Columbus Public Schools (Canton, Kenwood, Clinton: low crime, credit, home)

[summer22]

I'm just getting acquainted about the details of the Columbus metro... I'm aware of many, great suburban school districts, but how are the city public schools?

Are there any tiered programs (magnet, gifted, arts, etc.) for middle/high school?

What are some specific schools, even if they're not specialized for a particular program, that are safe, and generally have a good reputation?

Which ones are the schools to avoid?

[the.root]

My limited experience with CPS is I spent my last year in HS here, and went to Centennial High (little over a decade ago). It was touted (and still is) the best HS in the district. It was very clean, well done, low crime, felt "safe" there. Standards for learning seemed to be extremely subpar from what I was used to (came from northern VA). Extracurricular and advanced placement classes seemed to have a lot fewer options then the schools I was used to in NOVA. I think the best part was you could take classes at a career school for credit instead, but then you get into how good the career school is :-P. As far as art I've heard some good things about some local private schools, nothing about CPS though. I think generally CPS has a bad rep.

In my experience : grade school was a very minute fraction of the knowledge needed to accelerate in life. I'm not getting hung up on school district technicalities for my family. I think supplemental education and experience will do better then any grade school will. The biggest issue to consider (for me) is the socialization factor and the students/peers/environment they will adapt to and build off of.

I'm sure you've looked up greatschools.org for info, just like city-data, they have good statistics. Columbus City Schools City School District in Columbus, OH | GreatSchools

[Bodycount]

My wife told me that kids won't go to the nearest school to them. It's all random. We live near a grade school .. it's like 4 blocks away... and I want him to go there since he and I could walk to school instead of taking a bus.

[dxdtdemon]

Originally Posted by Bodycount

My wife told me that kids won't go to the nearest school to them. It's all random. We live near a grade school .. it's like 4 blocks away... and I want him to go there since he and I could walk to school instead of taking a bus.

I thought that open enrollment was optional, and that you would be allowed to go to the school in your district.

To the OP, Whetstone is better than Centennial and is located about three miles north of the OSU campus. They have AP classes, a competitive robotics club, and a quizbowl team, and probably other extracurricular activities of that ilk that I don't know about.

[CVCMH]

Columbus City Schools have several magnet programs, including langage-focused schools like Ecole Kenwood and a well-regarded "informal" K-8 school (Indianola Informal). They also have Columbus Alternative High School, which has excellent academics but lacks sports; however, Whetstone (a traditional high school in Clintonville) also received an "Excellent" rating on its most-recent state report card. Clinton Elementary (also in Clintonville) has one of the highest rankings in the county, outscoring many suburban schools. Check out: https://www.facebook.com/ClintonvilleGoPublic.

The district has not had "random" assignments of schools in decades. The elementary attendance maps are here: Columbus City Schools - Elementary School Boundary Maps.

If you are looking for good schools in a less "suburban" environment, Clintonville is a great choice!

[buckeyechick]

Seriously CPS suck. I grew up Canton, OH and I got a great education there, teachers that cared and actually wanted the kids to do well, took Geometry in the 8th grade and Trig in the 10th! I went to CPS my last 2 years of HS (I graduated in 2001), I went to Whetstone and my math teacher was DEMOTED after that first year to Algebra! She was tasked with instructing us in Pre-Calculus, but she was teaching Trig and I went over to her, told her butt that ALL this course looked really familiar to me and I already took this class. A couple students and I complained about the education but her butt still taught, the whole year! None of us were able to go to Calculus because we lacked the knowledge. I say stay away from CPS, they tend to be inactive when you want action and overkill when little to no reaction is needed. Send your kids to a private school or home school them. Columbus Schools for Boys and Girls, St Andrews, and Bishop Waterson are great. I think it will be worth the sacrifice in the long run.

[CVCMH]

FWIW, I have heard (but admittedly have no first hand knowledge) that Whetstone has improved quite a lot in the last ten years. Its state report card has certainly improved.