Anyone familiar with Columbus, Ga/Ft Benning area schools?

[ClarabelleCowFan]

Waiting on the final orders from the Army but looks like we are headed to Ft Benning in Columbus, GA. I'll have 1 child in middle school and 1 in high school. Anyone familiar with schools and neighborhoods in the area?

And, of course the important part - how long is the drive to WDW??

 

[JulieWent]

Welcome to Georgia / Alabama, y'all! Seriously, we live in Auburn, Alabama, which is about 40 miles away from Columbus. I wish I could tell you wonderful things about the Columbus / Phenix City schools, but I can't. They aren't inner city schools -- as in they aren't dangerous or in terrible shape. It's just that they aren't excellent.

That said, many of the districts around Columbus are really building up in anticipation of the base increasing its size. The Lee County, Alabama schools are building a new high school in Smiths Station. (This is about 20 miles from Columbus.) I think there are small communities on the Georgia side that are doing the same. We even have people here in Auburn who live here and work in Columbus. (Auburn schools are excellent. This is a university town, and we spend more money on education than many systems in Alabama / Georgia.)

I know there are good schools in the Columbus area. There always are. It's just not an excellent system. It IS a nice area, though, and the base is super. (My parents are retired military and truly enjoy using the base for shopping, etc.)

I know you'll hear from others. Maybe some will have had good experiences with schools in the area. Good luck to you.

Julie

Oh! Depending on how fast you drive -- it's about a seven hour trek to Disney!

 

[ClarabelleCowFan]

Welcome to Georgia / Alabama, y'all! Seriously, we live in Auburn, Alabama, which is about 40 miles away from Columbus. I wish I could tell you wonderful things about the Columbus / Phenix City schools, but I can't. They aren't inner city schools -- as in they aren't dangerous or in terrible shape. It's just that they aren't excellent.

That said, many of the districts around Columbus are really building up in anticipation of the base increasing its size. The Lee County, Alabama schools are building a new high school in Smiths Station. (This is about 20 miles from Columbus.) I think there are small communities on the Georgia side that are doing the same. We even have people here in Auburn who live here and work in Columbus. (Auburn schools are excellent. This is a university town, and we spend more money on education than many systems in Alabama / Georgia.)

I know there are good schools in the Columbus area. There always are. It's just not an excellent system. It IS a nice area, though, and the base is super. (My parents are retired military and truly enjoy using the base for shopping, etc.)

I know you'll hear from others. Maybe some will have had good experiences with schools in the area. Good luck to you.

Julie

Oh! Depending on how fast you drive -- it's about a seven hour trek to Disney!

Thanks, Julie!

I have a friend in Phenix City but we were hoping to live on the GA side and send the kids to GA schools so that my oldest child could take advantage of the HOPE program for college tuition and the free pre-K for my youngest.

I'm not sure DH would agree to live in Auburn (he's an LSU alum!). I will look into the schools up there though. DH would be the one making the commute and where we are now he already has an hour round trip drive each day.

 

[JulieWent]

Then Auburn may not be for you! Seriously, though, I am pretty sure that there are communities on the "Georgia side" that are similar to Auburn and Smiths Station.

The Hope scholarships are truly worth living in Georgia for. (DH is a faculty member at Auburn, so we have our own "faculty scholarship" for DS. We've told him he may go to any university he chooses to go to, as long as he gets at least a 50% faculty discount at that university.)

I hope the move goes well for you.

Julie

 

[ClarabelleCowFan]

Then Auburn may not be for you! Seriously, though, I am pretty sure that there are communities on the "Georgia side" that are similar to Auburn and Smiths Station.

The Hope scholarships are truly worth living in Georgia for. (DH is a faculty member at Auburn, so we have our own "faculty scholarship" for DS. We've told him he may go to any university he chooses to go to, as long as he gets at least a 50% faculty discount at that university.)

I hope the move goes well for you.

Julie

Thanks! DH is now excited that he can go to an LSU/Auburn game while we are stationed at Benning.

 

[lovemygoofy]

no kelly, stay here with meeeeeeeeee


don't make me be the only southern belle around these parts


seriously I know several people from that area if you want me to get some tips for you.

 

[ClarabelleCowFan]

no kelly, stay here with meeeeeeeeee


don't make me be the only southern belle around these parts


seriously I know several people from that area if you want me to get some tips for you.

HA! I will miss you, girlie, but 5 feet of snow in 5 days this month is getting a bit old. We actually begged and pleaded to stay here 2 more years so DD16 could finish high school but branch refused so we PCS this summer.

Would love the inside track on schools and neighborhoods from your buddies at Benning! We will of course need a house with a guest room for you when you come visit.

 

[PrincessSuzanne]

Well your title just caught my eye. I was born and raised in Phenix City, AL and my mom worked at Fort Benning for 30 years. I am not really familiar with the schools, except that the Northside High area, Hardaway High, and Columbus High schools are some of the better schools. The Northside area is really nice, a friends daughters graduated from there.

