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I would not recommend going to a PTA meeting. It won’t tell you much about the kid’s experience in the classroom or about the teachers. It will only tell you about what is most pressing RIGHT NOW to the parents, and out of context, that can be very confusing and not representative of the school on the whole.
You are correct that going to a PTA meeting will not increase your odds of going to that school. I would echo ADD’s advice and say go on the tours, talk to parents on the playground, read the material, search your soul, look at what you really think is important about education (i.e. traditional academics, alternative, somewhere in the middle?) what is important to you about the community of the school (proximity to home, diversity, good parent involvement), look at logistics (in cluster or not, busing, walking or driving)….
Look at all of those things together and you will be able to figure it out.
Oh, and don’t forget to breathe. That is really important through this process.