Finding the Best-Fit School in New York City: An Interview with Education Consultant Heather Gatto

With so many options and so much at stake, how do you find the right school for your child in one of the most complex education landscapes in the world? We sat down with one of Bennett's New York City experts to find out.

If you're a family moving to the New York area (or a local family considering a change), you already know the education landscape here can feel overwhelming. Hundreds of private schools, a public school system with its own admissions process, and no shortage of opinions from well-meaning friends and colleagues. Where do you even begin?

We sat down with Heather Gatto, one of Bennett International's most experienced Greater New York education consultants, to talk through what families really need to know. Heather has spent 16 years helping families navigate school placement across New York City, Westchester, and Fairfield County, Connecticut. She's worked with relocating families from all over the world and with local families looking for a fresh start, and she brings a rare combination of deep school relationships, sharp instincts about children, and the kind of warmth that puts even the most anxious parents at ease. Prior to joining Bennett, Heather spent a decade coordinating a national children's education program and also worked in financial compliance. She holds a B.A. in English Literature from Fordham University.

In this conversation, Heather shares the common misconceptions that trip families up, why "best-fit" matters so much more than reputation, and the behind-the-scenes work that goes into placing children at schools where they'll truly thrive.

Tell us about the education landscape in New York City. What makes it so different from other parts of the country?

What's great about New York City for a family relocating is that there are so many options, both public and private. But because of that, there's a lot to understand.

On the public school side, it depends on when a family is relocating. If the children are young, the process is much more straightforward. But if they're coming in at the middle school or high school level, there's actually an admissions process, which is much trickier. And then there are some specialized high schools where testing is required. When a family moves here, there's really a lot to understand about the public school system, and it's very different from the suburbs outside the city, where a child is guaranteed a space in their grade as long as they establish residency.

As for the private schools, again, there are many options, but they're all very different from one another. I think what families find when they first make that move to New York City is that they come with a lot of preconceived ideas, whether from the internet, their colleagues, or friends. They tend to arrive with a list of maybe four or five schools they think they want to target, and they have a really hard time knowing where to start.

I always tell families on that first call: "I understand how nervous you're feeling right now, and I hope by the end of this conversation you feel much better than you do right now." And pretty much every single time, that's exactly what happens. There are so many options, and yes, it's overwhelming, but when we work together, we're able to find schools that are the right fit for their children.

What are some of the most common misconceptions you find yourself having to address with families?

I think the biggest misconception is that families believe they're just too late to apply. So often they're not coming on cycle because it's a relocation, or maybe they're a local family in a school that just isn't the right fit anymore, and they think, "It's too late. I'll have to wait until an entry year like kindergarten, sixth grade, or ninth grade."

They're always surprised when I tell them that's not necessarily the case. There are some schools that almost never take children off cycle, sure. But for the most part, I've placed children at most of the schools in New York in off-cycle years and at off-cycle times of the year. I can't create space, but I certainly have the relationships to reach out to schools, introduce the family, and find out whether there's an opening and how to work through the process.

Walk us through your process with a family, from that very first call all the way through placement. And if a success story comes to mind, we'd love to hear it.

I'll actually tell you about a family I recently placed, because it was a really nice success story.

This family was relocating from the UK with two daughters. Very bright children who had already been accepted at top schools in the UK. They'd gone through that process, and now they were making the move to New York. On that first intake call, there was a lot of trepidation and anxiety. They were so worried about finding schools that would be as strong and as good a fit as the ones their girls had already been accepted into.

They came with their own list of schools, put together from their own research and colleagues, and those were great schools. But I explained that there were certainly plenty of other options worth considering. Now, they were late in the process, so they were very concerned about being second round. And technically, they were.

But because of the relationships I have with these schools, after reviewing the girls' reports and really getting to know who they were, I was able to reach out and say, "I think these girls are worth taking a look at. I know you're close to making your final decisions, but they're willing to come over and visit." And the schools agreed.

If a family tried to do that on their own, I think they would have gotten the typical response of, "You're second round. You're going to need to wait." But I bring schools good families, and they respect my judgment, which I greatly appreciate.

I did a lot of interview prep with the girls. They were very well prepared, and in the end, both were accepted at wonderful schools. They didn't end up at the same school, which was something they'd originally thought they wanted. But I believe they each ended up at the better fit for them individually.

The older girl was an 11th-grade applicant, which is a very difficult year to make that change. She was accepted at two of the top schools in New York City. The mom was funny, because she said it was hard making the decision on which one to choose. People were giving her advice, saying, "How could you not choose this one? It's the hardest school to get into!" But we talked through it, and we talked specifically about her daughter. And the mom was so thankful, because that conversation helped her see past the reputation and focus on fit. Both girls are now in different schools, but schools that I think are right for them. And so do their parents.

How do you go about determining what the "best fit" actually is for a child?

It's such a great question, and I think it comes down to the fact that we've done this for so long that we really understand the culture of each school.

