by Joe Owens

Created on: September 03, 2009   Last Updated: September 05, 2009

How do we decide what is best for our children? Likely our decisions will be influenced significantly by our own experiences. After all bad times drive you to strive for better, so bad school experiences would do the same right. Before you feel great concern for my past, I will say my school experience was ultimately happy. I just am trying to make a point about the decision making process.

I mean truly all environments are basically alike so is there really a big decision to be made here? Anybody can teach your child how to do basic educational tenets can't they? Sure, if we are talking about a hypothetical nirvana induced utopian plane. In truth the decision about where your children spend their formative years has long last implications for you and them.

Choosing the best learning environment for our children can seem an overwhelmingly daunting task. Sometimes it comes down to proximity, as you really don't have that many choices. At other times it has more to do with the level of achievement the school staff has amassed in their execution of their jobs. Then there are situations when your child's specific strengths require a specialized school, which makes an altogether different decision the requirement.

For my children, the decision hinged on two factors, school size and therefore, class size and academic performance. Keep in mind my son is a freshman in high school this year so this is a decade old decision, and one I do not regret. As a matter of fact, the choice of a high school has come to be a superb choice as evidenced by the excellent performance across the board on state mandated tests.

Also, our high school has a long history of excellence in sports, and musical programs, which both my children are ready to embrace. My 14-year-old son is in his second year with the marching band, which has definitely eased his transition to the high school. The director of the band, as well as the other teachers within the walls of the school are dedicated to make their location the jewel of our county, region and state. That is what I desired for my children.

It was necessary for us to change the physical location our family called home to enable this success. While the two addresses are only actually less than two miles apart geographically, from a school perspective the difference is much more immense. The alternative was a school nearly two and a half times larger with a kind of Caste system of social strata's that inhibits the joys of a high school experience. In the present environment it is not necessary for my children to be somebody's child to get the opportunities they desire.

I know with all my heart and mind we made the appropriate school choice for our children. I am most confident they will exit their secondary skills well prepared for life and higher education opportunities. It is my wish that these words will help others in their search for their own answers.

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