Original Research by School Decision on Franklin Learning Academy
Franklin Learning Academy is a tuition-free public charter school that opened in downtown Columbus in 2023, serving kindergarten through second grade only. The school is intentionally built for early elementary—it pairs classroom instruction with onsite childcare for toddlers and preschoolers—and explicitly does not extend beyond grade two. Families choosing this school need to understand from the start that their child will attend Franklin Learning Academy for a defined span and then transition to another school for third grade and beyond.
The enrollment is very small. Just under a third of students are in kindergarten, with far fewer in first and second grades, reflecting both the school's recent founding and its narrow grade band. A substantial majority of enrolled students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. The student body is predominantly Black, with a smaller number of white students and a small Hispanic enrollment; Asian and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander students are not currently enrolled.
State testing data for this school is not available. Because Franklin Learning Academy serves only grades K through two, Ohio does not administer standardized assessments at these levels, so no proficiency results exist to review. The school does not have a graduation rate for the same reason—only high schools report graduation data. This is a structural fact of early-grade education in Ohio, not a reflection on the school's performance.
What is available is the school's publicly reported 5-Star Building Award from the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce, given on the basis of student achievement, academic progress, and early literacy outcomes. This represents the highest possible rating on the state report card. Only a small number of community schools statewide have earned this recognition, making it a meaningful quality marker for a brand-new charter that has been in operation less than a few years.
The school occupies an address on East Mound Street in downtown Columbus, placing it in an area undergoing significant mixed-use development. The immediate neighborhood has seen investment in both housing and commercial activity as part of Columbus's broader downtown revitalization. Housing costs in the greater downtown zip code are stable and sit slightly above the state median for Ohio but below the national average. Rental costs are moderate. Downtown Columbus offers walkability and proximity to cultural institutions, the Scioto Mile riverfront, schools, and transit, though families living further out will experience a more car-dependent landscape.
Columbus itself is one of the fastest-growing large cities in the United States, driven by both corporate expansion (including a major semiconductor facility in planning) and migration into the region. This growth is reshaping schools and neighborhoods citywide, with housing demand outpacing supply and new residential development spreading across multiple submarkets.
For parents, Franklin Learning Academy represents an intentional choice for a small, newly established K–2 pathway with demonstrated early-literacy performance and integrated childcare. The trade-off is the school's explicit limit to early grades and very small size. A parent weighing this option should ask the school directly about grade-three transitions, how the school supports families as their children move on, and what the enrollment trajectory looks like as the school matures. The 5-Star rating is a concrete strength, but the absence of state testing data is simply the nature of kindergarten-through-second-grade education, not a data gap to interpret as weakness.
See more original research from School Decision →