There are a lot of choices out there and the process can seem really complicated, almost overwhelming. You probably have a lot of questions so to “keep it simple” and ultimately make the best decision for your family, it's a good idea to evaluate your options.

The number of school choice options available to parents increases all the time with new schools opening in the province. More parents are investing more time, energy and money into choosing a school where they can continue to be involved in their child's education.

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Start by thinking about your child's needs and your family's needs. Consider the personality of your child. A quiet child might fare better in a smaller school or a school with small class sizes. If you have a budding musician, scientist or artist, you'll want to look for a school that has strong programs in these areas. Is it important to you that your school be close to home or your place of work? Or will you need a school with before and after-school care?

Know The Options – The first option many parents consider is the local neighbourhood school. Depending on where you live and local board rules and boundaries, you could have your choice between 4 publicly-funded neighbourhood schools. There are public English schools, public French Immersion Schools, Catholic English schools and Catholic French Immersion Schools. Depending on space limitations and transportation limitations, local school boards allow for transfers to publicly funded schools outside of geographic boundaries. Be sure to check with the local school about wait lists and board transfers.

More parents are exploring alternative schools available in their local regions, making comparisons between them and the public schools. These independent schools do not receive government funding. They set up their own criteria for admission and families pay tuition and/or receive scholarships or bursaries to attend. The teachers, principals, boards of directors and sometimes the parents, decide upon curriculum, teaching methodology and enrolment requirements. There are basically 3 types of independent schools and all of them could be available in your region:

•  faith-based independent schools – these schools meet and/or exceed the standards of the public school curriculum but with the added component of teaching through a particular world-view rooted in a faith background. Be sure to ask about the specific faith background of each school as there are a number of schools in this category.

•  pedagogy-based independent schools – these schools provide educational philosophies that are different from traditional programs. Typically, alternative schools have small classes and a self-paced academic curriculum. There is a wide range of schools in this group (for-profit and non-profit) so it's important to ask specific schools about their educational philosophy and admission standards.

•  Culturally-based independent schools – these schools meet and/or exceed the standards of the public school curriculum but with the added component of supporting a particular cultural background.

Finally, many parents consider the option of teaching their children at home instead of sending them to a public or alternative/independent school. Many communities have organizations that assist homeschooling families with curriculum and opportunities to meet other homeschooling families.

Your choice depends on which kinds of schools are available in your local region (or how far you are willing to travel for the school you want), how much you are willing to pay in tuition and how much you want to be involved in your child's education. It's a good idea to call all of the schools that interest you, ask all of your important questions and if possible, tour the schools and meet the administrators. No amount of research can tell you as much as you'll learn by actually visiting schools.

Narrow the field once you have discovered all the available options. You may want to research things like standardized test scores, teacher-student ratios, ethnic diversity, community service and extra-curricular opportunities. Ask schools for testimonies or reviews from other parents – these reports will tell the story of the school behind the numbers and you'll learn things about the quality of the teachers, level of expected parental involvement and the principal's leadership.

Begin the application process when you've made your school choice. Even if you've chosen your local public school, you'll want to be sure to secure your spot and that may mean starting a year ahead of time. Some parents decide to apply to more than one school, giving them more time to decide but also ensuring spots in schools they are seriously considering. Some schools will have lengthy formalized processes and others will require little registration information but find out early what you need to do to enrol.

Stay involved once you've chosen a school for your child. There is a growing body of evidence that suggests when parents are highly involved in the school their children attend, student performance increases and parental satisfaction with the school also increases. When these things increase, the overall culture in the school improves!