Two families tell their stories of how knowing your way around a school system can be the key to getting your kids the education that's right for them.

Parents: Mehmet and Demet Sarikaya, Lake Forest Park. University of Washington professor and part-time children's-clothing retailer/stay-at-home mom.

Children: Alper, 17; Aydan, 15; and Altay, 5.

Reading came easy to Alper Sarikaya — at 3 ½ years old. In his first few years of school he earned top grades and made teachers happy by helping fellow students but complained to his parents that school was boring.

New to U.S. schools, Turkish-born Demet followed teachers' and principals' advice to keep Alper in his neighborhood school — until third grade, when she learned about and pushed for him to be tested for Shoreline School District's second through sixth grade highly capable program. His scores earned him the only opening for fourth grade.

Meanwhile, Demet improved her English skills by volunteering at school.

By middle school, the Sarikayas worked with officials so Alper and several others could take upper-level math and honors science courses at nearby Shorecrest High School. The couple also lobbied for a larger middle-school honors slate, benefiting sister Aydan and hundreds of others.

In high school Alper was bored again, so his parents looked for early-entrance college options. He's now thriving in the Honors Academy for Young Scholars at the UW.

"If I'm ever a parent," Alper says, "I would like to be a good advocate like my mom."

The Sarikayas' tips to parents: "Listen to your heart," says Demet. "These are our children. We're in charge.

Five years ago, two neighboring preschoolers — neglected by an often-absent mother — started hanging out by the Mattsons' back porch.

Overcoming legal hurdles to become the kids adoptive parents, the Mattsons discovered 5-year-old Pablo had missed kindergarten registration and "didn't know his colors, his last name, how to tie his shoes or his ABCs."

This kicked their school exploration into overdrive.

They tried summer school and private tutoring. Both kids moved to another neighborhood school where WASL scores were higher; Vivianna made slow progress but Pablo's reading did not improve.

After help from doctors, education specialists and Seattle School District Special Education Advisory and Advocacy Council, and armed with a recommendation they seek a specific "direct instruction" teaching method, the Mattsons found Pablo a spot in Seattle's private Morningside Academy for summer school ($3,000; annual tuition: $17,000). Pablo's reading improved.

Seeking a public school with similar instruction methods, Teresa took Pablo on an intense one-week tour of 20 schools.

Vivianna still attends her neighborhood school. Pablo now is at Seattle's public Concord Elementary, which offers "90-minute reading blocks, Boeing professionals who come in to tutor, a strong resource-room pull-out and just 18 kids in his third-grade class. He stays after school for Team Read where kids are paired with volunteer high-school buddies," says Teresa. "Concord has great teachers with huge hearts working with kids who often come from difficult situations."

The Mattsons' tips to parents: Know your child's education rights and involve a child in some choices.

— Suzanne Monson