NE Franklin News

The Hilltop Early Learning Center is marking the end of its first year, having provided affordable pre-kindergarten education to children in the Hilltop area. This initiative is considered crucial for long-term academic success and social mobility.

The center, which began welcoming students in fall 2023, is managed by Columbus Early Learning Centers. It represents a $24 million investment from the city aimed at offering various services to local children and families. These services include a health center run by Nationwide Children’s Hospital, counseling, and a food pantry.

“When we started this work, there were 2,000 four-year-olds living in the Hilltop, and only 152 of them were enrolled in high-quality pre-school. That was unacceptable,” stated City of Columbus Mayor Andrew J. Ginther. “We enlisted a broad community coalition to turn those numbers around and deploy a comprehensive approach to improving learning outcomes and opening new doors to opportunity that will better ensure a lifetime of success for these children and all who pass through this center.”

In the 2023-24 school year, approximately 120 children from the Hilltop attended the center. The facility aims to reach its full capacity of 240 children this academic year. All attendees are automatically enrolled in Early Start Columbus (ESC), allowing them free access to the center.

Institutions affiliated with ESC have received recognition for their students' outstanding performance. Research by The Crane Center for Early Childhood Research and Policy at The Ohio State University shows that ESC students score on average 10 percentage points higher than their peers in Franklin County and Ohio's state-wide assessments. Additionally, only 18% of ESC students rank in the lowest tier compared to 32% of kindergarteners in Franklin County and 30% across Ohio.