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My family will be moving to CS from Dallas in a few short months and I have been studying real estate, neighborhoods, and schools online to try and find the right spot for us. We have an 11-month old son, so whereas schools are not on the immediate horizon for us, we do not want to move again. Our budget is $300-350,00 and we really want to avoid planned tract-housing neighborhoods. I have been looking in Skyway (D12) and I think this would be my first choice, but available real estate is very limited right now. I started looking north in Monument and Gleneagle (my husband will be working near Fountain Blvd and Academy Blvd; we prefer not to have much of a commute, but compared to Dallas, I suspect that nothing in CS will offer a commute that is too bad). The schools seem pretty good up there, but I noticed that the schools listed in the real estate listing were actually charter schools (The Classical Academy). I wondered if anyone can let me know if Gleneagle is indeed a good family area (neither of us golf, for what that's worth), what the non-charter schools are like in this area, and lastly, how difficult is it to get into these charter schools and is it worth it to try?
Many thanks! My husband is from Pueblo and is very much looking forward to returning home to CO! I, on the other hand, am an east coast southern transplant, and whereas I am excited to move to CO, and I am dreadfully afraid of buying a house without air conditioning! It is foreign to me to think it may be unnecessary!
Most of Gleneagle is part of school district 20, and most would normally go to Discovery Canyon, which is K-12. I don't know why someone would list charter schools in a real estate listing.
There are still many homes that DO have air conditioning, so don't rule that out. You would not need to run it all summer long here though, just during the hot spells.
Gleneagle is nice. We ended up in Northgate, and I didn't want to go quite that far north (even this was pushing it) but I'd have looked there next if we hadn't found something here.
Most of Gleneagle area is Antelope Trails elementary. I've heard good things about this school - some of the kids in our neighborhood choice into that school even though we're zoned for Da Vinci, which is another great school. Gleneagle and Discovery Canyon are both International Baccalaureate schools. If you go a little east, specifically the Pleasant View neighborhood (Tari Dr., Becky Dr., area), that's Discovery Canyon elementary. Those lots are wooded, usually a half acre, hilly, and it feels more rustic. The houses are a little older, not tract like I think you mean. Not overly fancy, but there's probably a lot you could do with the space. Just a little west is the "arts and lit" neighborhood, as I call it, with Steinbeck, Wuthering Heights, etc. About the same era, a little less forested, a little more open feel. I think that's Antelope Trails, but you'd have to look.
You really can't go wrong with the schools up here. Discovery Canyon Campus (DCC) confused me a bit at first. It's elementary, middle, and high schools, all in one campus, though the schools have separate entrances. Antelope Trails and Da Vinci Academy (an arts integration school, which I LOVE) feed into DCC middle and high school. DCC has a science and math focus.
With respect to The Classical Academy... You'll hear mixed things. I know people who have moved from out of town just to get their kids into there. People put their babies on a waiting list for kindergarten. It's crazy. It gets very good scores, and your son or daughter can learn Latin when they get to high school. It's based on the Classical Trivium model.
The flip side to that is that (I hear) that it's VERY high pressure, tons of homework, and that kids who aren't doing well are pressured to leave, so as not to negatively influence their scores. You think public schools are score happy? Charter schools are even more so, frequently, because they have to justify their existence.
Don't flame me, anybody... This is just what I've heard. I haven't toured it - I'm not interested in the high pressure, scores-oriented environment, and I've been thrilled with Da Vinci so far.
When are you moving? Inventory should start to go up towards spring.
TCA is a fantastic school, in my opinion. My work has me visiting several of the schools in the area now. By all accounts, it does appear to be a high pressure school. However, it is flush with money and more than capable of helping high potential children turn into high achievers. It is far from the only good school, but if I had kids (and I do not), they would be wait listed to TCA before birth if finances allowed.
Note: I don't follow the test scores for the different schools. I visit the actual buildings, meet a few instructors, and meet the children.
A few schools I would not want to send "my" children to. (Quotes because I have no kids) There is a Jr. High in Manitou, of which I forgot the name, that I would not consider. The bathrooms don't have doors, or curves, so you can see people's feet from the hall, while they are ****ing. Not for my kids, not ever. Evangelical Christian Academy, if I recall the name right, it's kind of near academy and Austin Bluffs, would not fit my standards for my children. St. Mary's appears to be struggling with money, or choosing not to spend any, but they did have adults there. The teachers and administration that I met, in my very limited visit, were good people and the children seemed well adjusted.
