The Education Guide : A resource for families
Moving to a new city can be one of the most exciting chapters in your life. But, for parents of school age children, moving to an unfamiliar place can add an extra challenge – finding accurate information about quality educational choices for your children.
So, where do families turn for thorough, accurate information about public and private school choices in their new city?
In today’s technologically advanced world, one place to begin your search is the Internet. Many public school districts and private schools have Web sites that provide information for parents and prospective students. A large number of parochial schools around the U.S. have taken great strides to build the presence on the Web where they provide accurate information about their private schools.
While the Internet is a great starting point, searching the Web, and multiple school
Web sites, can take more hours than most
parents can spare while preparing to move the entire family.
Another option in researching school choices in your prospective new hometown would be to call or write the public schools and private schools so they can mail information to you and your family. But, depending on how much time you have before moving, this can be time-consuming as well.
If you are moving to a new city to take a promotion or a new job, your employer can also be a good source for providing information about your new community. Many employers provide this type of information to their new employees as part of their welcome package.
Another great source of information is the chamber of commerce in the new city to which you will be moving. Chambers of commerce all across America mail out thousands of information packets each year to families seeking information covering such a broad range of issues as the quality of life, the cultural arts and public and private schools.
But what happens if you are under a time constraint and you need to move your family as quickly as possible? What happens if you simply don’t have the time to do any ‘homework’ before you leave your old city to move to your new one?
That’s where your realtor in your new city comes into the picture.
Not only do realtors have to stay constantly informed on the laws surrounding real estate, they also have to keep abreast about all of the new developments in their market. Therefore, realtors are a great source for conveying information to families that are relocating to a city from somewhere else.
Everything realtors consult families about is governed by the federal Fair Housing Act, which prohibits discrimination in any form. For example, realtors are not allowed to recommend one area of a city over another due to certain socio-economic factors or, for the sake of argument here, the performance of the public schools in one part of a city over another part of a city.
Many realtors give families copies of the Education Guide as a way of leveling the playing field about public and private school choices in the region.
“The guide is always part of our customer relocation packets because it is a comprehensive guide for all schools in all areas in Northeast Florida,” said Annette Krestalude, a manager with Prudential Network Realty in Jacksonville. “It is also a great resource for not only public but private schools along with college and universities, special schools and programs and the voluntary pre-kindergarten program.”
Many times, families will ask realtors
questions about a specific school district because their new employer may have mentioned the district as having highly-rated schools. However, realtors are not allowed to make these types of recommendations based on the law.
“They almost always ask ‘which county has the best schools?’ and the biggest impact about schools and neighborhoods usually comes from their new employer,” Krestalude said. “We feel as though the Education Guide is a great tool because we can give families all of the information for all schools and counties in Northeast Florida.”
Once families are given a copy of the Education Guide, Krestalude said, they recognize it as an excellent resource.
“Every family we give the Education Guide says it is very helpful and are very appreciative of the information,” Krestalude said. “The information is not just on scores, but a great overview of how you become an “A” school and what is included in the calculations. Agents also feel as though they cannot keep up with all of the info regarding schools so it is a great resource for both agent and their
customers.”
Krestalude said families appreciate the fact that the Education Guide provides so much information in one place because it saves them time in making educational choices for their children.