Commentary: My daughter has attended public, charter, and private school. Here’s what I learned and how school choice can improve your child’s educational journey.

Globe in a classroom (Photo by Pexels)

As a parent, we spend our days constantly evaluating decisions that will shape our children into capable adults and preparing them for the journey ahead. Perhaps one of the most important of those decisions is determining what pathway we select for our child’s education. As a parent of two, I have learned that the answer to that question is not stagnant and can change alongside the needs of the child.

Brooke Gray (Photo by Tennesseans for Student Success)

The educational journey for our first child began in public school. We were zoned for the same schools that I had grown up in and I was confident in the educational experience my child would receive, not only from the materials being taught in the classroom, but the level of engagement from teachers, social development, and a shared community of neighbors and classmates. We saw our child blossoming into an independent learner and received promising feedback from teachers on the growth being made.

All that changed when my husband was offered a role that would relocate our family to another state and into a community, we knew little about and a school system we were even less familiar with. As we began the process of homebuying from 2,400 miles away, one of our top considerations was selecting a school system that would continue to support our child. But after learning more about the schools in the areas that we were looking to relocate to, we learned that it would be easier said than done. We were entering third grade and knew that uprooting a child to a new environment where all comforts were removed would be enough of a challenge. We did not want a drop in the educational experience to compound that.

We began looking into what other options were out there. There was the obvious route of finding a private school, but I also had heard of another choice option called charter schools. Up to this point, I had limited exposure to charter schools and what set them apart from other options more familiar to me, such as private or magnet schools.

As we began looking what was available in our area, we learned the true value of charter schools, with their alternative approaches to learning and flexible curricula. We ultimately found a charter school that utilized a mastery learning approach, that put emphasis on achieving proficiency of a concept before moving on rather than time spent in class learning a subject. This focus on individual progress allowed our high achieving student to continue to excel.

Our time in a charter school setting was some of the best years of our daughter’s life. The smaller class size ensured that teachers were able to meet her needs and adequately challenge our growing learner. Being a charter school, they relied heavily on the engagement with parents, which was a plus for me, as we knew nobody in the city we had relocated to. This allowed me to quickly build a community around us of support both at school and home. Also impressive was the number of extracurriculars outside of the classroom that were offered to the students. My daughter participated in ukulele club, soccer club, and art club.

While our time at the charter school was an exceptional experience, the shut down during the global pandemic took everything to a screeching halt. Our previously challenged and engaged student became unmotivated and bored with school. The virtual classroom limited enrichment opportunities and the social engagement that our student thrived around. We ultimately had to make a hard decision on what was best, as we were seeing an emotional impact of this new experience.

This ultimately brought us to a private school setting. We explored options during the summer break and ended up finding a school that we could financially afford and that had large enough facilities with small enough classrooms to allow our child to attend a full day of in-person learning. The student we had previously begun to reemerge, and we felt confident that we made the right decision. Enrolling in private school for a year got our daughter through a challenging time, and we were fortunate to be able to explore a new option for her.

After a few years, we relocated back home to Tennessee and are back in the public school system. We now have two students in public schools, our eldest daughter is a freshman, and our youngest daughter recently started kindergarten. We are fortunate to be zoned for schools that meet both of our children’s educational and social needs and provide additional support and resources for their individual challenges. While we do not see ourselves moving away from our current school choice soon, we are thankful for the many school choice options that are available to us.

From this experience, I have learned two big lessons about ensuring the educational success of my children. The first is to be engaged in your child’s education. Understanding your child’s needs, how to best position them for success, and being able to advocate for them is critical to their success in and out of the classroom. The second is to understand and be empowered by the choices available to you on where you can send your child and to make those decisions based on what is best for them. 

There truly is no one best option for everyone, what matters is what option is best for your child.  

Brooke Gray is the Chief of Staff for Tennesseans for Student Success. The Tennessee Firefly is a product of and supported by Tennesseans for Student Success.