Allerton Hill Blog

October 28, 2015

Typical among school districts, about 65 percent of Dublin’s residents don’t have children in the district, say Dublin schools administrators.

So how does a school district keep empty-nesters involved and invested? Feed them, and promise live entertainment.

On Monday, 34 senior citizens gathered at the district’s Central Office at 7030 Coffman Rd. to visit the buffet line, chat with friends and hear what’s going on with their grandchildren’s schools directly from the Dublin administrators.

The Senior Council Advisory Committee, which convenes four times a year, started about seven years ago. At first, the district had to recruit seniors, but soon the group grew by word of mouth.

Superintendent Todd Hoadley said it isn’t directly about passing levies, but “this is like deposits into the bank of good will.”

October 5, 2015

An influx of young families with school-age children to a community is a sign of economic health and vitality. It also can be a challenge for central Ohio school districts that already are operating buildings over capacity, and looking at enrollment growth in coming years.

The fact that the Columbus region is experiencing the strongest growth in Ohio is evidenced by the baby (and kid) boom in communities such as Powell, Hilliard and Dublin. Their enrollment surge, along with other population shifts around the state in recent years, turns the longstanding reference to Ohio’s “Big 8” urban school districts on its head: Columbus, Cleveland and Cincinnati still are the top three, in that order, but Olentangy, South-Western and Hilliard now among the top 10 districts in terms of enrollment. Westerville and Dublin come in at Nos. 11 and 12 statewide, while once-big districts such as Canton and Youngstown have slipped significantly to Nos. 20 and 59 in the state.