moving to Cincinnati, help w Elementary schools n special needs resources (Avon: rentals, day care)

[gkaur]

Hi all
We are moving to Cincinnati and would like to know:
1. what Elementary schools are recommended. 2 kids, 5 and 2 yrs old. 5 year old will move from a pvt Montessori to a public schools setting.
2 Our 2 year old requires special needs care. Any recommendations and resources that you can point us to?
3. We will be renting initially, any good places to find rentals?
4. We need to stay within 20 mins driving distance to Children's hospital
5. Any other tips?
Thanks!

[progmac]

not sure about the two year old, but for your older child, CPS has two public montessori elementary schools...north avondale montessori and pleasant ridge montessori. both have good reputations

[kjbrill]

Originally Posted by progmac

not sure about the two year old, but for your older child, CPS has two public montessori elementary schools...north avondale montessori and pleasant ridge montessori. both have good reputations

I would agree with Pleasant Ridge montessori, it is highly rated and well within a 20 minute drive of Childrens. Contact CPS concerning whatever special needs your other child has. I would hope the Pleasant Ridge area would also provide this. The type of easy commute you desire to Childrens.

[kg97]

OP, will you be working at Children's? They do have an onsite daycare that may be an option, or at least refer to a place that is good for special needs. If nothing else, CCHMC has a concierge service that might be able to help research for you.

I agree, P Ridge is an easy commute to Uptown area. You can either take 71 or if that gets backed up, there are plenty of surface street options.

[gkaur]

Great tips, thank you!

[kjbrill]

If you will be working at Childrens, I would definitely contact their administration for advice on the needs of your 2 year old. They should be about the best advice you can get. If their inhouse day care can provide what is necessary, that is the way I would go. But also contact CPS on what programs they have in the Pleasant Ridge area. Always cover your bases twice. Pleasant Ridge to Childrens is a great commute. The montessori school there has achieved a fine reputation. I would exhaust the possibilities there before looking elsewhere.

[gkaur]

Thank you! No I won't be working at children's but have contacted them to research some caregiver or other options for childcare. We ended up looking into regular public school system instead of Montessori, let's see how it goes. Thank you all for ur response, looking fwd to meeting more Cincinatians!

[kimberlymarie30]

Ummm. CPS has 4 public Montessori schools. Dater Montessori (West Side), Sands Montessori (East Side), North Avondale (More Central), and Pleasant Ridge (More central/east). All are magnet schools with waiting lists, except for Pleasant Ridge which is a neighborhood school. My daughter attends Dater Montessori, and we couldn't be happier. Great program, great teachers. People that post on these threads should really be better informed about that which they are posting.

[kimberlymarie30]

BTW, all of the Montessori schools listed have higher scores than Pleasant Ridge. They are definitely getting there, but being a neighborhood school presents them with greater challenges than the magnets in my opinion. If you stand in line for 4 or more days to get your child in a school, then come hell or high water you are going to make sure they succeed in most cases.

[kjbrill]

Originally Posted by kimberlymarie30

BTW, all of the Montessori schools listed have higher scores than Pleasant Ridge. They are definitely getting there, but being a neighborhood school presents them with greater challenges than the magnets in my opinion. If you stand in line for 4 or more days to get your child in a school, then come hell or high water you are going to make sure they succeed in most cases.

I would definitely have to agree with your statement about standing in line for 4 days. BTW, once you get a child in a magnet school, providing their work is acceptable are they assured a place there the next school year or do you have to go through the whole process again? I am just curious how the process works.