One of the most rewarding aspects of working as an independent educational consultant (IEC) is helping families discover schools where children will thrive and develop strong foundations for success in the future.

We invest time in learning about K–12 schools by visiting campuses, meeting with school employees, and speaking to students and graduates, among other efforts.

However, it’s not always easy for families to really get to know a school and determine where their children will flourish and find a sense of belonging. If we do our very best work, ultimately, we don’t make decisions for families—rather, we help parents and students learn how to make the best decisions for themselves.

In this article, we seek to provide strategies and questions IECs can use to help families assess schools on a deeper level. No one could possibly produce a complete list of helpful strategies, but we hope some of our ideas and questions prove useful. At the end we’ve provided a link to a more extensive set of online questions that families might find helpful.

Engage in Authentic Conversations

One of the best ways to learn about a school is through conversations with current students, alumni, employees, and parents. While families often meet school community members through the admission process, engaging in conversations in more natural settings often allows for deeper connections and opportunities to get to the heart of a school. If a school permits visitors to attend on-campus events, we encourage families to explore some of these on their own.

Many schools publish athletics and arts schedules online, so prospective families can attend games, performances, or other events. (Be sure to verify that a school allows this!) Many spectators are happy to talk with prospective families. For other sources of valuable information, seek out student newspapers, especially opinion pieces, which are written by students and reflect genuine, sometimes unfiltered, perspectives.

Also, encourage families to reach out to current school parents through PeerPal (found on many schools’ admission pages) or to other parents they know on their own, as these can also be valuable sources of information. And remind families that every school has blind adherents and angry detractors, so it’s probably best to assume that no single piece of data is definitive.

Observe Everything!

One of the simplest ways to learn more about a school is by paying attention and taking a careful look around. We encourage families to attend school events and spend time observing how students interact with one another, their teachers, coaches, even referees! At athletic events, notice the behavior and interactions of players on the bench or spectators on the sidelines. Consider how they react when something doesn’t go their way, or the ways players interact after a loss as well as a win. [We have a saying in our house: “The only thing worse than a bad loser …” —PB]

After attending a performance or speaker event, families can linger briefly to notice how community members engage with one another. At some schools, there are lots of teachers on the sidelines cheering on students (and sometimes even a high presence of dogs and other unofficial mascots).

These simple observations can provide a window into what ordinary school life and interactions among community members are like, and families can get a better sense of whether a particular school resonates with their own priorities for their children.

Learn About School Leadership

The culture of a school is often deeply affected by the Head of School (HOS) and other senior administrators. While some school leaders are more hands-on than others, and it often takes time for an HOS to make a major splash, a head can still play a major role in a student’s overall experience, even indirectly.

Well-liked and competent heads (and other senior leaders) often have a trickle-down, positive effect on others, usually linked to higher employee retention, commitment to students, and overall job satisfaction. A simple open-ended question like, “Tell me about your Head of School,” can lead to useful insights into the morale of a school community. Encourage families to learn more about the professional backgrounds of senior administrators, their tenure at the school, and their plans for their schools’ futures. Additionally, look into schools’ strategic plans (often posted online) and take notice of schools’ priorities.

Discuss Employee Satisfaction and Retention

Any organization’s retention rate is usually a strong indicator of how well it functions. While some annual employee turnover is expected, occasionally we’ll notice higher turnover rates that might indicate a larger concern. In addition to asking about retention, families can peruse school yearbooks and magazines (often, new and/or departing employees are highlighted), check the employment section of a school’s website (open positions are often posted, especially in the spring), and scroll through online employee directories. (Many schools list employees’ start dates.) To dig even deeper, explore GlassDoor.com, which posts voluntary employee reviews at different organizations. Take these with a grain of salt—disgruntled people are more likely to air their disagreements online—but if similar comments are repeated, this could be an insight into a school’s culture. For example, some schools enjoy a number of the same kind of positive employee reviews, such as, “Everyone is willing to help and cover for one another; it’s a true sense of belonging.” It’s hard to read that as anything but positive.

Pay Attention to a School’s Messaging

What a school chooses to write or say about itself (on websites, videos, panel events) can be an indication of what the school values, so take notice! Families should think about whether these priorities align with their own. At one school, a majority of online student profiles highlighted prestigious achievements and selective college placements, while another school’s marketing videos spotlighted deep connections between students and teachers, and how people take care of each other. The essay questions a school poses in its application can also indicate its priorities and values.

Dig Deep into Course Offerings

Encourage families to delve into curriculum guides and specific course offerings to get a sense of the nuances between classes offered at different schools. Some schools tend towards traditional courses, while others offer progressive curricula that are updated regularly to keep pace with timely issues and evolving student interests. (One school helps students make sense of world news through a new course, “Breaking News, Making News, and Faking News: How do we view world events through the lens of our own values and biases, and/or core American values?”)

Encouraging students to read through course descriptions is also a great way to see what excites them, and to help them choose schools that align with their academic interests.

Evaluate a School’s Commitment to Mental Health

We’re all aware of the increase in students’ mental health challenges, which schools have addressed in a variety of ways. Some have made great strides in destigmatizing mental illness through talking about the topic openly, inviting guest speakers, and encouraging students to seek support offered by schools. Families can ask about how student and employee well-being is evaluated in schools, whether ongoing surveys are conducted, and whether results are shared with the community.

Ask not only about ways in which schools respond to mental health needs, but how they’re implementing preventative measures and promoting student well-being. A few admirable examples we’ve seen include later school start times (allowing for more sleep), formalized peer support programming, affinity groups, grief-informed school initiatives, mindfulness programs, built-in breaks during the day, required mental health first-aid courses, and discussions during advisory sessions. Also, ask about what kinds of mental health training take place with employees and how often training is offered.

This article barely skims the surface of what many IECs do every day. And one thing we know is that families seek our counsel because they are unsure, confused, or intimidated by what we know reflexively. Our purpose is not to tell IECs how to do their jobs, but to provide resources that may help families meet our services more capably. For additional suggestions on that topic, see our extensive list of questions.

By Dina Glasofer, MBA, IECA Associate (NJ), Glasofer Educational Consulting, and Peter Braverman, EdM, IECA Associate (MD), School Counseling and Placement