In six months or so, we plan to move my 4-year old son Matthias to a new preschool. We are looking for a location that is close to where we live, and that has a strong Kindergarten readiness curriculum. While jotting down the questions that we wanted to ask prospective preschools, we began to think that we should make them public. Below you will a list of 40 questions that we think you should ask when choosing your child’s preschool.

1. What has been your response to Covid-19? What policies/protections do you have in place? How do you keep kids safe from infectious diseases?
2. In what ways do you implement an anti-racist curriculum or resources into your existing curriculum?
3. How important is diversity to your center’s teachers and administrators?
4. Do you serve breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks?
5. How do you prepare students for Kindergarten? Do you have a formal Kindergarten readiness curriculum?
6. How are preliteracy and numeracy skills taught at your center?
7. Can you tell us more about the school’s educational philosophy? Its overall curriculum?
8. Do you have any longitudinal data on your students’ learning outcomes after they leave your center and enter Kindergarten? How about Kindergarten through 12-grade?
9. Have any efficacy studies been done on the curriculum that you use?
10. Is certification a prerequisite for employment at your center?
11. What background checks do you run on prospective employees? Are they subject to criminal and child abuse checks? Do they undergo psychological and behavioral testing?
12. What is your stance on the importance of male teachers in early childhood centers and elementary schools?
13. Are you accredited and licensed by NAECY? The State of Virginia?
14. Have there been any complaints made against your center or any of its staff in the last year? If so, can you provide us with a list?
15. Can you provide us with a copy of your last NAECY Report?
16. Can you provide us with a copy of your policies and procedures handbook?
17. What are the racial demographics of your students and staff?
18. What days/holidays are the center closed?
19. What are your hours of operation?
20. How long have you been in business?
21. What will a typical day be like for my child?
22. Do the children go outside? How often, and for how long?
23. Do the children take naps? Where?
24. What is your center’s approach to discipline?
25. When and how are parents informed of discipline issues involving their child?
26. How do you handle bullying or teasing?
27. If I provide the food, are there any items that I can’t include?
28. What is your policy on food allergies?
29. What is your sick child policy?
30. Are the toys and games and equipment sanitized periodically?
31. How often is the play equipment inspected?
32. What is the policy for visitors?
33. What is your sign-in/sign-out procedure?
34. Who is allowed to pick my child up?
35. Do you have fire and emergency drills?
36. Do you have a disaster plan in place? What’s the procedure in case of an emergency?
37. What type of safety training do your teachers have
38. Is everyone in the building trained in CPR and first aid?
39. What is the student to teacher ratio?
40. Who else is in the building?