Moving House and Changing Schools: How to Find a Good School When Moving

Moving may be stressful and difficult, but it can also be an excellent new beginning – it can give you the chance to build a happier life and a brighter future for yourself and your family. And if you have school-aged children, this means giving them quality education so they can thrive in a competitive, evolving world – and achieve a bright future.

So, when moving house, you’ll want to make sure that your kids will be able to go to a good school – a school that will help them develop their potential and succeed in life. Finding the right school for your child, however, can be a great challenge – especially if you’re moving to a new city and aren’t familiar with the educational opportunities in the area.

You need to consider a number of important factors and carefully research your options in order to find a school that fits your kids’ needs and your family’s lifestyle. And once you’ve made a choice, you need to know what steps to take when transferring your child to another school.

Read on to find out how to pick the best school for your child and how to change schools when moving.

What to Consider When Moving House and Changing Schools

When moving to a new place, you’ll be thinking about what will be best for you and your family – in terms of location, home features, school districts, affordability, etc. You’ll have to assess your lifestyle, needs and preferences, budget and goals, and make wise decisions about your move and the place where you’re going to live.

1) Identify your child’s needs

Different children have different needs and thrive in different environments. To find the school that will be the perfect fit for your son or daughter, you need to consider his/her abilities, interests, and learning style:

• Will your kid feel more comfortable in a small school or in a large one? What about the class size?
• Do they thrive in a structured learning environment with clear rules, strict schedules, and strong discipline or do they prefer to have more independence and study at their own pace?
• Does your child require special education services or need any tailor-made programs such as gifted learning, language immersion, or mentoring?
• What subjects hold your kid’s interest? Are you looking for a school that focuses on science, technology, mathematics, languages, humanities, or the arts?
• What extracurricular activities (sports, music, theater, art, etc.) does your child enjoy? How important are these activities to your kid?
• What is the end goal? If your son or daughter wants to go to college, they’ll need a curriculum that will get them ready. If they prefer a technical skill or trade, it’ll be best to find a vocational school that offers career-focused courses and practical training.

Determine what’s important to you in a school, what kind of education you want your child to receive, and what kind of learning environment will be best for your little one, so you know what to look for when choosing a new school for your kid.

See also: How moving affects children

2) Coordinate your school-related wishes with your housing requirements and your family’s needs

When education is of primary concern, people first find a school they like and then start looking for a house or apartment in the neighborhood. More often, however, families move to a specific place for a reason (nice house, good neighborhood, proximity to workplace, affordable costs, etc.) and then try to find the best school in the area. 

If you prefer your child to go to a private school, you’ll have more flexibility about the location of your new home, as you won’t need to take school districts into account. If you want your kid to go to a public school, though, school boundaries will be a key factor in your decision where to live.

Whatever the case in your situation, you must carefully coordinate your needs and wishes, so you don’t end up enrolling your child in a great school only to find out that you can’t afford living in the area (home prices in top-rated school districts tend to be quite high) or buying a great home only to find out that there are no good schools nearby.

You need to consider transportation options and commute times as well – your child may need transportation to and from school, your preferred school district may be very far from your workplace, etc.

Be sure to take all relevant factors into account when choosing a place to move to.

3) Decide on the best time to move

If you have the liberty to choose the time of your move, the summer months are your better option – it will be much easier to switch schools during the summer break and your kid will be able to begin the new school year in their new school. This way, the transition will be easier as your little one will be already used to their new surroundings and their new life and may have even met – and made friends with – some of their new classmates during the summer.

On the other hand, moving during the school year will give your child an opportunity to meet new friends and adapt to the new environment more quickly.

The best time to move schools depends on the age of your kid, their attitude toward the move (and toward their current school), and many other factors (participation in school events, extracurricular activities, etc.) – talk to your child and decide what will be best for everyone.

See also: Important things to consider when deciding on a moving date

How to Find a Good School When Moving

Once you’ve identified your kid’s needs and the needs of your family and specified your requirements (what a school must have) and preferences (what would be nice for the school to have), you can start searching for the best new educational institution for your child. Take into account both the traditional considerations (test scores, student-to-teacher ratio, after-school programs, teacher training, subject matter focus, discipline, safety, etc.) and the more modern ones (diversity, learning environment, support programs, fostering creativity, etc.):

1. Ask for recommendations

Your first step when looking for a new school for your kid is to try to find some first-hand information about the educational institutions in your new area:

• Seek advice from your child’s current teachers – ask them whether they can recommend a school in your new location that they think will suit your son or daughter;
• Tell everyone you know about your move and ask friends, relatives, coworkers, neighbors if they have any information about the schools in your new town or city;
• Ask your real estate agent – Realtors know how important school ratings are to homebuyers, so they gather comprehensive information on all local educational facilities and can give you specific facts, statistics, and details about the schools in your new area. You can usually find information on nearby schools on real estate listings as well;
• If you have already chosen a neighborhood to move to, talk to people in the district who have schoolchildren and ask them about their opinions. You can talk to them in person or meet them online in communities like Nextdoor or in Facebook discussion groups. You may also be able to find parent reviews online that will help you compare schools in your new area.

