Kindergarten tours

[dizzycooks]

What questions did you ask if you toured a variety of kindergartens?

We are applying for open enrollment to a district magnet school, maybe two, but otherwise dd will attend our neighborhood school. I'm pretty set on the magnet for a variety of reasons, but I'm wondering if I should be asking about certain things seeing as how we have an element of choice.

The district is highly regarded so I'm not terribly worried about academic strengths. Mostly we are touring so dh can see the schools and better understand what's out there.

[L From The D]

I didn't tour kindergartens, as my son goes to an excellent public school. But, as someone who has had a child in kindy, I'd ask
- How do you foster community in the classroom?
- What is the discipline (and reward) structure?
- What is the expectation of homework?
- How is the day structured? (Play/recess, specials, rest?)

[mamaalysson]

We looked at our neighborhood public school and parochial school, both K8's. I wasn't too concerned about the kindergarten experience at either school, but tried to think about the nine+ years that we would be at our chosen school. Things like counseling services provided, how are students encouraged to find their place in the school community, what opportunities are there for community service/giving back, are there opportunities for cross-grade interactions, etc. I guess my questions were more about the school at large, because experience in individual classrooms/with individual teachers is going to vary so much year-to-year.