What Do You Prepare Before Visiting the School?
Prepare a short summary of your child's strengths, what helps them learn, and what causes them difficulty. Identify your priorities: communication, independence, social participation, academic skills, or transitioning between activities.
Having these priorities turns the visit into a practical conversation instead of just a general tour.
What Are the Important Questions for School Administration?
Ask how the school handles individual differences within the classroom, who coordinates support, how learning goals are written, and how they communicate with the family. Ask for examples of classroom accommodations they've used before.
Also ask about class sizes, teacher training, behavior management, accessibility, and the transition plan when changing classes or teachers.
How Do You Make the Decision?
Compare what your child needs against what the school can actually provide. Vague promises are worth less than a simple but clear, trackable procedure.
Choose the environment that sees your child as a partner in learning, accepts reviewing the plan, and treats the family with respect and transparency.
A Model: Field Visit Questions Ranked by Priority
Order your questions during the visit from most important to least urgent instead of asking them randomly: start with a specific question about the actual accommodations the school implemented last year for a student with a similar need, not a general question like “do you accept inclusion.”
Then move to a question about the follow-up mechanism: who reviews the student's plan, how often, and how the review outcome reaches the family. Then ask about the contingency plan when a teacher or class changes mid-year - this moment reveals the real stability of support more than any general program description.
Leave the cost and administrative procedure questions for last; the school's answers to the previous questions give you a clearer picture of whether the administrative details are even worth pursuing.