The elementary and secondary education experience marks the beginning of an exciting journey and its success depends upon each child having the opportunity to develop, to the fullest, his or her interests, talents and aspirations. It is our goal that your child have every opportunity to do so through the careful selection of a school.
Initial Meeting
We begin with a meeting with the parent(s) when we will discuss the expectations and hopes you have for your child. At this time we obtain a history of the child’s previous experience in school and evaluate school records, testing and other relevant information. This session is usually followed, either immediately after the parent meeting, or another time, by a meeting between counselor and child. This initial conference with your family enables us to comprehensively evaluate your child’s academic needs, extracurricular interests, and personality.
Research
The heart of Mallory, Baron, Ross & Kindler counseling is thorough research. We research appropriate school options in terms of your child’s individual needs, develop a list of recommended schools, and discuss with the schools how they might be a good match for your child. Research may also include talking with someone at your child’s school, or anyone who knows your child well and can help the counselor have as much information as possible. We are then able to recommend schools that are viable choices.
Follow-up
Once the school research is completed, we have a follow-up meeting when we discuss which schools we feel are appropriate for consideration. We discuss the schools in detail, focusing on why they are appropriate options for your child, and we also go over the process of exploring school options that is ahead to be sure you have a viable plan in place. We remain actively involved in the application process to ensure the greatest attention is given to facilitating your child’s selection of a new school. This pro-active association may include:
- Providing brochures and other information about specific schools
- Arranging appointments for visits at boarding schools or alternative programs, as appropriate
- Forwarding all relevant records and documents to the schools you will be visiting, and sending along our own evaluative comments to schools you may be considering
- Facilitating testing in our offices when it is requested by you or an educational program
- Reviewing your impressions upon completion of your school visits as well as following up with the schools you visit
- Discussing all the parts of the application process, including the student responses to the application questions, the parent part of the application, testing results, and answering any questions that come up during the time that the application is being completed. We want to be sure that you and your child understand and feel comfortable with all that you are doing. We are also in touch with the schools to be sure they have all the information they need in order to make their decisions.
- Helping you when you receive decisions from schools, and discussing the merits of the schools that are options, as well as discussing what to do about any wait list decisions, if that is the situation. Helping you choose one school.