The Selwyn School, Argyle, Texas
The first weeks of a school year tell you a lot. Some families settle in. Others start noticing a child who used to talk about school and now does not, or homework that takes two hours and produces tears, or a bright kid who has decided they are bad at reading. If that is your fall, you are not overreacting, and you are not stuck until next August. Here is how to think it through.
What is worth waiting out, and what is not
Almost every child has a rough first month. New teacher, new routine, new social map. Give that time. What is worth acting on is the pattern that does not lift: a child who is anxious on Sunday nights well past September, a child whose questions have stopped, a child who is coasting because nothing has been asked of them, or a child who is quietly lost in a room too big to notice them.
Ask your current school first
Before you look anywhere else, ask the school you are in for a specific plan. What will change for my child, who will do it, and when will we know if it worked? A good school will give you a straight answer. If the answer is that your child will be fine, and your child is not fine, you have learned something.
What to look for if you do start looking
Whatever went wrong is the thing to test for. If your child was overlooked, ask every school how a teacher would notice. If your child was unchallenged, ask what happens when a student is ahead. At Selwyn, our curriculum runs beyond state and national academic standards and we do not teach to standardized tests, teaching is student-centered, and the school runs from Preschool through Grade 12 all on one campus, so a child who arrives now is not joining a waystation.
How a move actually works
The Selwyn admissions process is six steps, and it starts with a tour. From there: submit the online application with the application fee, schedule a visit day, request the official report card or transcript from the current school, schedule the Independent School Entrance Exam, and then it all goes to the Admission Committee for review. Availability by grade is a question for our admissions office, and the honest answer changes through the year, so ask early rather than assume.
What to tell your child
Bring them on the tour. A child who has walked the halls and met a teacher arrives in a place they have already seen, and the story stops being something that happened to them. Most families find their child’s reaction on the tour is the clearest signal they get.
The part nobody says out loud
Parents worry that moving a child mid-year marks them as a family that gives up. In practice, children are far more adaptable than the adults deciding for them, and a year is a long time to spend in the wrong room. The cost of looking is one visit.
Schedule your campus tour at selwynschool.org/admissions/campus-tours/ or call 940-382-6771.
