Questions to Ask About High School
Questions for families choosing a high school, to use at an open evening, on a tour, or in a meeting with a principal or admissions office. Covers class sizes, course access, support, discipline, and what the school does not advertise.
The questions
Open any question for the note
How many students are in a typical class here, and what is the largest class you run?
Why ask it
Averages hide the outliers, and the largest class is usually the required one everybody takes. The gap between the two numbers tells you where the school is under strain.
What courses can a student not take here that they could at a larger school?
Why ask it
Every school has gaps, and a school that names its own honestly is easier to trust on everything else. Watch for languages, higher maths, and specialist arts or technical subjects.
How are students placed into levels, and can they move up partway through the year?
Why ask it
Placement made once at intake and rarely revisited can set a fourteen-year-old's trajectory for four years. Ask for the actual mechanism for moving, and how many students used it last year.
How many of your teachers have been here more than five years?
Why ask it
Turnover is the most reliable indicator of how a school treats its staff, and staff churn lands on students as a series of substitutes. A specific figure beats a warm answer.
How many students does each counselor look after?
Why ask it
College advice, timetable problems, and pastoral crises all pass through this one role. A caseload in the hundreds means your child gets a form rather than a conversation.
How do you find out when a student is starting to struggle, and how quickly?
Why ask it
The good answer names a mechanism and a timeframe: a weekly grade check, a named adult, a call home in days. The weak answer is that teachers care a great deal.
What happens in the first week for a student who arrives knowing nobody?
Why ask it
Transfer and out-of-catchment students sink or settle in that first week. Schools with a real practice describe it in detail, while others describe an assembly.
For a student with an IEP or a 504 plan, what happens in practice rather than on paper?
Why ask it
Legal obligations are the same everywhere, and delivery is not. Ask who writes the accommodations, who tells the teachers, and what a parent does when they are not being followed.
What is the rule on phones during the school day, and how is it enforced?
Why ask it
The enforcement half is the real answer. An unenforced policy tells you something about the school's authority generally, not only about phones.
How would I hear about a discipline incident involving my child, and how soon?
Why ask it
You are asking about the communication chain, which is where most parent grievances actually originate. Look for a person and a timeframe rather than a portal.
What does discipline look like for a first offence compared with a repeat one?
Why ask it
This exposes whether the school escalates thoughtfully or reaches for suspension early. Ask about last year's suspension count if you want the practice rather than the policy.
How many students left before graduating last year, and where did they go?
Why ask it
Departures are recorded somewhere and are rarely volunteered. A pattern of students leaving for one particular alternative school is worth understanding before you enrol.
What do you offer a student who is not heading to a four-year college?
Why ask it
Many schools present one pathway well and improvise the rest. Named apprenticeships, technical programs, or partnerships indicate a school that plans for all of its students.
Which extracurricular activities are actually running this year, with an adult in charge?
Why ask it
Prospectus lists include clubs that folded years ago. Asking who runs each one separates the live activities from the historical ones.
What do students here complain about?
Why ask it
Anyone who works closely with teenagers knows the answer instantly. A deflection means either they do not listen to students or they do not want to tell you.
What have you changed in the last two years because families raised it?
Why ask it
This tests whether parent input reaches decisions. A concrete example, even a small one, is worth more than any statement about partnership with families.
Beyond tuition or fees, what do families typically spend in a year?
Why ask it
Trips, uniforms, instruments, sports kit, exam fees, and technology add up, and the total often surprises people. Ask what happens for families who cannot cover an item.
What is the homework expectation on a weeknight, and who checks that it stays reasonable?
Why ask it
Without coordination, six teachers each setting a modest amount produces an unreasonable evening. The answer tells you whether anyone is managing the total load.
If my child were being harassed and did not want to tell me, who would they go to?
Why ask it
You want a named role that students actually use, not a reporting form. Ask how a student would know that person exists in their first month.
Could I speak with a parent whose child had a hard time here?
Why ask it
Schools readily offer their happiest families. Willingness to connect you with a harder case, even with permission taking time, says more than the tour did.
Judging a High School From the Outside
Practical guidance for the conversation itself
Who to ask, and where
Students, away from the tour
Student guides are selected and briefed. The useful conversations happen with students at a bus stop, at a sports fixture, or through a neighbour's child, and take about four minutes.
Parents one year ahead of you
Families with a child in the second year have stopped defending the choice and have not yet forgotten the first-year problems. They are the most accurate source available.
The office staff
Ask a receptionist how a routine matter works, such as reporting an absence or getting a message to a teacher. Everyday competence at the front desk usually reflects the wider organisation.
What to notice on the visit
- How students speak to staff in the corridor when nobody is presenting to you.
- Whether the building is maintained in the parts not on the tour route: toilets, older classrooms, the far end of the field.
- How the school talks about its weakest students, and whether it talks about them at all.
- Whether any student work on display is recent, and whether it comes from more than one class.
- How long the tour spends on results and facilities compared with how children are looked after.
Before you decide
- 1Write down the two or three things that matter most for this particular child, since the best school in general is not always the best school for them.
- 2Check the practical logistics: journey time each way, what happens after a late activity, and who collects them if something goes wrong.
- 3Ask each school the same three questions so you have answers you can actually compare.
- 4Find one family who left the school and ask why, which is usually the most informative half hour of the process.
- 5Involve the student in the visit and ask afterwards what they noticed, because they will register the social atmosphere faster than you will.