Lafayette Schools vs Louisville Schools (Boulder, Superior: houses, neighborhood, buying)

[Roloc]

Hello all. You may remember my posts about relocating out here from California (ok I doubt you really do it just sounds catchy).

Well we have rented here for a year and we totally love this place. We like both Louisville and Lafayette and the older parts of Superior.

Our problem is that we have written a few offers on some houses in Louisville and people are just not budging on the price of their homes while other communities are. My wife and I do not have a ton of money to put down on a house so we are looking to get the most value for our money. We totally love Louisville but if every other community is dropping and they are not then it behooves us to look at the surrounding communities I think.

So with that being said my major concern are the schools. Right now we have our eye on a house in Waneka landing area. I know that everyone rants and raves about the schools in Louisville and are just sort of "meh" on Lafayette schools.

While I have looked at other websites for test scores and reviews of Lafayette Elementary it was you city-data folks that were the most helpful in our initial move so I figured I would ping you again and get your take.

Is there any inside information on Lafayette Schools that I should know? My agent tells me that they have a new principal and are on the rise... is this true?

[Katiana]

It's true they have a new principal, from one of the other schools in the district. Lafayette Ele has had a hard time with its image, but I really think the school is just fine. They do serve a very diverse area, racially and economically. Personally, I think that is a good thing.

[suzco]

I agree with Katiana. If you check the reviews on greatschools.net, you'll also see that the parent reviews of all the Lafayette schools are great;
the test scores in the Lafayette schools tend to be lower than many other of the BVSD schools because Lafayette has a more economically diverse community than much of the rest of the district. The schools are equally well staffed, funded, and equipped as all the BVSD schools.

And remember that Lafayette is in BVSD, so if you choose, you can apply to open enroll in a different school in BVSD, including schools in Louisville and Boulder. Another possibility if you think it's the right kind of environment for your kid is a school like Peak to Peak Charter, which is in Lafayette, and all students open enroll there. Admission is by lottery.

[Roloc]

I am glad you brought up Peak To Peak and open enrolling in general. I think regardless of where we lived (in BVSD) we would take a shot a open enrolling to Peak to Peak. I have read a lot about it and it seems right up our alley, however because of the lottery and all of that I want to make sure that our neighborhood school is top notch as well.

When we moved we moved out here for the schools and an overall safe environment, where we moved from the charter school was really good and safe but the elementary school was scary at best in both aspects, I want to make sure that isn't the case here and that if we lose in the lottery we aren't then worried about our child's future.

So has anyone done open enrollment? For a school like Peak to Peak, Platt or Coal Creek what are the odds on the lottery?

Also I did some more research while waiting for replies and it seems that Lafayette Elementary has about 10% kids with ESL needs (English as a second language). I also read that the CSAP doesn't take this into account so they are given reading and witting in English. Which seems a bit unfair not only to the kids but to the schools, if you look at the results by sub groups the results are comparable to almost all Louisville schools.

While I hate looking to see how the "white" kids did it does sort of show that the problem is some kids are playing catch up while others are not, and that the teachers and staff are not to fault for this. Which is a good thing as well. And overall makes me feel much better about the test scores in general.

[Katiana]

The OE process has already begun for next year, in fact, it happened in January. My educated (no pun intended) guess is that Peak to Peak is full. But maybe not. It never hurts to ask. I don't know about Coal Creek. Platt is a middle school, and currently they also have kids from Casey MS there, b/c Casey is being essentially rebuilt. Again, it never hurts to ask.

[Roloc]

I guess this is going to reveal how paranoid and worried I am about this but my daughter is a year and a half, so I have a while .

The driving factor here is that I want to buy a house in a good neighborhood with great schools now the timing is right with the market (interest rates, motivated sellers etc). Plus I hate moving and I don't want to do it again for a LOOOONG time.

edit: sorry I meant douglas not platt... my bad.

[Katiana]

In the four years or so until your daughter goes to school, a lot can change. I'd buy the house you want and take it from there.

Douglass Ele is small, but does get a number of OEs from the west side of Lafayette.

[suzco]

If you're considering buying near Waneka Lake, go hang out at the playground there with your daughter; you'll meet a wonderful cross-section of many folks who live in the area; go to the Lafayette Rec center and do the same. If you're comfortable in those places, you'll likely be comfortable with the schools. . .

[Roloc]

Suzco that is actually good advice I think I will take a stab at that.

Although the one time we tried to go to the Lake playground my wife said it was to crowded.... in hindsight that seems like a very good thing.

[Katiana]

Originally Posted by Roloc

Suzco that is actually good advice I think I will take a stab at that.

Although the one time we tried to go to the Lake playground my wife said it was to crowded.... in hindsight that seems like a very good thing.

Yes, a crowded playground is a good thing! We used to live near there, and walked up to Waneka frequently. The paddle boats are fun, too, but I guess your daughter is a little too young for that!