Is Your Child in the Right School? Key Factors to Consider When Choosing a School for Your Child
If you’ve ever Googled “how to choose a school for your child” at 11 p.m. after a tough parent-teacher conference, this post (and episode) is for you.
Whether you’re just beginning to explore your options, deep in the application weeds, or stuck wondering if you’re overthinking it, you're not alone. More and more families are realizing that choosing schools is about far more than test scores and reputations.
In this episode, I sit down with two of Houston’s most trusted educational consultants, Dee Dee Halpin and Julie Blumberg of Houston School Options. With decades of experience helping families make thoughtful and personalized school decisions, Dee Dee and Julie have seen it all—and they’re sharing their insights to help you feel more confident and clear-headed.
The Top 3 Factors to Consider When Choosing a School for Your Child
Dee Dee and Julie walked us through some of the most important factors to consider when choosing a school for your child, including emotional well-being, academic fit, and how the school responds to your child’s unique needs. These are the questions you should be asking (but maybe didn’t know you could):
Is my child’s academic progress being nurtured—or are they falling behind (or bored) without support?
Is my child emotionally happy at school, or are they coming home stressed, frustrated, or shut down?
Are we hearing repeated negative feedback from the school, without meaningful solutions?
These signs aren’t just inconveniences—they can be powerful indicators that it’s time to reevaluate. And if you're feeling unsure about how to choose a school for your child, it all starts with recognizing what’s working—and what’s not.
How to Start Choosing a School for Your Child with Less Stress
One of the biggest takeaways from this conversation is that you don’t need to panic—or uproot your child overnight. Thoughtful school changes start with observation, reflection, and preparation. That means:
Tuning into your gut feelings while also gathering real data
Making space to explore your child’s strengths, struggles, and emotional needs
Talking openly with teachers and administrators—and knowing when to escalate
It also means understanding that there’s no one-size-fits-all when it comes to choosing schools. What works for one sibling might not work for another. What felt like the perfect choice in kindergarten may no longer serve your child in third grade.
This is especially true in a city as large and diverse as Houston. Whether you're exploring public, private, or therapeutic programs, there are countless options—but how do you know which are the best schools in Houston for your child? That answer depends on who your child is, what they need, and what your family values most.
What the Best Schools in Houston Have in Common
During the episode, we also talked about how the best schools in Houston aren’t necessarily the ones with the flashiest websites or longest waiting lists. Instead, they’re the ones that:
See your child clearly and respond to their needs
Communicate openly and respectfully with parents
Provide a learning environment where your child can grow academically, socially, and emotionally
Match your child’s learning style, temperament, and developmental stage
If your child is deeply sensitive, highly active, or uniquely gifted, the school’s approach needs to reflect that. And while Houston is filled with strong schools, finding the right one requires clarity around the factors to consider when choosing a school for your child.
The Emotional Side of Choosing a School for Your Child
Let’s also be real: choosing a school for your child is not just a logistical decision—it’s an emotional one. It brings up fears, guilt, hopes, and all kinds of “am I doing this right?” moments. One of my favorite parts of this episode is the grace and permission we give parents to be uncertain.
You’re not failing if your child’s school isn’t the right fit. You’re not overreacting if something feels off. And you’re absolutely allowed to rethink your decision, even if it worked before. In fact, being willing to reevaluate is one of the smartest parenting moves you can make.
Key Takeaways from the Episode
Here’s a quick summary of what we cover:
The emotional and academic red flags to watch for
Why it’s okay (and sometimes necessary) to make a school change midyear
The real-life process of choosing a school for your child, from first gut-check to final decision
Insider tips for finding the best schools in Houston for your unique child
The most overlooked—but most important—factors to consider when choosing a school for your child
Final Thoughts (and a Gentle Nudge)
If you’re feeling stuck, anxious, or even just mildly curious, I encourage you to tune in. You’ll leave with more clarity, more confidence, and more peace of mind about how to choose a school for your child—especially if you’re doing it in Houston.
Choosing schools doesn’t have to feel like a solo journey filled with second-guessing. Let this episode be your first step toward a more empowered, informed, and aligned school decision.
