Memphis School Guide educates parents

Years before Ginger Spickler’s first child was school-age, she already was thinking about the school her son would attend.
As a resident of Cooper-Young, she had a neighborhood school, Peabody Elementary, just a couple blocks away. She hadn’t given the school much thought, but when her son was 2 she and some neighbors began investigating the school, discovering there was much to like about it.

That child is now in the fifth grade, and the memory helped shape what Spickler created in early 2015, with Memphis School Guide.

The guide is found at memphisschoolguide.org. It helps parents understand in better detail the various schools across Shelby County, which can be a challenge considering there are some 370 of them.

With municipal school districts, charter schools, private schools and so much more, knowing all the details about the educational options can be a real challenge for parents trying to make an educated choice.

“It can be a very difficult and emotional decision about where to send your child to school but parents who have the information feel much more confident about making it,” Spickler said. “I wanted to create something that is more democratic in the availability of information.”

The site recently was redesigned in an effort to create something for a parent who is just starting out on the search process without much information about the school choices. It is organized into three categories: what makes a good school, what are my choices and how do I enroll.

The user can scroll through useful information such as school descriptions, explanations of the types of schools and the enrollment process and guidelines for each.

“The new status quo for parents is choice,” Spickler said. “We’re not going back to one school district. We’re heading for more decentralization.”

Memphis School Guide will host a school choice fair in Frayser on Saturday, Jan. 9, at Union Grove Baptist Church, 2285 Frayser Blvd. from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Some 20 schools will be represented at the fair, including traditional public, public charter and private school options. The fair will feature free workshops on topics of interest to parents, including TN Ready preparation and parent advocacy.