Choosing a School: Six Questions Every Family Should Ask

August 22, 2026

Choosing a School: Six Questions Every Family Should Ask

Choosing a school is one of the most consequential decisions parents make for their children. Families naturally consider location, tuition, schedules, facilities, extracurricular programs, and whether the campus feels welcoming. Those are all reasonable things to consider, but they do not tell the full story. 

A school is not simply the place where your child will spend six or seven hours each day. It is a community of teachers, coaches, leaders, classmates, beliefs, expectations, and opportunities that will help shape who your child becomes. The question is not just whether a school feels like a good fit during a tour. The better question is what your child will experience on an ordinary Tuesday, when no one is giving a presentation and the regular life of the school is unfolding. 

As your family compares schools, here are six questions worth asking.

1. What beliefs and values will shape my child here? 

Education is never neutral. Every school operates from certain beliefs about what is true, what matters, what makes a person valuable, and what kind of life is worth pursuing. Those beliefs may be stated clearly, or they may be largely unspoken, but they will still influence what students are taught and how they are formed.

For Christian families, this question should go much deeper than whether a school offers Bible classes or holds chapel. Is a Biblical worldview genuinely woven throughout the student experience? Do students learn to view history, science, literature, relationships, ethics, leadership, and their own gifts through the truth of Scripture? Are teachers prepared to help students engage difficult questions with both conviction and wisdom? Public schools, by design, cannot teach every subject from a Biblical worldview or intentionally reinforce the Christian convictions families are building at home.

At VCS, Christian formation is not an addition to the academic program. It is the foundation beneath it. We are unapologetically and distinctly Christian, and while not every family who chooses VCS identifies as Christian, many are drawn to the traditional values reflected in our culture: respect, personal responsibility, integrity, clear standards, and partnership with parents. Every family understands that our teaching and mission are grounded in Biblical truth as we work together to form students who love truth, pursue wisdom, work hard, think carefully, lead humbly, and live faithfully.

2. How will I know whether my child is being challenged academically? 

Nearly every school describes its academics positively. Parents deserve more than general statements or good intentions. Ask how the school measures student learning, what its results show, how teachers respond when students struggle, and what happens when students are ready for a greater challenge.

Strong schools do not simply collect data. They use it. VCS students are assessed through the nationally normed Iowa Test of Basic Skills, and our current results place every school level above the national norm in both reading and mathematics. While VCS and California public schools use different assessments, our results compare very strongly with surrounding public-school options and show that VCS students are doing more than meeting a state-defined standard. They are performing above national norms.

That academic strength continues into high school. During the 2024-2025 school year, VCS students completed 247 Advanced Placement exams across 22 subject areas, with 163 exams earning a score of 3 or higher. VCS earned Platinum with Access recognition from the College Board in 2024 and Gold recognition in 2025, making VCS the region’s only AP Gold School that year. Only 7% of eligible schools in the United States and Canada earned Gold recognition in 2025. These results show that VCS does not simply perform well compared with surrounding public schools. Our students and academic programs compete with some of the strongest schools in Northern California. Families can review the results, local comparisons, and explanation of our nationally normed testing in Choosing a School: Why VCS Academics Measure Up.

Students should not have to choose between meaningful academic challenge and a deeply Christian school environment. At VCS, we want both.

3. Will my child truly be known? 

Class size matters, but the deeper issue is whether the school is structured to know students personally. Will teachers recognize your child’s strengths, notice when something is wrong, provide support when needed, and challenge your child when greater effort is required? Will your child be known as a person rather than simply as a name on a roster?

Being known does not mean expectations disappear or that every moment will be comfortable. In a healthy school, relationships make both support and accountability more effective. Students need adults who care enough to encourage them, correct them, communicate with their families, and help them keep moving forward.

At VCS, our average class sizes are approximately 22 students in elementary school, 17 in middle school, and 13 or fewer in high school. Those numbers create real capacity for teachers to know their students, recognize when they need help, provide appropriate challenge, and communicate personally with families. This becomes especially important during the middle and high school years, when students are navigating academic pressure, friendships, identity, faith, and increasingly important decisions about their future.