Listen now to: Is Your Child in the Right School? Key Factors to Consider When Choosing a School for Your Child—available on all major podcast platforms.
And if this episode helped you, don’t forget to follow, review, and share with another parent who needs it.
You’ve got this. And I’m right here with you.
Let’s Connect:
Want more parenting tips? Join our newsletter for expert advice straight to your inbox!
Are you a provider? Subscribe here for professional insights and parenting resources!
Connect with Houston School Options:
-
Leah Clionsky 00:00:00 Welcome to the Educated Parent podcast. I am so excited to be here today. I'm your host, Doctor Leah Clionsky, and I'm here to talk about something that I know concerns a lot of parents. And so let me lay out the situation for you. We as parents care a lot about where our kids go to school, because we know that's where they're going to be all day long. I know I care deeply about where my kids are spending their time, their interactions with their teachers, their interactions with their peers. But sometimes we get to this place where we're wondering, is this school the best fit for them? If things are not perfect, do we need to be considering a change or am I overreacting? Are things actually fine? And I don't even need to be thinking about that. So because we run into this so often, I have brought on some fantastic, educated parents to give us some ways of identifying when we should maybe consider looking at other schools, or when we just know things are probably fine.
Leah Clionsky 00:00:59 And this is a moment for me to just sit with my own anxiety a little bit. You're listening to Educated Parent, the Parenting podcast, where I teach you realistic, expert parenting hacks to solve your everyday parenting problems so that you can reduce your stress, build your confidence as a parent, and raise thriving children. My name is Doctor Leah Clionsky and I'm a licensed clinical psychologist. Owner of thriving child center and asset experts, child psychology practices and a real life parent of two young children. I am the same as you. I am invested in being the best parent possible and raising thriving children. I also get overwhelmed. I make mistakes and I forget what works. I do have three unique parenting advantages that you may not have a PhD in child Clinical psychology. Over 15 years of clinical experience working with families and a network of other experts that I can text for parenting advice whenever I'm lost. I'm here to bring my expertise and my expert network to you so that we can solve your everyday parenting dilemmas together.
Leah Clionsky 00:02:08 I am so glad you're here. So today I have here Dee Dee Halpin and Julie Blumberg of Houston School Options. They are amazing. They are educational consultants who help local and relocating families find the right schools for their children. So this is all they do. They work with local and relocating families, helping them identify public, private and or therapeutic schools that will fit each child's individual needs. Houston School Options then guides the parents through the process of exploring those options online, through school visits and tours, as well as the application process and up to the moment that the school decision is made. We refer to them all the time at Thriving Child Center. Dee Dee and Julie, I am so glad you guys are here.
Dee Dee Halpin 00:02:52 Thank you for having us.
Julie Blumberg 00:02:53 Thank you so much. We're so excited.
Leah Clionsky 00:02:55 No, I am thrilled. I am thrilled because I have friends and clients all the time who come wondering about this. So since we are the Educated Parent podcast, can you guys share a little bit about your education? And then we'll talk a little bit about you as parents.
Leah Clionsky 00:03:11 And then we're going to jump in to those signs that we can look for.
Dee Dee Halpin 00:03:14 So my background is in special education. I was a classroom teacher. Then I became a diagnostician doing testing in the public schools. And my education in that realm came from the University of Texas and then the University of Texas in Dallas, where we were living while I was getting my master's degree. And I then went into private practice, and I was doing that right around the time that my children were born. And my children, frankly, are all grown ups, and they're all out of the house. So their education is past me, and all of them are really thriving adults. I do have some grandchildren in public school out in California, so I try to follow them as well. But this topic is important for me because I can tell you from long experience being a parent that I made moves for my children several times. All three of my children made moves at some point in their school career. My son at elementary and middle school.
Dee Dee Halpin 00:04:18 My girls both at high school. And so, you know, when it was the wrong place, it was really obvious. And we made a move and got them into the right place. So I love helping families do that because it made a lot of difference in my children's experiences.