2. Use online resources

Thanks to the Internet you can easily find detailed information on every school in your new location – and compare the educational institutions so you can pick the right one for your child. Here are some of the websites that will be most useful in your search for a new school:

• The National Center for Education Statistics provides data for each school district in the country (student/teacher ratio, demographics, etc.). The institutions (public schools, private schools, and colleges) can be filtered by states, cities, and zip codes and the site displays useful statistical data about any specific school you’re interested in;
• GreatSchools is a national non-profit website that provides test scores and detailed information for both public and private schools. It allows you to check school ratings, compare school programs, and read parent reviews (you can see how parents rate schools in terms of teacher quality, principal leadership, and parent involvement);
• SchoolDigger provides information on school rankings, test scores, district boundaries, and student/teacher ratios and has a useful comparison tool;

• Niche ranks school districts based on academic test scores of students and various relevant metrics (teacher evaluation metrics, diversity metrics, health and safety metrics, etc.);
• School district websites provide a list of all public and private elementary schools, secondary schools, and institutions of higher education in the district, together with their contact details, enrollment procedures, school schedules, and information about after-school programs;
• Individual school websites provide all kinds of information about the respective educational institution – its history, mission statement, students’ dynamics, awards and achievements, special programs, school calendar, etc. You may even find photo slide shows, videos, and virtual tours of the schools that will give you quite a realistic idea of what to expect.

Good to remember: While it’s important to know how a school performs academically, keep in mind that there is more to a school than test grades – you need to consider the overall educational environment with all its aspects (teaching style, expectations from students, teacher-student relationships, student-student relationships, behavior policy, school culture, school surroundings, on-site facilities, etc.) when choosing a new school for your child.

3. Visit the schools in person

Having researched the educational institutions in your new area, you’ll be able to narrow down your choice to three or four schools that you think will best suit your child. If possible, try to visit each of these schools in person – it is the only way to get a true feel about the school’s learning environment.

It’s best if you call the school beforehand and schedule a tour – meet with administrators and teachers, check out the school facilities, watch teachers and parents interact, etc. As you walk the halls, look for displays of students’ work (to get a sense of the type of projects typically assigned in the school) and pay attention to how well the facility is maintained.

If allowed to, bring your child with you on the tour, so they can experience the school atmosphere firsthand and provide you with their useful feedback – what they liked most about the school and what they didn’t like at all. This will make your kid feel involved in the process and will ensure a smoother transition to the new school later on.

When going on a school tour, have a list of important questions to ask the school administrators and the teachers – questions about academic issues and non-academic concerns that will allow you to get a sense of the school environment:

• How many students are in a class?
• Does the school have a mission statement or educational philosophy?
• What kind of curriculum does the school offer?
• What type of projects students usually do? How much homework is typically assigned?
• What resources and on-site facilities are available to students?
• How does the school monitor and measure student progress?
• Does the school have a program for gifted students?
• How does the school support students who have special needs or experience academic, social, or emotional difficulties?
• What extracurricular activities are available? Which after-school clubs are most popular?
• Does the school have a dress code? Are uniforms required or certain clothes restricted?
• How does the school handle discipline and safety?
• How does your school handle bullying?
• Does the school offer bus transportation? Are there any special conditions regarding the service?
• How are parents involved in the school?

If you can’t visit any schools in your new area before the move, contact the educational institutions you’re considering for your child and schedule phone calls with the principals (or other main administrators) so you can still ask your questions and get the answers that will help you make an informed decision about the best school for your son or daughter.

Bonus tip: Talk to parents who have children in the school – meet them at the school gates, look for contact information for PTA officers on the school’s website, post a question on the school Facebook page, etc. Ask the parents the same questions you asked the administrators (so you can compare the answers and make conclusions) and also ask them what they like and dislike about the school.

If you have the chance, talk to some students too – find out how they feel about the school, if they’re excited about classes, whether they like the teachers, what after-school activities they attend, etc. Hearing parent and student perspectives will help you “see the whole picture” and get a realistic idea of what to expect from a school.  

Now that you know how to find a new school when moving, you need to find out how to transfer your kid to the new education institution in a timely and efficient manner.

How to Transfer Your Child to a New School When Moving

Once you’ve made your final decision, it’s time to apply to your chosen school. Make sure:

1. you buy/rent a home within the right district – most schools will only consider students who live within their catchment areas and school boundaries;
2. the school has a place available in your child’s year group.

The actual application process will depend on the school and the place where you choose to live – there might be certain criteria you have to match; your child may be required to take admission tests; there may be special in-year admission arrangements if you’re moving during the school year; etc. (Click here to find some useful tips for moving schools midyear.)

In any case, moving your child to another school will require a lot of paperwork – you’ll have to gather a lot of documents and academic records necessary for the enrollment of your son or daughter in the new educational institution:

• Addresses and contact information of all schools your child has attended (including dates they were enrolled);
• Copies of transcripts and report cards (from your child’s old school);
• Official standardized test results (completed exams and scores);
• Recommendation letters from teachers, principal, and/or extracurricular instructors;
• Immunization records of your child;
• Proof of address – a copy of your new home’s deed title page (or a copy of your lease agreement), utility bills (or proof of service letters from the utility companies), bank statements, etc.

It is also a good idea to prepare a list of any awards and achievements your child has won over the years and create a portfolio that reflects their best work (include high graded assignments, examples of accomplishments in extra-curricular activities, a list of community activities and clubs your kid has participated in, etc.).

If you are enrolling your child in a private or charter school, you may be required to present some additional documents as well.

Bonus tip: When moving house and changing schools, try to enroll your child in your top-choice school but be sure to have a back-up plan, too – find out if there are slots available in other good nearby schools, what their enrollment procedures are, etc. This way, you’ll be able to react quickly if you can’t get your kid into your first choice school because they don’t have room (stay on their waiting list though – students drop out, move, etc.) or if things don’t work out for your child at the new school and you need to move them again.

See also: The school lessons of moving house

Knowing how to change school when moving house will take some of the relocation stress off your shoulders and will help make the transition easier for your child. And the new school will play a big role in your kid’s life and future – the kind of friends they make and teachers they have, the practical knowledge they gather and the important lessons they learn are all interrelated factors that will shape out their future and define who they are and who they will be.