The School Search for 2027 Starts Now – What Parents Should Be Doing This Fall

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National educational expert explores the preparation parents should be doing now for the next school year.

Most parents care deeply about their kids doing well in school.

Many go to great lengths to ensure they put their kids into what are considered great schools, only to still find that their child struggles or feels lonely and left out. Much of this can be avoided with a school that is a great fit for the individual, and the search for next year’s school year begins now.

“Many people wait until the last minute to decide their child needs a new school,” explains Michelle Smith, founder and chief education strategist of Independent Education Group. “This means there wasn’t much done to ensure that the new school will be a good fit either. We have to do better than that so they have what they need to succeed at that new school.”

Smith has worked in education for decades and knows all too well how most parents choose a school or their child.

They look at the rankings, reviews, and what other people around them are doing. Meanwhile, they don’t actually look at their child to see what they need as an individual. Only when they do that, she urges, will parents find a school that is the right fit, which makes all the difference.

According to research published in the Journal of Intelligence in 2025, a strong sense of school belonging is essential for students’ academic achievement, emotional well-being, and overall development. There are numerous factors that combine to create that strong sense of belonging, including when students actively participate in school life. Belonging improves when the student receives strong academic and emotional support, and they are more socially involved.

A student’s success at a particular school is heavily influenced by their individual skills, but also by the school environment.

Matching the right school environment to the student is crucial to get the best results. In other words, not all schools are a good fit for all students. In order to help a child succeed, parents need to look at their child and consider what type of school is best for that person as an individual. If they have multiple children, it needs to be done for each of them.

Here are some things parents should be considering now to find the best school choice for their students for 2027: