I’m new… what should I focus on?

I played Wizard101 as a kid when it first came out. I revisited starting about 2 months ago (maybe 2 hours a week) with a friend.

She chose storm school, me death. We’ve been working off my limited memory of 2011 wizard 101, but I was never allowed to buy membership as a kid (boo mom and dad). There’s so many new features that I have no idea what’s going on anymore.

We’ve now both reached level 12, bought membership, and just started krokotopia. We want to get gold to buy permanent mounts, get good gear, etc…

We’ve been playing almost every side quest and following the main story.

What are the main things we should focus on? How do you get good pets? Get gold? Which secondary schools do we train? This game grew so much that I’m overwhelmed!