Columbus, Ohio

We found a description of the public school system in Columbus that is extremely helpful and want to share in giving guidance to the LookyLOO community about the district process and quality:

djsassan
Updated 1y ago

First, you have to take your child to the enrollment center by Fort Hayes. They will do a small assessment to make sure your child is ready for kindergarten and will not need special services. This is done starting in January if I recall (double check, may be sooner). It is a standard practice.

Next, you will start getting blasted with emails and calls about School Choice. You may enter a lottery to try to send your child elsewhere, and they will transport. Things to consider are how competetive that school is, how long of a bus ride will it be for a 5 year old, etc. For example, Kenwood is an all-French school you must start in either first or second grade, or else they will not accept becaude the student is then too far behind in the language. It is a higher rated CCS school, but do you want your child to learn French and ride a bus an hour a day from ghe far east side, for example. This is purely a hyopthetical of the pros and cons.

Other options include alternative schools, catholic schools that offer financial assistance, or charter schools. Some charter schools are pathetic money grabs, others are phenomenal and work with districts as an alternative to traditional school i.e STEM-based, music-based, etc. You really do have to research. No comment on catholic schools, others are better-suited to respond than I am.

There are some really good CCS schools that are brought down in scores because of influx of other populations. Again as an EXAMPLE - A high ESL population MAY NOT do as well in testing, so they could bring down the overall average. Some schools really do need help, others really are great. My kids' principal is an absolute all-star, the staff loves her, the students love her, the parents love the school, but they are technically a mid-tier school due to test scores. I have zero concern about my kids' education at that school and in fact they have done very well.

Some schools are pure crap. This is anywhere. You have to tour, talk to parents, and filter out. The problem with CCS is mostly not the teachers, it is an absolute out of touch administration that is not spending wisely. The Parent Portal is a joke. It must have been designed in 1997 and was made only to be compatible with Netscape as the browser. Each school has a website, but they are no better than a geocities page. Facilities are struggling, etc etc. That's not on the school leadership, but on those above the people IN the school.

I'm not an educator, but I am very pasionate about this because education solves a LOT of social topic. An educated person is the scariest type of person, because knowledge is power.

Wish you the best in your selection of path, but my biggest advice is do not be afraid to ask questions or to go see a school. If they feed you fluff and dont want to tour you, walk away.

Link to person writing this summary: https://www.reddit.com/r/Columbus/comments/15jqq7y/how_does_the_school_system_work_in_columbus/

Nearly everything you could want from your precious bigger city is available in Columbus: arts, sports, nightlife, diverse population, diverse economy and the rest but without much of the hassles of a high cost of living, or insane traffic, or the rest. You get all of the bigger city experiences without many of the downsides. If you’re looking for a better place to bail to, and think the midwest could work, Columbus is hard to beat. If you’re truly unsure about the Midwest (or at least Ohio) then remember that tagline they never adopted -- Columbus, We Are So Not Ohio.

Expensive_Case9796
Living in Columbus
1y ago
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Columbus overall is a great place to be. I like to think of it as the smallest big city if that makes any sense. The arts community here is so strong and really translates to day to day life. There are murals everywhere you look, a ton of festivals and events, and so many galleries and cool exhibits to see. Columbus is more like a bunch of smaller cities put together to make one big city. I live downtown (and i definitely recommend it) but other than that i don’t really know anyone relatively close to downtown. Most people live in the smaller cities that surround downtown (opposed to bigger cities where most people you know live in an apartment in the downtown area). Another great thing about cbus is that the people are SO NICE. Of course not everyone is nice but probably 9 times out of 10 if you are talking to someone they are smiling and being kind which i love. There’s a shopping center called Easton and it’s Wexner’s big project. I think it’s one of the biggest if not the biggest shopping center in the US. Even if you aren’t looking to shop there’s still an infinite amount of restaurants and stuff to do so you can always find an excuse to go to Easton. Ohio state football is a staple here. Believe it or not, they statistically have one of the biggest and most loyal fan bases of anything ever. If you don’t believe it, move here and you’ll believe it. Columbus people go absolutely NUTSO for the buckeyes. The transportation issue is a big con. You need a car if you live here. There are buses but they don’t really get you anywhere fast, the people on them can be a little scary, and they break down all the time. Overall though, Cbus is an amazing city and even though it’s no New York or anything, I still feel as if you get the big city feel and a small community feel at the same time. Also, it’s the biggest growing city in the US right now. We just got a bunch of new companies (Intel, Google, Amazon, etc) moving here. I’m a huge cbus advocate and i can’t recommend moving here enough.

If you're interested in hearing from other locals check out: The Reviews.