What to look for in a school during visit:
Three most important things that determine the quality of a pre-school:
1. teachers
2. teachers
3. teachers
Nothing else matters nearly as much.

A. How could you tell:
1. Ask the director what the average tenure of permanent teachers in the school. An example, my daughter's school has been there for 25 years. They have around 20+ permanent teachers, and the average tenure among these teachers is 12 years! A low turnover means the teachers like to work there and want to work there. When teachers are happy, that happiness gets transfered to your child. The happy, motivated teachers will be creative--they will constantly make new creative toys for your child.

2. Observe teachers, see how they communicate with kids. At what levels do they talk to the kids. What are they doing when kids are playing at free time? How do kids react to them? 80-90% time the three tall teachers in our class are on the floor (lying down or sitting down) at the same height as kids. Is there any chemistry among teachers working in the same room?

3. Ask the teacher/kids ratio. But really you will get a standard answer--a legal answer. Ask more specific questions. How many teachers are there to help kids napping? What about the initial separation period, are there more teachers during certain times of the day? Example: the official ratio of our 2's class is 1:5-6 (3 teachers to 16-17 kids)--that was the answer I was given. But I got a nice surprise. During the first 8 weeks (separation period), morning preschool program was 1:4 (4 teachers to 15-16 kids); lunch-to-nap transition was 1:2 (all PM teachers came in plus the morning program); and late PM was almost 1:1 to 1:2 for 2-3 yr olds. This 1:1-1:2 ratio in late PM lasted the whole year (still now).

4. What is the daily routine? Morning programs? pM? Nap time policy? punishment policy? If a place tells you that they give official time-out, think twice. Ask them this question and see how they answer and whether you like the answer.

5. Ask how teacher resolve conflicts among kids? Observe to see whether teachers are able to cover the whole room's activities? What are their reactions if kids have conflicts? What do they do?

6. Diversity among teachers and kids? Any male teachers? Any minority (black, asian, latino)? What is the policy of admission--do they consider gender, race as factors? What type of priority do they consider? This may not seem to be a concern to you now, but in the long run, this is an extremely important issue. It directly affects how your child establishes his/her identity, which as an understatement, is a complex issue to say the least. This also is another indicator of school quality: if the school can think of issues above and beyond the basic necessity of kids, it says that the management is very competent and has a long-term goal for your child's well-being and education. Schools like this also tend to attract parents who are highly educated and enlightened, thus providing a high quality community so that you don't have to worry about who your kid plays with. In our school, every room has one male, one minority and one white teacher.

Bottomline, you want the teachers to be loving, patient, understanding the needs and development of children, creative and have years of experience. A degree in early child education is nice, but not an indicator of how good a teacher is.