All the private schools in New York City offer an excellent education. That's why they exist, and that's why people pay very high tuitions to send their children there. The real difference is the culture. Some schools are more collaborative in their approach, more project-based. Some offer the IB (International Baccalaureate). Some are more international, some are more competitive in nature. Some have a little more support built in if a child needs it, which means there isn't that cutthroat competitiveness.

Now, when I say that, it always sounds like a negative, but I don't mean it that way. Some kids are ready for that environment and they want it. So I listen very carefully to the cues parents give me about how they describe their child. Sometimes I joke that by the end of that first call, I know exactly where the kids should go to school, even though we still have to go through the whole process.

Some children need a little more of a nurturing environment. Some would do really well in an all-girls or all-boys school. Some kids really want a campus school, and if they've come from one, the fact that many New York City schools are quite small can be a big adjustment. It's all about listening to the family, and then when I meet the children and go through that part of the process with them, I can see where they should be. I have a pretty good sense of it by that point.

What do you find most challenging and most rewarding about this work?

It's funny. I always think about the challenging part, but the truth is that in the early years, I found things much more challenging. Now it's really become more about the rewarding side.

The challenge is that every family is a new project. No two are the same. Sometimes it's a family that wants an international school, or a family who knows they're eventually going back to where they came from. They all have different concerns. But I think understanding each family deeply is something I've really learned to do well over the years.

The rewarding part is that I always seem to get the same type of message at the end: "I remember our first call and how we felt, and we're just so thankful for where we are now." That, to me, is always incredibly rewarding. Where children end up becomes their friendships, their community. It's the most important next step in their lives. And it's a big decision and a big move. I'm always thinking about how a child is going to transition, and what kind of school is going to make that transition smoother and more successful.

The world's changing fast, especially with AI. How have you seen the school search process evolve, and what should families be mindful of?

I've done my own research with AI, just to see how it would describe a school's culture or fit. And sometimes the information is pretty good. But I've also found some glaring mistakes. The other day, I was looking up information on the IB program at a particular school, and AI said that the school offered the IB all the way through from kindergarten to senior year. I knew that was wrong, and of course it was. They only offer the IB diploma. A family could easily take that at face value and apply to a school based on incorrect information.

The other thing we spend a lot of time on is helping families with their essays. We don't write the essays for them. We give advice, tips, and then we review them. But now we're very careful to make sure they don't sound like AI wrote them. Admissions people are just regular, nice people making decisions and looking for families that are going to be a good fit for the school. They're looking for genuine, authentic families. If an essay sounds overly polished or manufactured, it's not going to land the way you want it to.

We also help families who are on waitlists. I'll say to them, "It's really important to let the school know you're still very interested. But you need to tell them why. What is it about this school? Why do you think it's a good fit?" And when a school is reading your letter alongside 15 to 30 others, what's going to make yours stand out? We do a lot of that kind of coaching, and I think when families are left to do it on their own, it sometimes doesn't come across as genuine.

So AI can give you some nice general information, but it doesn't have the relationships with the schools. It can be incorrect, and it can come across as not being authentic.

What advice would you give to families who are moving to New York and looking for schools right now?

There are a lot of schools and a lot of options for families moving to the New York area, and what's important is getting a very good understanding of all of them while keeping in mind what schools are going to be the best fit for your family.

Almost every one of my families, when they fill out our initial questionnaire, has a list of schools they're interested in, and so many times those schools are not the right fit. Your colleagues and friends are always going to recommend the school their own child attends. And of course they will, because for their child, maybe it is the best school. But very rarely is someone going to say, "My kid's school? No, it's not good. Don't go there." So you're getting a very filtered view.

I think it's really important for families to understand that there are so many great schools out there. Not just five. Many, many more than five.

One last thing. Tell us about the interview prep you do with students.

This is one of my favorite parts of the job, and the reason I love it so much is that it allows me to really get to know the students. But I also think it's something that parents simply cannot do for their own children. Kids just don't respond the same way to their parents as they do to someone they don't know. And that's actually the point. They have to feel a little bit uncomfortable, because they won't know the person interviewing them at the school either.

The interviews are a really important part of the process, because at that point, the school has only seen grades and an application. They haven't met the child. So to have them prepared and confident going in makes a huge difference. Every parent has told me that the interview prep was incredibly helpful, and the biggest part of it isn't just preparation. It's confidence. Their child comes out feeling ready.

I do that work as an education consultant, but also as a mom. I know that confidence is key.

Heather Gatto is a Greater New York expert who specializes in private and public school placement in New York City, Westchester, NY, and Fairfield County, Connecticut. Since joining Bennett in 2009, she has worked with hundreds of families and has successfully placed countless children in schools throughout the greater New York area. When not on the phone with relocating families or schools, she can often be found hiking with her dog, Finn.

Bennett International Education Consultancy works directly with hundreds of families each year across the globe. We support families by helping them make informed decisions about the best-fit schools for their children; with our guidance, they secure placement in preschools, private day schools, public/state schools, boarding schools, colleges and universities, including schools with particular programs, such as special needs support.