Happy 2023! It’s a brand-new year and the enrollment season for local charter schools is in full swing. As part of our mission to support school choice and empower families with the knowledge and resources needed to navigate the range of school options available, San Antonio Charter Moms is pleased to announce another round of upcoming School Discovery Day events through March.
School Discovery Day Events are free and the perfect opportunity for families to exercise their right to school choice and explore the wide range of options available, including charter, private, and magnet schools. With six School Discovery Day events held throughout fall and spring in the 2022–23 season, parents and children have plenty of opportunities to gather for a day of information, education, and fun for the whole family.
Navigating the Education System
Miranda Cushman, a San Antonio mother of a first and third grader, recently attended her first School Discovery Day event after seeing it promoted on social media.
“I first learned about School Discovery Event on the Alamo City Moms page on Facebook,” Cushman says. “Our kids are at a charter school, but we are looking at other options for the next school year. It sounded like a great opportunity to learn a lot with so many schools would be in one place.”
Cushman says her children were supposed to start school in 2020 at the height of COVID, and instead of enrolling at a traditional public school, they remained at the private preschool they had been attending. Since both were ahead academically by at least an entire grade level, a local charter school was the best option for her family at the time. Since then, Cushman has remained open to exploring different options that will nurture the unique needs of her children.
“We had a great time at School Discovery Day,” she says emphatically. “We stopped at every single table. It was neat to see all the schools and learn what each has to offer and how they navigate the public education system in their own right to help every student succeed.”
Cushman says she is excited after engaging with two great prospective schools. The opportunity to hear from school representatives and ask questions in one convenient location made her school search process more manageable.
“It was engaging and so much fun. We took our kids with us, and they were not bored at all,” she says with a laugh. “We were following our top two schools on social media, so to meet in person at the event and get more details on what the school is about, its mission, their vision—it helps. We scheduled a tour with one of them right away.”
Finding High Quality Education Options
Danielle Walker, a San Antonio mother with a three-year-old and an infant, also attended a School Discovery Day event last fall after hearing positive feedback about it both in her mom group and at school.
“My daughter is a COVID baby. Like many other families with children born in recent years, I was worried about finding a program that succeeded with academic readiness in the early stages of a child’s development.”
Studies show that children’s brains grow rapidly through age five while being influenced and stimulated by new experiences. For children born just before or during the pandemic, these early years consisted of months of quarantine and isolation instead of new experiences like playing, socializing, and regular in-school instruction to set a solid educational foundation. The result puts parents like Walker on a quest to find school options that will be challenging academically and close potential gaps in learning.
“I looked at different schools and programs, and they try hard, but they didn’t seem to meet the standard for meeting academic readiness,” says Walker. “Some schools don’t offer Pre-K for all, so I can either pay money I can’t afford, try to find services within the city, or hope I can get her into a charter school.”
Talking to Schools and Asking Questions
Walker says she was pleased with the number of schools featured at the School Discovery Day event and the ability to connect personally with campus staff.
“My husband and I wanted to meet face-to-face with school representatives and ask them questions about their philosophies and behavioral guidelines,” she says. “Some schools had specialty tracks that focused on early pathways to medicine and technology, some had dual language options, and others featured wilderness expeditions and peer-to-peer mentoring, which is great to give our kids civic education and develop leadership and compassion.”
While the event was eye-opening for Walker, she notes that even her husband left feeling more informed about what different schools offer.
While each is excited about potential new schools to send their children to next year, both moms strongly encourage other families to attend a School Discovery Day.
“It was a wonderful experience. I highly encourage families to do their research and not choose a school based on how close it is to their home,” she says. “Do not think you’re limited just because of where you live or how much you make. You have to create educational equity for your child.”
“You have nothing to lose and everything to gain,” adds Cushman. “Every child learns differently. There isn’t a single, cookie-cutter way of teaching children, and parents should explore options that work for their child and their family.”
Join Us at School Discovery Day
We will have plenty of School Discovery Day events coming up! Join us at one of the dates below and experience for yourself how we are helping families connect with local educators and streamline their school search:
- The DoSeum on January 21, 2023—National School Choice Week!
- Second Baptist Church on February 4, 2023
- Hangar 9 on February 18, 2023
- Hemisfair on March 4, 2023
Families can meet school representatives from 15 to nearly 30 top San Antonio choice schools at each event. They can ask questions, get on interest lists, and learn all about application processes and deadlines.
For more information about the San Antonio Charter Moms, our School Discovery Day events, or to download our handy school search app, please visit sachartermoms.com/.
Read More About School Search
- “Anna Koalenz Searched to Find the Right School for Her Son,” Cavett Thorne, San Antonio Charter Moms, September 8, 2022
- “Erin Stinson Offers a Parent Perspective from Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran School,” Erin Stinson, San Antonio Charter Moms, February 23, 2022
- “A Mother’s Angst: Kathleen Gomez Exercised School Choice in the Age of COVID,” Kathleen Gomez, San Antonio Charter Moms, May 27, 2021
- “Stephanie Adams Shares Her School Search Experience,” Stephanie Adams, San Antonio Charter Moms, May 5, 2021
- “How to Find the Best Schools in San Antonio,” San Antonio Charter Moms, February 25, 2020
- “Searching for Charter Schools in San Antonio: What You Can Do in January,” San Antonio Charter Moms, January 17, 2019
- “Finding the Right Schools in San Antonio for Your Children – MOMS Club of San Antonio NE Edition,” Inga Cotton, San Antonio Charter Moms, April 9, 2018