From the schools I have been to, almost all the private schools have been completely underwhelming. Less quality than the public high schools by a mile. I don't believe I've been to Da Vinci, and there is one more private school that seemed good, but I can't recall the name. As you might guess, my job doesn't deal with the names of the school. I only visit High Schools and occasionally junior highs. I am not told if the school is public or private, but I can often deduce it.
Coranado and Pine Creek HS both seemed very respectable to me. Not up to the level of TCA, but as public schools I would be very pleased sending my children there. Woodland Park HS isn't bad for a town of its size. Perhaps one of the most surprising ones for me was Simla HS. It's way out there, but they appeared to run a decent program. I didn't expect that for how far the town/village is from the real cities. There are several HS I have not visited yet. We do have a school choice program. I would say that the majority of our public high schools have met my requirements for sending a child there. There appear to be only a few bad ones in the public section, so I would suggest posting the specific schools when you know which ones would be tied to the property you are interested in.
PS. Based on my life experiences as a child, I have the following opinion: If money is equal between a private school and a public school, the public school usually does a better job. In my experience, on a very limited sample size, the private schools were ran for profit and engaged in behaviors that I considered unethical. In one particular instance, a principal made a list of students to expel at the start of the year. I did not see the list, but another child in his office did. That child proceeded to tell us the five names of students were being targeted by administration. He was one of them, so was I. When I left the school, three of others had already been expelled. I never witnessed anything close to that at public schools. I did however witness that there were some great private schools, but those had a tendency to be flush with cash from very rich parents.
PPS. When a specific high school is posted, I'll check my work history to see if I've been to that address. My reviews are usually only based on a half day or so at the school, so they are far from conclusive. The biggest benefit is just that I've been to so many schools, so I have a solid frame of reference in which to view my incomplete data.
Gleneagle is nice. We ended up in Northgate, and I didn't want to go quite that far north (even this was pushing it) but I'd have looked there next if we hadn't found something here.
Most of Gleneagle area is Antelope Trails elementary. I've heard good things about this school - some of the kids in our neighborhood choice into that school even though we're zoned for Da Vinci, which is another great school. Gleneagle and Discovery Canyon are both International Baccalaureate schools. If you go a little east, specifically the Pleasant View neighborhood (Tari Dr., Becky Dr., area), that's Discovery Canyon elementary. Those lots are wooded, usually a half acre, hilly, and it feels more rustic. The houses are a little older, not tract like I think you mean. Not overly fancy, but there's probably a lot you could do with the space. Just a little west is the "arts and lit" neighborhood, as I call it, with Steinbeck, Wuthering Heights, etc. About the same era, a little less forested, a little more open feel. I think that's Antelope Trails, but you'd have to look.
You really can't go wrong with the schools up here. Discovery Canyon Campus (DCC) confused me a bit at first. It's elementary, middle, and high schools, all in one campus, though the schools have separate entrances. Antelope Trails and Da Vinci Academy (an arts integration school, which I LOVE) feed into DCC middle and high school. DCC has a science and math focus.
With respect to The Classical Academy... You'll hear mixed things. I know people who have moved from out of town just to get their kids into there. People put their babies on a waiting list for kindergarten. It's crazy. It gets very good scores, and your son or daughter can learn Latin when they get to high school. It's based on the Classical Trivium model.
The flip side to that is that (I hear) that it's VERY high pressure, tons of homework, and that kids who aren't doing well are pressured to leave, so as not to negatively influence their scores. You think public schools are score happy? Charter schools are even more so, frequently, because they have to justify their existence.
Don't flame me, anybody... This is just what I've heard. I haven't toured it - I'm not interested in the high pressure, scores-oriented environment, and I've been thrilled with Da Vinci so far.
When are you moving? Inventory should start to go up towards spring.
Thank you for this information, this is very helpful! We will be moving there the first week of May, but will be up there to house hunt the last week of March. I wish it could be a little later because I suspect there will be more inventory starting in April. We'll just have to see. Just curious, what gives the "arts and lit" neighborhood its title/reputation? One of the houses we're looking at is on Wuthering Heights. I like the house, but am a little unsure of the area. I like more trees :-) On the other hand, I don't want to be in the woods. I guess I need to work that out!!
Again, thank you for your input. This is exactly what I am looking for.
ETA: Never mind the question about the "arts and lit" neighborhood. I was a little too slow to get that apparently! Wow...
Last edited by TXtransfer; 02-14-2014 at 07:01 PM..
Reason: Add new thought
TCA is a fantastic school, in my opinion. My work has me visiting several of the schools in the area now. By all accounts, it does appear to be a high pressure school. However, it is flush with money and more than capable of helping high potential children turn into high achievers. It is far from the only good school, but if I had kids (and I do not), they would be wait listed to TCA before birth if finances allowed.