4. How will this school prepare my child for what comes next? 

College preparation matters, but preparing students well requires more than steering everyone toward the same definition of success. Students have different gifts, goals, and callings. Some will pursue highly competitive universities. Others may enter skilled trades, pursue collegiate athletics, attend ministry programs, serve in the military, build businesses, or follow pathways that are still taking shape.

At VCS, post-graduation planning is intentional and aligned with each student’s goals. College and career counseling begins as early as eighth grade, and every high school student meets individually with our College Counselor, with parents included throughout the four-year process. Our graduates continue to colleges and universities across the country and collectively earn more than $3 million in merit-based scholarships each year.

Preparation, however, is not limited to earning a diploma or getting into a four-year university. We also support students pursuing community college, skilled trades, military service, collegiate athletics, ministry, and other post-secondary opportunities. The goal is to help students recognize their God-given gifts, pursue excellence, develop practical wisdom, and confidently move toward the path that is right for them.

5. What kind of culture will surround my child every day? 

Parents should pay close attention to the actual culture of a school, not simply the language used to describe it. How do students treat one another? Are behavioral expectations clear? Are those expectations enforced consistently? How does the school respond to bullying, drugs, classroom disruption, dishonesty, or other behavior that damages the learning environment?

No school can promise that students will never make poor choices or that problems will never occur. What a school can do is establish clear standards, supervise students carefully, respond to concerns appropriately, and protect a culture where students can learn and grow. Physical security matters, but emotional health, behavioral order, and the willingness of adults to address problems also matter.

At VCS, we are committed to maintaining a physically secure, emotionally healthy, drug-free campus defined by order and consistent behavioral standards. Students deserve an environment where teachers can teach, students can learn, and families can trust that concerns will be taken seriously. A safe and orderly culture is not separate from academic excellence or Christian formation. It makes both possible.

6. Where will my child discover gifts, develop confidence, and learn to lead? 

Some of the most important growth in a student’s life happens beyond the traditional classroom. Athletics, fine arts, service, clubs, and leadership opportunities give students places to discover their gifts, practice discipline, work with others, and develop confidence. When comparing schools, families should look beyond the number of programs listed and ask how accessible those opportunities are and what students actually gain from participating.

Athletics are one important example at VCS. Our students compete in the highly competitive CIF Sac-Joaquin Section while receiving Christ-centered coaching that emphasizes leadership, perseverance, accountability, and teamwork. Many Falcons continue competing after graduation, and in some VCHS graduating classes, as many as 20% of students have gone on to collegiate athletics. That is an extraordinary rate for a school of our size, especially when NCAA estimates show that only a small fraction of high school athletes continue to NCAA competition.

Our K-12 musical theater program is another example, where VCS provides students distinctive opportunities. This past year, more than 100 students from kindergarten through 12th grade participated in multiple performances of Aladdin Jr. at a professional venue. It was a remarkably polished production, but its greatest value was giving students of different ages and experience levels the opportunity to perform, contribute behind the scenes, build confidence, and create something excellent together. These are the kinds of experiences we want VCS students to have, opportunities that develop their gifts while building character, responsibility, and real-world readiness.

Look Beyond the First Impression 

A campus tour is valuable, but it should be the beginning of your evaluation, not the end. Ask specific questions. Look at academic results. Observe how students and adults interact. Learn how the school handles challenges, not only how it celebrates successes. Talk with current families about what they have experienced after the excitement of enrollment wore off and ordinary school life began.

When families choose VCS, they are choosing more than a private school experience. They are choosing a Christian educational partnership that is spiritually grounded, academically serious, relationally intentional, culturally healthy, and focused on preparing students for what comes next. They are choosing an environment where students can be known, challenged, supported, and given meaningful opportunities to grow.

If you are choosing a school in Vacaville, I encourage you to compare your options carefully and ask questions that go beneath the surface. Consider not only where your child will attend school, but who will help shape your child during these important years. Then come see the VCS difference for yourself.