It's safe to say that everyone wants their child to do well in life, so choosing a good high school is imperative to their success. But what do you want to look for when choosing a high school for your children? Most people just assume that the potential for grades is enough to entice your child's interests but there's more to it than that. For example a young person needs to feel welcomed in a friendly environment to feel motivated enough to perform to a high academic standard, and often parents never seem to consider these sorts of factors when choosing a school and it may lead to some children underachieving.
You should also consider looking for a safe working environment for your children. This would help your children focus more on the work they are doing rather than any issues of bullying or violence. Often this is considered by parents to a basic degree but never thought to be enough of a problem for the students as it is usually seen by parents as part of the growing up process. While this may be true, a young persons ego and self confidence can be severely damaged by bullying and therefore bullying can lead to a slip in academic performance.
Another factor you should consider is your child's strengths in academic areas. You can usually find out what areas a young person is strong in by looking at their SAT results. From this you can decide what type of high school to send your child too. For example, there are many different types of college and high school ranging in different specialist subjects. You can get language high schools, science high schools etc. in which the school is strong in that particular department. Using knowledge like this you can choose a school that corresponds to your child's strengths, boosting their ability in one department so that at later stages of education they will have an advantage over the rest of their student rivals. In a similar vein, if your child has any vague idea of what they would like to realistically do as a career then you can use that to choose the right high school for them, although I concede them having any idea about their career choice this early is rare.