While many children and educators associate September with the notion of "Back to School", most parents know better.  January and February are notoriously busy months when mothers and fathers need to sort through the maze of possible education options.  Starting as early preschool, finding the perfect bastion of learning is always a hot topic!

By the time you read this, your child may have already been accepted or wait-listed for your favorite preschool, private school, or public magnet school.  (It still astounds me that you are required to have a "safety school" for a 3 year old!) But for those of you who are still on the hunt for the right school or if you are simply curious about your local public as well private school options, I have a few A+ websites to help you navigate the thorny task of school scouting.

The first site is GreatSchools.org.  With over 200,000 public and private school listings, GreatSchools.org is one of the richest sources of information for public and private schools including preschools.  Expect to find parent reviews, test scores and stats, student/teacher ratios, an overview of programs and extracurricular activities as well as a listing of student resources such as after-care.  The site also allows you to compare schools in your area.

In addition to the base school information, GreatSchools.org also offers a generous online catalog of articles.  Topics include special education, choosing the right school, tips for applying and enrolling, remaking your child's lunchbox and even a section for college preparation.

Schooldigger.com is another great resource.  Founded in 2006, Schooldigger.com has an enormous database that includes over 136,000 detailed profiles for elementary, middle and high schools in every state in the US.  Data includes test scores, school rankings, district boundaries, student/teacher ratios, crime data, real estate info and more.

To ensure a comprehensive assessment I recommend a review of both GreatSchools.org and SchoolDigger.com. Each has its strong suits.  GreatSchools.org has more support articles and schools listed; however, SchoolDigger.com gives more meaningful data on school scores and, in my opinion, has a better summary of data.  One drawback, Schooldigger.com does not list every preschool.

One final note, if your child is on a wait-list for your favorite school, don't give up hope.  We live in an incredibly transient area.  People move, get transferred, have a change of heart about a school, etc. Pay the money to get on a waiting list.  It is worth it.  All of my friends were able to get into the school of their choice by Midsummer.

For more information about preschool selection read PRESCHOOL CHECKLIST.  To see our listing of local preschools, private schools and Montessori schools, click here.