new laptop - can I replicate an account (on Pro)?

YosemiteSully wrote:

When I create this admin account on my child's school laptop

The key part of your question in my mind is the word "school" here. You say you purchased this Mac, so the thing I don't understand is if the school itself has any administrative rights to the computer. If you just mean you purchased this Mac with the intent it be your child's for school use, and you are the sole administrator, and the school has absolutely no ownership, then you can do what you would like as follows:

How to move your content to a new Mac - Apple Support

You would basically start with a replica of your existing computer, and then modify the non-admin portions to suit yours and your child's needs.

Thanks for the clarification.

In that case, Migration Assistant as described in the article I attached should work just fine.