Note: I don't follow the test scores for the different schools. I visit the actual buildings, meet a few instructors, and meet the children.
A few schools I would not want to send "my" children to. (Quotes because I have no kids) There is a Jr. High in Manitou, of which I forgot the name, that I would not consider. The bathrooms don't have doors, or curves, so you can see people's feet from the hall, while they are ****ing. Not for my kids, not ever. Evangelical Christian Academy, if I recall the name right, it's kind of near academy and Austin Bluffs, would not fit my standards for my children. St. Mary's appears to be struggling with money, or choosing not to spend any, but they did have adults there. The teachers and administration that I met, in my very limited visit, were good people and the children seemed well adjusted.
From the schools I have been to, almost all the private schools have been completely underwhelming. Less quality than the public high schools by a mile. I don't believe I've been to Da Vinci, and there is one more private school that seemed good, but I can't recall the name. As you might guess, my job doesn't deal with the names of the school. I only visit High Schools and occasionally junior highs. I am not told if the school is public or private, but I can often deduce it.
Coranado and Pine Creek HS both seemed very respectable to me. Not up to the level of TCA, but as public schools I would be very pleased sending my children there. Woodland Park HS isn't bad for a town of its size. Perhaps one of the most surprising ones for me was Simla HS. It's way out there, but they appeared to run a decent program. I didn't expect that for how far the town/village is from the real cities. There are several HS I have not visited yet. We do have a school choice program. I would say that the majority of our public high schools have met my requirements for sending a child there. There appear to be only a few bad ones in the public section, so I would suggest posting the specific schools when you know which ones would be tied to the property you are interested in.
PS. Based on my life experiences as a child, I have the following opinion: If money is equal between a private school and a public school, the public school usually does a better job. In my experience, on a very limited sample size, the private schools were ran for profit and engaged in behaviors that I considered unethical. In one particular instance, a principal made a list of students to expel at the start of the year. I did not see the list, but another child in his office did. That child proceeded to tell us the five names of students were being targeted by administration. He was one of them, so was I. When I left the school, three of others had already been expelled. I never witnessed anything close to that at public schools. I did however witness that there were some great private schools, but those had a tendency to be flush with cash from very rich parents.
PPS. When a specific high school is posted, I'll check my work history to see if I've been to that address. My reviews are usually only based on a half day or so at the school, so they are far from conclusive. The biggest benefit is just that I've been to so many schools, so I have a solid frame of reference in which to view my incomplete data.
Thanks, lurtsman! It's always good to hear some "inside" information. From what I understand TCA is not a private school, but a charter school and therefore tuition free. I think it is just a lottery system. I could be wrong and I am sure someone can correct me!
Yes, TCA is charter, and therefore free to attend. The waiting list is long. If you are in D20, it goes faster. I don't believe that it's a lottery, per se, but more of a waiting list. A lottery, in D-20, anyway, means that your chances are all equal, no matter when you get on the list.
I wish I knew more about the neighborhood itself, but I really don't. I'm sure it's lovely. You can really tell driving around that people care about their properties.
One thing to keep in mind with trees is fire risk and danger. If you have a wooded lot, you'll want to spend a fair bit of time with maintenance, clearing out underbrush and lower branches, etc. It might also affect insurance prices. We had a contract on a house over in Woodstone, on the west side of town, in an area that was evacuated 2 years ago for the WaldoCanyon fire. The insurance quotes were over twice what we were quoted for the house we ended up buying, approximately the same value, in the North Gate area. I don't know if there are differences across Gleneagle, but Pleasant View is much more wooded.
TCA is a fantastic school, in my opinion. My work has me visiting several of the schools in the area now. By all accounts, it does appear to be a high pressure school. However, it is flush with money and more than capable of helping high potential children turn into high achievers. It is far from the only good school, but if I had kids (and I do not), they would be wait listed to TCA before birth if finances allowed.
...
From the schools I have been to, almost all the private schools have been completely underwhelming. Less quality than the public high schools by a mile. I don't believe I've been to Da Vinci, and there is one more private school that seemed good, but I can't recall the name. As you might guess, my job doesn't deal with the names of the school. I only visit High Schools and occasionally junior highs. I am not told if the school is public or private, but I can often deduce it.
Da Vinci is an elementary school, so I'd imagine that you hadn't been there. The high school that Gleneagle, North Gate, Flying Horse, etc. are zoned for is Discovery Canyon. Do you have experience there?
WRT high pressure, etc., it all depends on what your kids are like and how they thrive, and if your family has interests other than homework.
I visited Discovery Canyon a few months ago. I would have no issues with sending children there. It appeared to be a good school. Significantly above what I would consider "average".
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