Leah Clionsky 00:04:34 So, Didi, you've been guiding people in this process for years. You're educated and an educator, and you've also experienced firsthand the process of being in the place. Some of our listeners are where they're like, is this am I in the right place for my child? And then it sounds like ultimately changing schools sometimes, and maybe other times saying, you know, things are good where I am.
Dee Dee Halpin 00:04:57 My favorite thing to say in my parenting advice, which is free to Eat anybody. Is that you know? Just listen to your gut. Your intuition tells you what your child needs, and and you know, you want to be informed. You want to have all the information and make a good decision. But something in your gut is going to tell you what's the right thing to do.
Leah Clionsky 00:05:21 I love that. It's so important for parents to trust themselves. And Julie, I know you have the exact same philosophy too.
Julie Blumberg 00:05:28 Absolutely. And I've had to go on it in my few short years as a parent compared to D's. But you know, I'm so excited you're starting this podcast for us to be able to be on it, but also to listen as a parent going through all of this at the same time. So thank you for having us and for starting this for all the parents out there. It's so needed. But I was an education major at the University of Arizona. I taught for seven years in the classroom, and after I left the classroom, I decided I liked the one on one aspect of teaching. So I was doing tutoring and I was seeing students morning to night. And there were these two particular students unrelated to each other. Who I was going and seeing multiple hours a day after school. They were basically doing school and then coming home and doing school again with me.
Julie Blumberg 00:06:12 One of them I saw from about 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.. So that's just a really long day for a child. And I said to both parents separately, if you had the right school, you wouldn't need me, you know? And so I just started looking and exploring and seeing all the different kinds of schools out there. We somehow put together, if you will, a school search. That's what we'll we'll call it. But looking at what did I do now? It was very different, but we got them in the right place and that was what was important. And both of those kids were thriving. So I started telling everyone about my next million dollar idea of finding schools for families when they said, you know, Didi helping, she does this. And so I reached out to Dede in 2016. She told me all about the world of helping families who aren't from here find the right schools. And then also we talked about the need that families have who even are from here, who have grown up here, or like myself, who is an educator who's from here and still has confusion when it comes to our own children.
Julie Blumberg 00:07:04 Of where to place them. Where is right. And so, just like Dee Dee, I've had an experience myself of moving my child in the middle of a school year because something in my gut knew it was not the right school for her. So we've moved her and she is thriving. I also want to say that I have two children. They're three years apart and they're each at different schools. So we help families two through that of just yes, it's so convenient when your kids can be at the same school, but if you really get down and focus on what is right for each child, sometimes it's not even the same school as their sibling. And so we're just so excited to be here to talk about this today because we know, like you said, it's something that weighs heavy on parents minds. And like I just shared, I've been through it. I've been on the parent's side. Thank goodness we had Dee Dee to talk through it with, because when your mom or dad, it's it's a lot harder.
Julie Blumberg 00:07:52 And so we went with our gut and it did not lead us wrong. And so we were just really encourage other families to do the same.
Leah Clionsky 00:07:59 Yeah. That's such a powerful story. This idea that you're never Stuck that you don't have to be trapped in a school situation. Actually, as you're saying this, I'm remembering that I actually moved schools in high school. I forgot I did this, but I didn't love where I was freshman year. And I my mom said to me, you're never stuck. It's not the right fit. Nothing horrible was happening, but I just was not thriving there. And then I did well in the next school. And it was it taught me that you aren't trapped anywhere.
Julie Blumberg 00:08:26 Absolutely. And you know what? That's so interesting. Because I know something else we're going to talk about is that you may have signs and you may question things and wonder, do I need this move? And that's what we're going to talk about. I was questioning my ninth grade year that I didn't like my school, that I wanted to move, but after weighing it all, I didn't move and I ended up thriving, staying where I was.
Julie Blumberg 00:08:46 So it's interesting how the different scenarios play out, right? And that's what's happening for families that we're working with. We always are weighing all the different options with them.
