Help with schools in Colorado Springs (Denver, Manitou Springs: homes, neighborhood, best school)

[steftx]

We are looking to re-locate to CS, we found a beautiful place in Manitou Springs, but I am worried about the high school. Daughter needs advanced classes with college prep options.
Any suggestions or comments on good high schools without living in District 12 and in a neighborhood..
Love mountain type homes, not in a neighborhood.

[COflower]

I don't have kids and I have been out of high school for over 20 years.

With that said, there are a lot of threads about the schools in our area although I haven't seen much about Manitou Springs school district.

Anyhow, I have never heard anything "bad" about their district and I think you may want to talk to their administrative offices about specific programs for prep classes (District 12 - where I graduated from had one of the best in the state for advanced classes. Heck I took a college level art history course at Cheyenne Mtn. High School and I was not exactly academic. High IQ but I don't get along with traditional education but did well in that class.)

District 20 also has very good schools as does District 38.

The best school district (by performance anyhow) in Colorado has pretty much remained Cherry Creek for as long as I can remember. D 12 here in the Springs is pretty small (I had a graduating class of just barely 225) so it has advantages along with the $ it can bring in due to the area.

Hope that helps a wee bit. I do think, however, a call to Manitou's school district offices would better help you decide if they are the right fit for your daughter - 719-685-2024 according to their website.

[vfrpilot]

Any suggestions or comments on good high schools without living in District 12 and in a neighborhood..
Love mountain type homes, not in a neighborhood.

Check out Palmer Lake. It's a little town west of Monument snuggled up against the mountains. It's in Lewis Palmer School District 38. The new High School will be open within a year. It's close enough to COS or Denver to be able to commute to either.
We live in Monument and there are areas with lots of trees and large lots and hills.

[lorearch7]

Go to Colorado Department of Education
Colorado K-12 School Districts and BOCES on the Web
there is a lot of information there. You will also find a few schools in the area that specialize in college preparatory try CSS.org The Colorado Springs School.

[bashep]

You can also go to greatschools.net and they have people post reviews on the schools on that website. Plus you get the scores aswell.

[Charles]

Found this awesome tool on the LA forum:

Colorado School Performance Maps

[Amery523]

If you're looking for more mountain-area homes you should definitely check out Monument, which is Lewis Palmer School District 38.

[Mike from back east]

Statewide scoring can be found at: Colorado CSAP and Report Card school scores - Rocky Mountain News

Select distrist, level of school, and then compare two schools side by side.

[Mike from back east]

A local newspaper, The Independent, has published another of its School Guides. It lists just about every college, public and private school in the area, with a brief description and a link to the website for each of them. LINK:
- Education Guide : Special Section : Education Guide : Colorado Springs Independent : Colorado Springs

[Mike from back east]

Gazette has an item today on school enrollments. D20 and D49 are growing at a notable rate. D11 is shrinking. Story at:

Districts 20, 49 among state’s fastest growing | district, growth, schools - Top Stories - Gazette.com

Excerpts (many more factoids in the link):

- 15,804 more pupils in Colorado's public schools this year than last
- two districts in the Pikes Peak region are among the fastest growing
- Colorado's pupil count for 2008-09 is 818,443, up 2% from the previous year and the largest increase in seven years
- D20 is 12th-largest in CO with 21,917 students, 8th in student growth since 2004, adding 2,092 students.
- D49 is 5th on the list of largest enrollment increases, adding 3,544.
- D11 is 7th largest district in CO with 29,271 students; lost 4,000 in the last 10 years, and is projected to 2,500 more in 10 years.


CO Board of Education growth model and stats: Growth Model