Aim. The article aims to introduce the concept of emotional intelligence and present an alternative view of educational success, emphasizing the role of parents and then the school environment in supporting students from an early age on their way to acquiring knowledge and achieving positive results in the educational process, as well as in adult life. Methods and materials. The article discusses the concept of emotional intelligence and its role in children achieving educational success. This article presents a synthetic approach to the topic by reviewing and analyzing the content contained in available, selected examples of scientific literature. This publication defining emotions and emotional intelligence, explaining their importance in the individual and collective contexts, and focusing on childhood and education (especially taking into account the roles of, among others, emotions, self-regulation, and self-esteem in the process of acquiring knowledge and functioning in the school space). It mainly focuses on childhood, an essential period in a child’s development, to stimulate their social skills, teach them how to deal with emotions, and develop emotional intelligence. Results and conclusion. Next to general intelligence, emotional intelligence is one of the essential contemporary factors influencing a child’s broadly understood success (school and professional). It is a factor that optimizes the educational process and helps the individual cope with many everyday personal, educational, and, in the future, professional situations. In this context, EI plays the role of a catalyst influencing the positive functioning of students in the school space, after completing education, and in the subsequent years of their functioning in the professional space.