Welcome to Upper Arlington Schools, the home of the Golden Bears — a premier school district located in a suburb of Columbus, Ohio.  

Founded in 1918, Upper Arlington Schools is now home to more than 6,500 students across our preK-12 programs — including our tuition-funded preschool program at Burbank Early Childhood School, five elementary schools, two middle schools and one high school.

Driven by a mission to challenge and support every student, every step of the way, Upper Arlington Schools continues to be a lighthouse district — leading the way for others across the state of Ohio and the country with a high quality academic program, exceptionally talented students, and new and innovative programming designed to meet the individual needs of all students.

Guiding all of this work is the 2019-2024 Strategic Plan, which identifies a focused set of recommendations rooted in the district’s mission and the vision of uniquely accomplished students prepared to serve, lead and succeed.

At the core of the strategic plan is academics. Throughout the K-12 academic program, Upper Arlington Schools is taking the lead nationwide by implementing a totally personalized student support system known as the multi-tiered system of support, or MTSS. This system gives teachers the structures, tools and student-specific data to respond to the unique learning needs of every student so that they can maximize their growth.

At the elementary level, Upper Arlington Schools continues to set the standard for literacy instruction by building a strong foundation for success for early readers, from kindergarten on. Our all-day kindergarten program is opening up new opportunities for these early learners by providing nearly 18 additional hours a week to focus on the development of core academic skills such as literacy and math. It is one of the first all-day kindergarten programs in the state to be offered to families at no additional cost.

At the middle level, students are able to dive deeper into the full scope of their academic journey and earn high school-level credit in math, science and global language. There, they also can begin their journey in Upper Arlington’s renowned performing arts program by pursuing orchestra, band or vocal music. 

Both middle school and high school students here consistently bring home honors in national, regional, statewide and local competitions in the visual and performing arts, math, science, computer science, robotics, writing, speech and debate, global languages, and much more.

At Upper Arlington High School, students can choose from a vast number of courses in the comprehensive curriculum, including lifelong career-related coursework and multiple opportunities for college-level coursework through Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate and College Credit Plus. In fact, so many UAHS students choose advanced coursework that Upper Arlington Schools is first in the state in the combined percentage of students taking AP and IB courses.

Upper Arlington Schools remains committed to our long-running philosophy of educating the whole child through not only academics but the arts, service learning, athletics and unique real-world learning opportunities that expose students to authentic career-based experiences and skills that they’ll take into their next step in life. 

Well-being has never been more important to the students, families and staff of our district, and we are committed to making sure everyone feels loved, embraced and celebrated in our schools. This is critical to the academic success of our students.

With one-to-one technology and state-of-the-art facilities, students also have the tools to enhance their academic experience. Upper Arlington Schools was the first district in the central Ohio area to fully implement one-to-one technology by the start of the 2016-2017 school year, providing every student with a device to support, personalize and enhance their learning. 

And, with six of the eight K-12 schools newly built or completely renovated, students are now learning in flexible, light-filled environments that are designed to support the learning styles of today and the future. 

It’s always a great time to be a Golden Bear. Today, more and more families are choosing to become Golden Bears as they move into our school district and our community.

Upper Arlington Schools serves more than 6,300 students in kindergarten through grade 12 across our district. Our enrollment has grown over 10 years and expected to continue to grow even more significantly over the next decade. This is one of our most exciting challenges as a school district and as a community now and in the coming years.