Leah Clionsky 00:08:55 Right. It's hard when things aren't cut and dry, right. Like if it's perfect, you don't have to make a decision. If things are terrible, you already know your decision. But what if it's somewhere in between? Absolutely, yeah. And as you guys know, as the audience of this podcast knows, the goal is to give you things you can walk away with actionable tips and thoughts to be having. And so that's what we're going to give you right now. We're going to give you three things to be considering. If you're asking yourself, are is this good enough or do I maybe need to switch? What should you be thinking about?
Julie Blumberg 00:09:27 Absolutely.
Leah Clionsky 00:09:28 Okay. What should we be thinking about? Tell me.
Julie Blumberg 00:09:30 Well, I'll tell you. The first one that comes to me in my mind is that your child's academic needs aren't being met.
Julie Blumberg 00:09:37 So, you know, they start off in kindergarten. They're doing great. They're getting by, maybe. And then as the work starts to get harder in first grade and second grade, in third grade, when testing comes into play, you know, if you start to see that your child's really struggling to keep up with the curriculum or maybe feeling unchallenged, maybe they're not being challenged enough, or just that they're not progressing at the expected pace. It's important to look into. It doesn't mean, once again, that a change has to happen, but there's things you can do, such as testing to get more information. And then once you have that information, use it to determine is this school the best to meet these needs? But you just don't want your child struggling because then it begins to take a toll on their self-esteem, on their academic performance, and can carry on for a long time. So getting in and really intervening early with that can be really helpful. And if the school's not meeting the academic needs and a plan has been made and those needs still aren't being met, then that might be a sign that a move is needed.
Leah Clionsky 00:10:36 I love that you're talking about that. It's what I'm hearing you say, basically. Is that like something could start off being a fit and stop being a fit later, and that it's important to be proactive and just really like looking at your child's academics and just wondering is the need being met and then getting more information without having to do something. And it kind of sounds like that example you were giving when you were initially talking, Julie, about those kids you were helping who just like were not getting their academic needs met in that school environment. And then they found something else that fit.
Julie Blumberg 00:11:10 And those parents had put in every single tactic or help that they knew they could put in. And it still was a struggle. That was a sign. It was time. You know, sometimes you're going to put these accommodations into place and the child's going to continue to thrive or do really well, you know, and you're going to see progress and change. But if you put those accommodations or action items into place and things still aren't changing in their academic needs, still are not being met.
Julie Blumberg 00:11:37 That's a sign.
Leah Clionsky 00:11:38 Yeah, absolutely. Okay. Excellent thing to be thinking about.
Dee Dee Halpin 00:11:42 Yeah. So another one is looking at the social and emotional environment in a school. And it's kind of hard sometimes for parents to evaluate that because we're not in school during school hours to to see it all the time. And so what can happen is a child's coming home and you can tell they're just unhappy. And if that unhappiness lingers Or it's constant or it's every day there's something that they're unhappy about. You know, then you want to look into what's happening here. You know, schools should be a happy place for kids. So when it's not, I think it's really important to dig in deeper and try to figure out what that is. You don't want to get to the point where the child doesn't want to go to school. But sometimes that's the first thing you notice is that the kids are taking a really long time to get ready in the morning, or they're saying that they don't feel well. You know, all kinds of excuses for not wanting to go to school and what's happening at school that's making your child feel that way, because young children have a hard time expressing what's happening.
Dee Dee Halpin 00:12:47 And sometimes older children just don't want to admit that something negative is happening. So you just pay it, you know, really need to pay attention to what your child is saying about school. And don't discount it as well. You know, nobody likes school. Yes. You know, if they're in the right school. That shouldn't continue. And so, you know, I think it's important to open dialogue with the child and then to ask the teacher. And if you're still not feeling like you're getting enough information, go on to an administrator and start digging deeper into what's actually happening at school that's causing that. Because if kids start to withdraw or they start to say negative things about themselves, if they start to feel like they're not capable at school, then they're going to hesitate even getting their work done. They don't want to start anything because they're afraid of failure. School should be a place where kids are experiencing success.
Leah Clionsky 00:13:43 So another sign that parents can think about is that they just notice that their child isn't happy at school.
