from a public to private school when her son, age 12, was transitioning from elementary to middle school. “We decided to leave public and move to private to meet his dyslexic needs,” says Spooner, who ultimately chose GRACEPOINT School, a private Christian school in Marietta focused on students with dyslexia.

Changing to Private School

There are a few things to consider when transferring to or beginning a private school education:

• Space availability if seeking enrollment at non-traditional entry points.
• Testing: SSAT (Secondary School Admissions Test) or ISEE (Independent School Entrance Examination). 
• Scheduling visits or attending open houses.
• Preparation for standardized testing.
• Application Preparation: Complete demographic information, parent statement, student statement, gather recommendations, send transcripts, all before an early winter deadline.
• Unless it is a school that accepts students on a rolling enrollment basis, applications are submitted in January or early February and decision letters are sent in late March

Other School Options

• Enroll in an alternative school that provides individual instruction, shortened academic day, online curriculum, etc.
• Online schools that can grant variable credit (usually in .5 credits, but sometimes in increments less than .5 credit).
• Homeschool
• Private tutor to assist with work sent from previous school (special circumstances) or to assist with online courses.
• Georgia Virtual School, but with the limitation that there are 4 start dates over the year.

by Anne Wainscott-Sargent