Parents sharing the process of searching for a school in Greater Philadelphia. What kind of school are you looking for? Charter, public, private, city, suburban?
Parents that gamble by buying a house in a desirable catchment or forgo the lottery or private school application process could end up out of luck 
Save yourself from the thoughts of uprooting your family and moving to the suburbs, putting yourself on tons of charter school wait lists, and filling out the financial aid forms every year. Check out your public school! 
'Choice' is a term that makes my blood boil when you have a special son like mine, cause it only existent to the extent you want to play roulette with your child's education. I played. 
We only considered Perelman Jewish Day School 
I suspect that Quaker school values likely are quite pervasive in non-Friends schools throughout Greater Philadelphia. 
We may remember a time when kids just went to their neighborhood school. But this isn’t Kansas anymore. There are lots of options and lots of different application processes for parents nowadays. We started school hunting at the dining room table and finally I threw my hands up...what are ALL the options?! Every time I thought I knew it all, another school popped up! I wanted to have all my options before deciding which schools to look at and which open houses to attend, so here is a brief Elementary School Options 101. 
It did not occur to me that a child able to attend Masterman for high school would turn it down in favor of a Catholic school. 
As I have begun to consider a private school for my son, I have come across some very powerful arguments in the media stating that private schools aren't necessarily as desirable as their glossy viewbooks would lead you to believe. 
Len Lipkin
PSS Community