Leah Clionsky 00:13:49 You know, and it can be subtle. At first you might not know why they're not happy. But if you're just noticing, like they don't want to really go there, they're not satisfied. They're there's something going on like override your decision or you're like, maybe your immediate urge to just be very dismissive of that and be like, you know what school is school. We don't always like where we are. Get over it. It can be an indication that, like, just things are just not feeling good. Maybe there's something going on socially. They're feeling really left out. Maybe they feel like their teacher doesn't like them. Maybe they're struggling academically. Maybe you don't know about that academic problem. And this is how you find out about the academic problem, because their grades are still going well. And so just like if you notice just that misery level, that's something you should be paying attention to.
Dee Dee Halpin 00:14:34 Because we hear from families sometimes that are already telling us from the get go, their child is miserable.
Dee Dee Halpin 00:14:39 And that is such a buzz word for me when a parent says that or indicates that even if they're not using that exact word, children should not be miserable, period at school. And if that's happening, we always, I say, I wouldn't let a child be miserable for five more minutes in a school, much less a whole year.
Julie Blumberg 00:15:01 So I'm going to put a little twist on that. And just because, you know, we want to lay it all out there is that, you know, and this is a very gut piece. I've experienced this myself, not to call out my youngest little friends that maybe lives in my house, but, you know, when they're little, I don't want to go to school can sometimes mean I want mommy time. Right. And so that really is it's not just if the kid says, but it's investigating, like Didi said. And so, you know, she didn't want to go to school cause she didn't want to leave my side. The second she got to her classroom, she ran off to see friends and hug her teacher, and she was happy when I picked her up.
Julie Blumberg 00:15:32 Right. So there was no questioning there at all. It was, I love mommy and I want mommy time. So, you know, just once again, that's a gut piece that if something feels off, start to explore, but you don't need to jump to make a drastic decision but miserable during the school day. If you're getting that feedback from school, that's where it's really a sign. That kind of leads to the third topic, or sign, if you will.
Leah Clionsky 00:15:58 Yeah, go on to the third one. This makes so much sense to me.
Julie Blumberg 00:16:01 Yeah. We say if you're getting negative feedback from the school. So, you know, schools really should be open communicators. We want them to be. It should not be. The first time you ever hear about an incident or a problem on a report card, or even really at a teacher conference, you know, a standard scheduled one if they're calling you in for meetings frequently, if you're getting phone calls home or notes or emails of, you know, these things are going wrong, if it's any kind of discouraging feedback that there may be some struggle about the child's performance or their behavior or even their potential at the school, we really want parents to listen to that, because you don't want to try to convince a school that your child deserves to be somewhere and then, you know, be fighting that always.
Julie Blumberg 00:16:45 You want your child to be accepted for who they are, so then they can be pushed forward. You know, if schools first come to you with this feedback, great. Take it. Everyone can work on the same team and have these action items. But once again, kind of the same as the first example is if you're trying if you're putting things into place and it's still not getting better, and that negative feedback is still coming from the schools, and the schools doing everything they can or says that they've done everything they can. Then it's time probably to look elsewhere.
Leah Clionsky 00:17:12 That's when you start this search. That's not when you necessarily move, but that's when you say, I'm going to start considering. I'm going to consider that this option is not a good fit. And obviously if it escalates really quickly, get out. But sometimes something can exist like this for a little period of time. Absolutely. And then resolve.
Julie Blumberg 00:17:30 I was just going to say we tell families to have an if then list.
Julie Blumberg 00:17:33 We kind of call it right. If they're kind of questioning and they're not sure we're always considering the option where they are. But then, you know, because they've done this work and the due diligence and gone through the search and started looking, they're either going to feel much better about where their child is or they're going to find, okay, this is where I'm going to go if this doesn't work or attempt to go if it works out or they find this option is 100 times what my child needs. And we're doing this right now, right? So we see all different routes of that.
