National School Choice Week is the largest celebration of education options in national history, aiming to raise awareness of all academic choices for children, from public to private schools, from online academies to homeschooling, and more.

An American Federation for Children study recently reported 70 percent of Americans were in support of the concept of school choice. Area residents agreed, although some think that “home” public schools are the best choice.

“When I was growing up, you went to the school in your district. I think my parents purchased their home even in the district they thought would be suitable,” said Mary-Anne Walters, 73, of Marietta. “Public schools across the board are good enough.”

While the debate on public vs. private (not to mention adding in the option to home school) is another issue, the goal of National School Choice Week is aimed more at simply continuing the conversation of open enrollment.

“The goal of National School Choice Week is to raise awareness among parents that when it comes to their children’s K-12 education, they have options,” Andrew R. Campanella, president of National School Choice Week, said in a statement. “It also provides an opportunity for people who believe that parents should have more options for their kids to have their voices heard.”

Organizers of the initiative note that families in Ohio should use National Choice Awareness Week to look ahead to the 2016-2017 school year at K-12 schools to make an informed decision. Parents currently have six options for educating their children: traditional public schools, public charter schools, magnet schools, online academies, private schools and homeschooling.

In some parts of the state, open enrollment policies also allow parents to select the best traditional public school, regardless of where the school is located. The state also has a program allowing qualifying children, in some cases, to receive scholarships to attend private schools.

Parents in the area say they choose different district schooling for a number of reasons: convenience, proximity to a parent’s workplace, academic standards of the school or because of religious preference.

“My oldest is 11, and he has been at St. Mary’s School since preschool. My faith is very strong so naturally I was in search of a school with prayer,” said Samara Linnell, 39, of Vienna. “A friend of mine mentioned that their preschool was also Montessori style so I checked it out. As soon as I walked into the school, I felt a very calm and caring environment. Kids were polite and well behaved and all busy doing work.”

Linell has two other children, a pre-kindergartner and kindergartner, that attend Greenmont Elementary in Vienna instead based on their individuals needs. She said she is happy to be able to have the freedom to choose which schools her children go to, because she feels they all have different needs. She also has an older son who went to a private school but decided on his own he would rather attend public school with his friends.

St. Mary School is the choice school for students of different districts within Washington County.

“We have students from all over…out of Marietta City Schools district, a few from Warren’s school district and some from West Virginia,” said Principal Susan Rauch.

While the majority of students there are Catholic, one-third enrolled are not.

For some parents, it’s all about location, location, location.

“Going to our home school was just convenient for us,” said Cherly Kelley, 61, of Marietta.

While Kelley chose to send her child to Phillips Elementary School, which is in-district for her family, she said the freedom to choose from an array of options available was nice.

Schools in Washington County did not actively participate in National School Choice Week; however, parents and students themselves participated without even knowing it, simply by exercising their freedoms to choose.

Several Washington County Career Center students said they have decided to take their coursework there because of its “mature atmosphere” and “pre-emptive career certifications.”

“I was looking for a good foot in the door after I graduate…I’ll already have a bunch of certifications and pre-requisites for college as well as my future career,” said Kristen Byers, 16, of Belpre, who is studying Patient Health Care.

Quinton Anderson, 17, said he chose to attend WCCC instead of his home school-Warren High School- to also get a head start.

“If you want each student to have the very best education for themselves that is possible, the power to choose is absolutely necessary,” said Anderson, who is currently in the Computer Graphics program and wants to ultimately start his own graphic design company.

Within Washington County’s public school system, more than 500 students are exercising the option to open enroll in a different county district than where they live.

Will Hampton, superintendent of Marietta City Schools, said although open enrollment can cause complications with athletic eligibility and transportation, he is in support of giving families options.

“Luckily, we’re only losing a little,” said Hampton of the district’s 101-to-104 in and out ratio this year. “We were upside down in the other direction only a few years ago, and we’ve really made strides in order to keep our home students at home. While I don’t necessarily agree with all of it, as open enrollment complicates things for the schools, it’s important families have options.”

Jeff Brooker teaches and lives in Waterford but has a fourth-grader enrolled at St. John’s Central Grade School.

“The choice for me is partly due to tradition, as I went to St. John’s growing up…but it’s also because of the community and church involvement within the school. Religion for me, as well, plays a huge factor in the decision to send my child here,” explained Brooker.

Brooker said that after elementary school, many parents opt to send their students to a public, in-district school to play sports on a highly competitive team instead of keeping them enrolled privately.

“There is also individual preference for which high school, I guess. Many of St. John’s kids head to Waterford High School instead of another school,” he added.

Kristin Pottmeyer, who has a fourth-grader and kindergartner at St. John said she sees a difference in the level of choices state to state.

“We used to live in West Virginia,” she said. “If we would have stayed there, the only option for our children was a public school….which would have been fine, but I’m glad we made the decision to enroll where we did.”

At the end of the (school) day, what matters most is that children are happy and thriving within their respective schools, said parents.

“I like my school a lot,” said Avery Barker, 9, of Marietta, who attends St. Mary instead of Washington Elementary School. “My favorite things here are the specials-art, music, library, and Spanish. I wouldn’t want to go anywhere else.”