Researching Schools and Childcare in Preparation of Your PCS Move

When my husband and I were young and childless (meaning, we had some savings and could sleep in on the weekends), we found our PCS moves adventurous, even enjoyable. After the first couple of moves, we had the routine down. We even started to look forward to living somewhere new-we called it the "three-year itch." Even after our son was born, he was a mere infant when we made our fourth move, and he was still a toddler for our fifth. No complicated issues there. I was staying home full-time, so childcare was covered. Even our sixth move-done the summer between our son's pre-K and Kindergarten years, was simple. THEN CAME SCHOOL When our son was in first grade, I decided to go back to work part-time. We had to struggle with locating after-school childcare for the first time. And don't even get me started about summer vacation! When we came up for our first PCS during elementary school, I quickly became a self-taught expert in researching school districts, state education standards and individual schools within districts. I also was able to establish a peer group of other moms at our new duty station before we moved, giving me a built-in resource for leads on childcare. Now, it's your turn to learn to do this yourself. For researching schools, there are three main sources of information: the Internet, recommendations from people you know and trust, and information from military sources. As one who made her first few PCS moves in the days before the Internet (yes, really-stop laughing!), online research is truly a PCS'ing family's best friend. Once you learn where your next duty station will be, you will have more information available to you than you will possibly be able to read. This abundance of information makes it even more important that you know which resources are truly reliable. WORD OF MOUTH Obviously, having a trusted friend or family member who can offer information on your new school district is a huge advantage. Put your military connections to work for you. Your spouse probably has colleagues who have recently come from or relocated to the base you are researching. Get in touch with that spouse! I've been on both ends of that conversation, and I'm always happy to help out another military spouse. Military spouses who have "lived there, done that" will no doubt have great information on schools and childcare in your new hometown. Most towns, especially with a large military population, have at least one Moms' or Parents' group. MOPS (Mothers of Pre-Schoolers), The Mommies Network and Meetup are all useful resources for meeting (either in-real-life or virtually) other parents in a particular town or neighborhood. Picking the brains or these local parents is like striking gold! They will be eager to let you know which schools and teachers to seek out, where to find a great babysitter (and maybe even a great hair-stylist, if you're lucky!). ONLINE RESEARCH Childcare Military families have a new online partner in locating childcare: SitterCity ! SitterCity has partnered with the DOD to provide a free membership to every military family, so you can access their outstanding information and resources at no cost! SitterCity's free membership for military families does require that you verify your status with DEERS, so you will have to provide your spouse's social security number, date of birth, rank/rate and service status. Once I provided these details and registered with a username and password, I was immediately able to access the site. SitterCity is not limited to babysitters, either-you can search for nannies, housekeepers, pet sitters, tutors and senior caregivers, as well. Your free membership provides you access to the profiles of prospective caregivers in your area, and you can sort and include or exclude them by a wide variety of criteria, including distance from you, age, experience, having their own transportation, hours of availability, rate charged and experience with special medical or emotional needs. In addition, you can see which prospects have already had background checks, and you also have the option of paying for a background check for a prospect who has not yet had one completed. Available background checks include the Standard Background Check, the Enhanced Background Check and the Motor Vehicle Records Check. Schools GreatSchools.org is a fantastic starting place when you find out what town you'll be calling home next. With the ability to search for your school district by city and state, by actual address or by the school's name, you will quickly find the school or district you need. Once there, you can sort your results by school type (public, public charter or private), by grade level and by distance from your desired location. The Great Schools website even has its own guide to choosing a new school from a distance, which is full of useful suggestions. Not only does Great Schools provide you with all the statistical data about districts and schools, but it also has a community area where you can chat with other parents directly about schools in the area. Great Schools provides you both with a 1-10 point rating system based on their objective criteria and a 5-star rating system based on community feedback. Armed Forces Crossroads is a DOD-run website is specifically designed for the military family. It provides some good how-to information, as well as links for researching schools in its Education Section . You must register for this free site to access the data on it, which means providing your social security number and DOB so they can confirm you are a military member or dependent. I immediately received the e-mail confirmation of my registration request, but I could not access the site until my DEERS status was confirmed, which the site says can take anywhere from a few hours to a few days. Once you have access to the site, you will find a handy checklist for documents you need when changing schools is a big help, especially if this is your first time through this process. School information is available by duty station. There are also a few external links to start you on your own research process. The US Department of Education website provides a list of all the individual states' Department of Education websites . These links will lead you to information on each state's educational standards, registration requirements, mandatory state testing, and much more. Hoagies Gifted Education Page (Yes, it's really called Hoagies, which is what sub sandwiches are called in the Philadelphia area, where the page's founder lives. Why? Read here if you are really interested.) Hoagies is a fantastic resource for information on gifted learners and gifted education. Because gifted education regulations vary on a state-by-state basis, one page that is particularly useful in preparing for a PCS move provides details on gifted education mandates in each state . Home School Legal Defense Association The HSLDA website has all the information you could ever want about homeschooling laws, and this page provides links to homeschooling laws and regulations on a state-by-state basis. MILITARY RESOURCES Childcare The DOD has a well-established program of childcare services available through its Child Development Centers. Beyond the CDC's, each installation offers Child Development Homes, which are a great option if you and your spouse work outside of the CDC's hours, which are usually 0600 - 1800, weekdays only. Each branch has its own website with relevant information, which you can find here: Air Force Army Army Reserve Coast Guard Marine Corps National Guard Navy Schools The DOD has recently declared the education of military children as a high priority. To that end, they have consolidated the information on the different branches' Student Liaison Officer Programs on one webpage. The mission of the School Liaison Officer (SLO) is: " to provide military commanders with the support necessary to coordinate and advise military parents of school-aged children on educational issues and needs and to assist in solving education-related problems." Having known personally and worked with our local SLO when I decided to homeschool my son due to concerns about our local elementary school, I can strongly recommend the SLO as a fabulous resource. Contacting the SLO at your new duty station ahead of your move is a great way to get some timely and potentially "inside" information about the local school district and the individual schools, teachers and principals. There is no denying that PCS moves are complicated for families with school-age children. But if you begin researching your spouse's new duty station early in the process and make use of all the resources available, you should have no problem finding out what you need to help you locate the right schools and caregivers for your children. Some communities have more resources than others, as do some installations. Not every option will be available in every location. Knowing that up front will allow you to be prepared and start making your plans accordingly. Remember, no matter what the educational and childcare resources at your new duty station, you will always have the most priceless resource available to you: other military spouses!

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