Leah Clionsky 00:18:01 You know, I'm thinking like clinically when people come in and talk to me about this and they're getting negative feedback from the school. For me, a big indicator, just as a therapist is what is the feedback and how reasonable is it? So if they're saying your three year old won't sit in circle for 40 minutes, I'm sitting there thinking that school has really inappropriate developmental expectations for this three year old who we know is a mover, right? And so, especially if you have a kid that's pretty active in this situation, they're all they're going to do is get yelled at for getting up in circle time, you know.
Leah Clionsky 00:18:36 And so part of it is too is judging is the school having realistic expectations for what is going on in the first place. And sometimes just the school philosophy is not a good fit for that child or for that child's personality or just their developmental needs. And so if I know I have a hyperactive kid in my clinic and the school wants them to sit quietly crisscross applesauce, I mean, I can see the writing on the wall, but this is ultimately not going to work out well.
Dee Dee Halpin 00:19:06 We think when as soon as there's an indication that the school's not working or the fit, you know it's not a fit. Getting the information to know what to do. If you really do become convinced over time. And it could be a short period of time. But if you do, when you get to that point where you're absolutely convinced a change needs to happen, you might be in distress. It makes it a lot harder to think through all of the options. And so we just we say it's never too soon to just gather information.
Dee Dee Halpin 00:19:38 I was lucky because when I decided to move my youngest child out of his fourth grade classroom, it was three weeks into the school year and I knew exactly where to go. You know, I just happened to be doing this already and knew where I would move to and had a plan B in my mind. And so, you know, it was easy. It's not always that easy for, you know, for other parents.
Julie Blumberg 00:20:02 And I want to give a compliment to schools. You know, schools do a really good job when they're going through the admissions process of identifying kids that can do well there. And so we also tell families when a school says no, say thank you. So often families want to go back and beg their way in or offer to pay their way in. You know, we strongly discourage families from doing that because if the school does not feel they can best serve your child, then you need to say thank you and let's find where can best serve your child. And that's really, really important for everyone to remember.
Julie Blumberg 00:20:38 A no just means that there's something better out there for your child for them.
Leah Clionsky 00:20:42 Yeah, I love that reframe. You know, Deedee and Julie, you are so helpful to families. Where can families who need to start this school search? How can they contact you?
Julie Blumberg 00:20:51 Sure they can go to our website Houston School Options. You can find us on Instagram as well at Houston School Options, where we give just great tips for parents with kids in schools. I mean, you don't have to be looking to find a new school necessarily. Advice for how to approach some of these things within your own school as well. And then of course, as well for applications and applying to different schools as well. But yeah, all the information's on our website. There's a contact form and we'd be happy to help. We do searches across the greater Houston area. We also do searches outside of the Houston area too. We've done Dallas, Austin, San Antonio, anything surrounding we've gone as far as to Phoenix. So we hope your podcast reaches that far as well.
Leah Clionsky 00:21:36 Well, you guys are amazing. I appreciate you so much. All of their information is in the show notes, so you can go in and find a way of contacting them as well. And you know, we refer to them frequently when our families run into this.
Dee Dee Halpin 00:21:48 So thank you doctor. We really appreciate.
Leah Clionsky 00:21:52 It. It is my pleasure. I'm so glad that we were on the podcast and I'm so appreciate you guys.
Julie Blumberg 00:21:57 Thank you so much.
Leah Clionsky 00:21:59 So, you know, this is the end of our episode for today. Please follow the show. Please find us on Instagram and be happy to chat with you more. Talk to you next time. Thanks again for spending time with me on Educated Parent. If this episode helped you feel more confident in handling those parenting curveballs, hit follow so you never miss an episode. Know a parent who stuck in the endless cycle of conflicting advice? Send this their way because we all deserve parenting strategies we can actually trust. And hey, if you have a minute, leave a review.
Leah Clionsky 00:22:34 Your support helps other parents find real, expert backed solutions instead of just another opinion online. One last quick reminder. This podcast offers general advice, but every family is different. The advice offered in this podcast is not medical advice and is not appropriate for every family. If you need personalized parenting support, connect with an experienced clinician at Thriving Child Center or PCI experts. That's it for today. Thanks for listening and I'll talk to you next time.