Full Day Kindergarten in Columbus, Ohio (Dublin, Worthington: 2015, rentals, house)

[SPFERNANDEZ]

Hello!

We relocated to Columbus, Ohio last year and moved into the Dublin School District. We are currently renting and now that we are exploring Kindergarten options I found out today (oops on my part for lack of research) that Dublin only offers half day (2.5 hours) of Kindergarten. We will enroll next year for the 2014-2015 school year and after my calls today, I realize we will have to move.

After some quick initial web searches I saw that Worthington and Grandview offer full time with tuition option but that it is a lottery system. We won't be living in those areas when the lottery takes place as our lease is up next summer. I am not hugely confident on getting into a full day kindergarten next July, a month before school starts (which is when we will have a new lease with the appropriate address on it.)

It is also important to note: we have a limited housing budget. Rentals @$1000-1200 or home prices MAX $190,000. Realizing this limits our searches, I am looking into CCS as well. Yes they just got slammed by the scores and grades issued by the state but I am pretty confident we can find a decent elementary. Middle School ? I'm not so sure.

Any help or pointers? Ideally we would like to stay inside the 270 for work commute. I can't believe I didn't realize that Ohio doesn't require full day Kindergarten!

Thank you, in advance.

[jbcmh81]

Originally Posted by SPFERNANDEZ

Hello!

We relocated to Columbus, Ohio last year and moved into the Dublin School District. We are currently renting and now that we are exploring Kindergarten options I found out today (oops on my part for lack of research) that Dublin only offers half day (2.5 hours) of Kindergarten. We will enroll next year for the 2014-2015 school year and after my calls today, I realize we will have to move.

After some quick initial web searches I saw that Worthington and Grandview offer full time with tuition option but that it is a lottery system. We won't be living in those areas when the lottery takes place as our lease is up next summer. I am not hugely confident on getting into a full day kindergarten next July, a month before school starts (which is when we will have a new lease with the appropriate address on it.)

It is also important to note: we have a limited housing budget. Rentals @$1000-1200 or home prices MAX $190,000. Realizing this limits our searches, I am looking into CCS as well. Yes they just got slammed by the scores and grades issued by the state but I am pretty confident we can find a decent elementary. Middle School ? I'm not so sure.

Any help or pointers? Ideally we would like to stay inside the 270 for work commute. I can't believe I didn't realize that Ohio doesn't require full day Kindergarten!

Thank you, in advance.

There are some decent individual schools within the Columbus system, even with all the problems of late. I have always heard good things about the schools around Clintonville.

[ilovenj8]

Columbus Public does have all day...but you'll have to move the next year. Some of the charter school do an all day kindergarten too. bexley has an all day kindergarten, but you probably will have a hard time finding a house at 190K

[bam989863]

Look off of Bethel Road, the Columbus elementary school there is called Gables and it is a great school. If you move far enough west on Bethel you can actually pick Columbus or Dublin Schools so when you get to middle school you could send your child to Dublin Schools. You can find a house for 190k or under there.

[Supergrrl7]

There was another post about all-day kindergarten around here not too long ago, you may want to look and see if you can find it.

If I remember correctly, Bexley offers free all day kindergarten. Worthington has an all-day option, but you have to pay tuition of about $300 a month. Worthington's all day K is supposed to be lottery-based, but usually everyone gets a slot. You can buy a house for less than $200k in worthington (Colonial Hills, Wilson Hill or in the more suburban /less walkable areas) or you can find somewhere to rent for less than $1200 if you are flexible about the location.