Westerville schools bad??? (Columbus, Upper Arlington, Gahanna: appointed, condo, house)

[BigMoveDecision]

Hello there,

I've been recently hired as an OSU faculty and myself and my family are moving next month. When we visited the city we liked Westerville best. However, we have recently heard that schools in Westerville are not good. I've checked their scores and they are obviously not as good as Upper Arlington, but are they much worse? I thought they would be sort of comparable (maybe a slightly worse) than Dublin.
Also, I was told that the environment is particularly problematic. Any thoughts?

Another question. Does anyone knows if any of the Columbus suburbs (Westerville, Dublin, Powell, Hilliard) have good ESL programs for kids.

Thank you very much for your help.

[Bowie]

I have two friends and a family member who were disappointed by their experiences with elementary schools in Westerville. One said that the magnet school her kid transferred to was much better than the neighborhood school. Apparently the middle and high schools are OK, but the elementaries are lacking.

[HuskerDu]

Besides the cute little town/village area of Westerville, that could pass as a mediocre version of Grandview, there is absolutely nothing to see there. I would stop at that, but you need to understand that Columbus has a few "givens" that realtors who post here need to own up to. Westerville is in Northeast Columbus, which borders every section of the city (proper) that has faded into suburban squalor over the past 20 years. It is not isolated (like UA) and is in no way any different than Reynoldsburg was before Whitehall was chased out into it. Most of Westerville consists of homes that Grove City (ssippi) wouldn't even be proud of. It truly is the land of McMansions from yesteryear and will be the next Gahanna if they are lucky enough.

Just sayin'

[sftong]

I second Husker. During my previous house hunting, one of the concern I have with Westerville was that it bordered a few slumps.

Not a good indicator for your future property appreciation. Added that the school was going down in the last few years. In a couple months the new school ratings would come out, and you can see for yourself.

If you want a hint, maybe the latest Oct 2007 Achievement Test Results (grade 3) can help you. Look for Franklin County and Delaware county districts. You would see Westervill fell pretty far behind compared to UA.

Ohio Achievement Test Assessment Results

[LASam]

Wow, Bexley was lagging! What's not to like about Grandview Heights if you like semi-urban living and have a family? Those test score impress!

[bgfalcons86]

If everything is viewed in context, then most indicators seem to show that Westerville schools are good. Last year, the district met 26/30 indicators and had a pretty good Performance Index of 97.7. Not to mention, that the district reports that 80% of graduates go on to post-secondary education.

As for the scores that go in this year's report card, you will really need to look at ALL of them, not just the one score from October, which doesn't even show up on the district's final report card. Otherwise, it is just one indicator -- and out-of-context at that. I looked at Westerville's Ohio Graduation Test scores from this spring and Westerville ranks tied for 10th out of the 49 Central Ohio districts, when you look at the number of 10th graders that passed all 5 tests.

Objective measures, taken in their proper context, seem to indicate that the schools are not 'bad', but actually 'good'. No, their standardized scores won't stack up to Upper Arlington's, but very few districts' will. Furthermore, standardized scores are just one measure of a school district's overall performance. I'd advise on getting the whole picture and talking to some folks whose kids attend school in the district. FWIW, most people that I know from Westerville, seem pleased with the schools. Good Luck with your decision.

[BigMoveDecision]

Thank you all who answered this thread.

Talking to a few people, that was also my impression, that Westerville was not as good as UA or Dublin but was still "good".

But, we were told that the "environment" at the schools was particularly difficult. No further explanation given. And this is what was/is worrying us. Would be great is someone living in Westerville could share his take on this.

Also, does anyone have an idea of approximately how long would it take to get from Westerville to OSU before rush hour (7:15 am)? We heard that the traffic there can be a zoo!

[mae1979]

I'm currently also looking for a condo/house and one of the first things I look at for potential resell is the school district grades. The market is bad now, I'm seeing friends unable to sell places they bought 5 years ago so every advantage a city has over another is important in my eyes. If immediate resell (3-5 years) isn't important to you then ignore what I wrote about. That being said I personally would be weary of Westerville rating a B on the State Report Card. A B isn't bad, it's still good, but it's the trend that is a bit worrisome. I actually grew up in Dublin (went there K-12) and at the time I was in school (I graduated in 1997) I remember Westerville being on par with most of the NW suburbs. I was actually surprised to see that the district had dropped its rating when I was doing my research. As for commute time, having grown up in central ohio I feel like most commutes take 15-20 minutes and at worst 30 minutes. Westerville was bad for awhile when they were redoing their main road but I believe most of that construction is completed now.