Geelong parents are rediscovering their city-and the schools are finally catching up

Three years ago, Sarah Chen packed up her two children and moved from Bellerine Street to the western suburbs of Melbourne. She wasn't chasing better schools-she was chasing certainty. Now, in 2026, she's considering the reverse journey.

Chen is among a growing cohort of Geelong parents reassessing their city after a wave of changes that have fundamentally altered family life here. New wraparound care programs at primary schools, improved Year 11 and 12 retention rates, and flexible working arrangements offered by employers setting up in the Geelong Tech Corridor have made staying put feel less like a compromise and more like a genuine choice.

"Five years ago, if you had a kid heading to Year 11, you were almost expected to move," says Michael Russo, principal of Geelong Grammar School's junior campus on the Barwon River. "That conversation is simply not happening the same way anymore. Parents are looking at what's available locally now."

Real investment, real change

The shift is tangible. The Victorian government's Geelong Education Plan, rolled out from 2024, injected $127 million into local schools. Newcomb Secondary College received a $22 million upgrade to its STEM facilities. Bellerine Primary, nestled in the leafy pockets near Kardinia Park, opened an extended care program in February 2025 that runs until 6 p.m., addressing the squeeze working parents faced when school gates closed at 3:30 p.m.

These weren't cosmetic additions. Parents here cite specific frustrations resolved: childcare gaps that made full-time work nearly impossible, outdated science labs that made Year 10 physics feel like studying in a museum, and a sense that ambitious kids had to leave town to access serious academic competition.

"My oldest could do senior athletics at state level without driving to Ballarat or Melbourne every weekend," says one parent at Geelong High School, who asked not to be named. "That changed in 2023 when the regional athletics hub opened at Deakin University. These things compound."

Numbers tell the story

Enrolment data backs this up. Year 12 completion rates in Geelong schools have climbed to 87 percent as of 2025, up from 79 percent in 2020. Kindergarten enrolments at council-linked programs across the City of Greater Geelong have stabilized after three years of decline, with waiting lists now extending to eight months at several Newtown and Manifold Heights facilities.

School fees at independent options have risen 4.2 percent annually since 2023, but so has demand. Geelong Grammar saw its junior campus fill to capacity in March 2026, opening a waitlist for the first time in a decade. The exodus, it seems, has paused.

Working parents point to another critical shift: major employers moving to Geelong are offering flexibility that Melbourne-based roles rarely did. Tech startups clustering around Deakin's Waurn Ponds campus, and established firms opening satellite offices downtown, have brought jobs where you can negotiate school pickups without sacrificing income.

The property market reflects this. Family homes in sought-after pockets-Highton, Bellerine, Manifold Heights-have seen stabilising prices after years of Melbourne-ward migration. According to Domain data, three-bedroom homes in Highton averaged $595,000 in June 2026, down from peaks of $630,000 in early 2023, but demand has shifted from speculative buyers to families planning to stay.

For parents weighing a move to or within Geelong now, the calculus has shifted. You're no longer choosing between staying close to family or accessing decent schools. You're choosing between a lifestyle with less commute stress and one where you're spending two hours daily in traffic. That's the conversation happening over coffee at Waurn Ponds on a Friday morning-and more parents are deciding Geelong wins.