Liberal limited to Boulder? (Louisville: transplants, work, special needs)

[wmspeep]

We are looking to move to the Boulder area from North Carolina this coming year and want to be in a town with a liberal viewpoint. Do we need to look to live in the actual town of Boulder to find this or would any surrounding towns be ok too? We have liberal leanings and have one child that will be in middle school next year who is very social and athletic but also learning disabled. We would love a community and school system that values individuality and different learning styles. This is very important to us. We work from home so commute is not an issue but the feel/mentality of the town is and so is our son's school experience.

Any advice would be welcomed.

[Micktooth]

We moved to Louisville about 5 miles from Boulder a couple of years ago. Our 12yo daughter has special needs mentally and physically. So far we have been pretty happy with the Boulder Valley School District. Here are some links that may help you.MONEY Magazine: Best places to live 2007: Louisville, CO snapshot
Imagine! - Innovative Resources for Cognitive and Physical Challenges (This is a great group and we use a lot of their services)
Parent to Parent Home (This group can answer a lot of your questions)
I think the entire Boulder area is very liberal minded. A lot of hilarious bumper stickers that I would never see down South! (We lived in Texas and New Orleans)

[sam_west]

Originally Posted by wmspeep

We are looking to move to the Boulder area from North Carolina this coming year and want to be in a town with a liberal viewpoint. Do we need to look to live in the actual town of Boulder to find this or would any surrounding towns be ok too? We have liberal leanings and have one child that will be in middle school next year who is very social and athletic but also learning disabled. We would love a community and school system that values individuality and different learning styles. This is very important to us. We work from home so commute is not an issue but the feel/mentality of the town is and so is our son's school experience.

Any advice would be welcomed.

We have too many liberals as it is, but if you insist on adding one more stay IN Boulder and don't ruin the surrounding communities.

[Spincycle]

Originally Posted by wmspeep

We are looking to move to the Boulder area from North Carolina this coming year and want to be in a town with a liberal viewpoint.

Ok. Did all of these NE transplants into NC push you out of NC?

Originally Posted by wmspeep

Do we need to look to live in the actual town of Boulder to find this or would any surrounding towns be ok too? We have liberal leanings and have one child that will be in middle school next year who is very social and athletic but also learning disabled.

Go with Boulder by all means.

Originally Posted by wmspeep

We would love a community and school system that values individuality and different learning styles.

Such as Montesourri (sp??)??

Originally Posted by wmspeep

We work from home so commute is not an issue but the feel/mentality of the town is and so is our son's school experience.

What line of work do you do?

[motoracer51]

Nothing beats Boulder. If I were you, I wouldn't consider any other place.

[Mr. Answers]

Yep. It sounds like Boulder's your place. I don't know why you assume that only liberal cities have schools that are sensitive to students with learning disabilities.....but if left-wing is what you want, Boulder's your town.

[wmspeep]

Thanks for the responses. We've lived in many parts of the country and have just had a more pleasant experience in more liberal towns so that's what we are looking for. We are very moderate liberal and not political...more of a live and let live mentality. We live now in a very conservative part of NC outside of Charlotte and just find it to be not our style. I grew up in Berkeley, CA and went to CU Boulder many years ago for undergrad so I am familiar with the area but it's different coming back with a family. Our son is a huge skiier (Steamboat) and we have considered moving there but thought the Boulder area might appeal more to all of us (my husband is a biker) and be more affordable. We have not had good experiences here in NC with the public schools as they are very "one size fits all" and those with disabilities either get a terrible education or drop out due to frustration before they graduate. So we have had to go the homeschool with tutors and private school route here.

Spincycle - We are headhunters/search consultants (depending on what region of the country you're in).

Micktooth - thanks for the school advice

[Katiana]

Re: the schools - it depends on what kind of LDs your child has. If he is in regular classes, you will find BVSD has the same 'one size fits all' mentality. I say this as a parent of a daughter who had a difficult time learning to read. "Whole Language" was the name of the game at the time, and it was felt that EVERY child could learn to read by this method. She finally got a lot of extra help in the form of "Reading Partners", where 5th graders helped the younger kids, and was reading by the end of 3rd grade. She is now a Dean's List student in college. Ironically, my other daughter probably could have learned to read no matter what method was used.

If you child is in special ed, he will probably get very individualized instruction. BVSD has a great reputation for special ed services.