How to know if a school is right for your child
From our head of school, Tyler Thigpen
When parents think about schools, sometimes they think about “fit.” Ie, will my child flourish here? Will she fit in? Is this the right environment for her?
But I no longer think about schools that way. Rather, I think about schools primarily as what they are designed—intentionally or unintentionally—to cultivate in young people. I.e., what kind of graduates will the school produce? What learner outcomes will the school cultivate in each child? What kind of “at bats” are kids getting in this learning environment and what will that repeated practice do to and inside of them over time?
The Forest School is designed to cultivate the following learner outcomes in every child:
Most traditional learning environments—and I’m saying this in a non judgmental way—cultivate some combination of academics, rule following, and general socialization. Traditional learning environments simply are not designed to cultivate complex social and emotional factors, marketplace skills, collaboration skills, leadership across lines of difference, and learning science. If a traditional school wants to transform itself, they have to go through a years long process to make this happen. And even then the gains are often not groundbreaking. I have seen this struggle over and over across the US in my work at Transcend and Penn.
To complicate matters, many families cannot pick their child’s school because moving schools or districts isn’t a near or even long term possibility.
So, my advice to parents is this: Think less about “fit” for your child, and instead think more about what you want to be true of your child when she's 18 and thus what experiences she needs in the years ahead to get there.
If you can move, look at the school’s graduate profile, compare it to your goals for your child, and make your choice. If you can’t move schools, get laser focused on what experiences you can DIY for her outside of school to get the “at bats” at the skills, knowledge, and character traits you most value.