The Dear Dr.MOZ Baby Blog

Dear Dr.MOZ,

We’ll soon be moving to a new state and I was wondering…how do parents learn about potential schools before they get there? When you are new to an area, you don’t really have anyone to ask except for realtors or the schools themselves. Do you have any tricks up your sleeve for reviewing schools before the move?

Sincerely,
Angie

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Hello Angie,

That’s a great question! I’m familiar with two online resources that I think you’ll find useful to (a) find schools in potential neighborhoods, (b) compare each school’s official stats, and (c) get the

inside scoop from parents in the area. Two websites worth checking out include:

• GreatSchools.net: The “research and compare” section is a great place to begin looking for schools in your new area based on your zip code. Ads will pop up as you dig deeper into the database and begin comparing schools, but it’s a small price to pay for the free service and they can be easily skipped.

• Education.com: Their “SchoolFinder” section is still in beta with school information available for: CA, FL, GA, IL, MI, NJ, NY, OH, PA, and TX. After locating the schools in your area with their easy-to-use search bar, you can refine your results based on school type (public, charter), student-teacher ratio, and other useful school characteristics.

I would take the “parent comments” with a grain of salt with both websites considering that the number of entries are still small (not yet a balanced collection of opinions), but it couldn’t hurt to take a peek if you find a few posted. The resources will get better as additional schools and related content are added over time, and the comparison features on both websites are a step above the realtor’s “neighborhood” summary.

Thanks for the great question Angie, and good luck with the move!

Have fun and stay healthy,

Dr.MOZ

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