There are sort of 3 areas, South Columbus (bad area), near post; North Columbus, where the better living areas and shopping is; and Phenix City. Even though P.C. is in AL, it is considered an extension of Columbus. I am literally seconds from the state line in North P.C. I am in the Smiths Station district, which IS NOT 20 miles from Columbus. I don't recommend P.C. schools, but as far a living, it is alot less expensive than Columbus.

WDW is approx 6.5 hours away Straight out the back of Ft. Benning.

Fort Benning is really growing right now with the unit from Kentucky moving in next year.

I wil be happy to try to answer as many questions as I can.

Suzanne

 

[DaParkers]

I am in Columbus, Ga and I have a son going to middle school next year. I live in North Columbus and my son goes to North Columbus Elementary. We live about 15 minutes from post. The farther from post, the quieter. On post seems to be pretty tame also. We've lived in Ft. Knox and Ft. Polk and Benning seems to be the quietest. Anyway, my son will probably be going to Arnold Magnet Academy next year. He'll be taking the test this Tuesday. I don't know much about the other schools around here. We've only been to Brookstone private school (12k a year) and Arnold. We wanted him to go to Brookstone, but Arnold actually seemed like it would have him better prepared for high school, but Arnold had the better networking opportunities. And that 12k can fund a few more WDW trips and Disney cruises. It took us 6 hours from my door to the "Welcome Sign" when we went this past Dec. and 7 1/2 hours to Port Canaveral when we went on our cruise last May. Maybe it could be shorter, but those were my first times driving from here.

 

[ClarabelleCowFan]

Well your title just caught my eye. I was born and raised in Phenix City, AL and my mom worked at Fort Benning for 30 years. I am not really familiar with the schools, except that the Northside High area, Hardaway High, and Columbus High schools are some of the better schools. The Northside area is really nice, a friends daughters graduated from there.

There are sort of 3 areas, South Columbus (bad area), near post; North Columbus, where the better living areas and shopping is; and Phenix City. Even though P.C. is in AL, it is considered an extension of Columbus. I am literally seconds from the state line in North P.C. I am in the Smiths Station district, which IS NOT 20 miles from Columbus. I don't recommend P.C. schools, but as far a living, it is alot less expensive than Columbus.

WDW is approx 6.5 hours away Straight out the back of Ft. Benning.

Fort Benning is really growing right now with the unit from Kentucky moving in next year.

I wil be happy to try to answer as many questions as I can.

Suzanne

Thanks, Suzanne.

We have been looking online and seems like you can get a much bigger house for the money on the Alabama side but having a child graduating from high school we just don't want to lose out on that HOPE option from the GA public schools.

Glad to know there are better parts of Columbus than around the base - that's all I saw the last time I was there (which granted was 18 years ago when I saw my college sweetheart off to Ranger school).

I am in Columbus, Ga and I have a son going to middle school next year. I live in North Columbus and my son goes to North Columbus Elementary. We live about 15 minutes from post. The farther from post, the quieter. On post seems to be pretty tame also. We've lived in Ft. Knox and Ft. Polk and Benning seems to be the quietest. Anyway, my son will probably be going to Arnold Magnet Academy next year. He'll be taking the test this Tuesday. I don't know much about the other schools around here. We've only been to Brookstone private school (12k a year) and Arnold. We wanted him to go to Brookstone, but Arnold actually seemed like it would have him better prepared for high school, but Arnold had the better networking opportunities. And that 12k can fund a few more WDW trips and Disney cruises. It took us 6 hours from my door to the "Welcome Sign" when we went this past Dec. and 7 1/2 hours to Port Canaveral when we went on our cruise last May. Maybe it could be shorter, but those were my first times driving from here.

Good luck to your son! Arnold looks like it has some fantastic programs. I was hoping there was some sort of school for the arts in middle school but I don't see one. My DD11 is very into drama, music and dance so that would be more up her alley than a math/science magnet. My oldest attended a school of the arts in middle school in SC and loved it.

 

[DaParkers]

Thanks, Suzanne.

Good luck to your son! Arnold looks like it has some fantastic programs. I was hoping there was some sort of school for the arts in middle school but I don't see one. My DD11 is very into drama, music and dance so that would be more up her alley than a math/science magnet. My oldest attended a school of the arts in middle school in SC and loved it.

I'm not trying to sell you on Arnold, but just wanted to say that it has a drama program, chorus, band, and orchestra. They stressed these things during the open house. No dance that I know of, though.

 

[ClarabelleCowFan]

I'm not trying to sell you on Arnold, but just wanted to say that it has a drama program, chorus, band, and orchestra. They stressed these things during the open house. No dance that I know of, though.

Hmm.... I think I'll give the school a call and talk to them directly and get more info about that - sounds great. Thanks for the heads up!