School Districts- Which are is Good (Colorado Springs, Fountain: purchasing, construction, college)

[loveablerags]

Moving from Ca and would like to be in a Great School District. Anyone that can give some advice. My husband and I are coming to look at areas, any places that are really nice. I thought I read that District 12 is really good, but I thought it would be better to ask someone who live in Colorado Springs. Any help with area(locations and schools would be great). Any areas that have nice size lots? Thanks Jen from California.

[Mike from back east]

...welcome to City-Data, hope your visits prove helpful.

Much has already been posted on this topic, thus won't repeat it. To find what is already here....go the main Forum page for Colorado Springs and click on Search this Forum, enter a search-term, such as school or district or Academy, then click on Show Posts, then hit enter. Up will pop ALL the info on the topic which is already here, and there is much on schools. This will save you a lot of time, and the regulars here won't have to key in the same set of answers again. Then, if you still have questions....fire away.

Best two districts are 12 and 20.

s/mike

[loveablerags]

Thanks Mike, we are making our first trip the second weekend of nov, we can't wait.

[bashep]

What kinda commute do you want? That will play a factor in where you will want to live too. Do you know where he will be working?
bashep

[Navy Leroy]

I just came across this forum site while I was looking up information concerning Alaska. I just moved to AK from CO back in April. After only three months, the Navy yanked me up and dropped me off in Iraq, to work with the Seabees. Since I have been getting great information concerning Alaska, I thought I could return the favor by offering tidbits about "The Springs".
I was a Navy Recruiter there for three years, and had dealings with most schools in town. I'm not sure of the district, however, the Cheyenne Mountain School District is great. They really take care of their students, and is located on the west side of town. Schools up north are nice also. I hardly ever heard anything good about District 11.
I lived in Fountain, you get more bang for your buck when purchasing a home, it's "country", and the high school is phenominal. My former girlfriend has a daughter there in the 10th grade. It is a model school, meaning other schools visit it from around the state. It is that nice.
I worked at Atmel Corporation as a maintenance tech for the last ten years. Good place to work.
I hope I have been of some help.
Respectfully,
Leroy

[Mike from back east]

Leroy: Thanks for writing. After living in Alaska, going to Iraq must be so very different. Every one of us wishes you all the best and a safe return.

Re: "Cheyenne Mountain School District" - that is District 12, excellent.
Re: "Schools up north are nice also" - that is District 20, excellent.
Re: "I hardly ever heard anything good about District 11" - the school board is a mess, there is a recall election due on Tuesday (I believe) but a teacher friend tells me the schools are quite decent.

District 49, out near Falcon / Peyton has some history. The story I hear is that the voters out there rejected a bond issue for school construction the other year, so the only HS became overcrowded, so they brought in mobile classroom trailers, many parents got ticked at their kids being put in trailers, many pulled their kids in favor of home-schooling, school enrollment dropped, so with fewer students in the school, they cut the number of teachers in the school. I'm not sure the exact status today, but that area is growing quickly and I'd think that new schools simply must be built to handle growth. FWIW: we lived in Fairfax County, VA for over 30 years, schools are considered sacred, and school bonds always pass there with about 75% approval. I can't believe people in Falcon voted down a bond issue for school construction, but apparently it's true.

Bottom line for parents: District 20 (Academy) and Distrist 12 (Cheyenne) are what locals here consider the two best.

[CSColorado]

Hey, Mike- You're leaving out District 38 (Lewis-Palmer). I can't recommend school districts, but I want to make sure you don't leave mine out... The schools were the biggest inflence on our personal move. Thanks!

[Mike from back east]

Yes, Dist 38 up in Monument and Tri-Lakes gets good ratings too. Zip codes to search on would be:

80132 Palmer Lake, Monument, Woodmoor, most areas north of Baptist Rd
80133
80908 If north of Baptist Road (a considerable area)

s/Mike

[COflower]

From personal and family experience:

I went to D - 11 schools from 1-9 - okay but those were Grant Elem. and Mann Jr (which is now Mann Middle). Probably better than some of the other D-11 schools as I have also seen my best friend's sons go through D-11 with not very good results but they were in other schools within the system.

D-12 at Cheyenne Mtn. High. Excellent school but I personally didn't like it as my mother died that summer and was to go to Palmer my sophomore year and be a Pom (ha!). My brother did, however, get a good education at Palmer. I, on the other hand was pretty messed up in the head and they didn't like that much. Not many opportunities for those kids who aren't bound for college, me being one of them. (Plus I am ADD). Of course I graduated 20 years ago so it's hard to say how they have changed since. I think that for kids that are not as prone to go to college (my brother did well at Palmer and was manga *** laude when he gradutated from ASU).

Both my brothers have their children in D-20 schools. Both sets of kids (minus one nephew as he's in his younger years and is at CSChristian) are thriving well in their respective schools. Oldest niece goes to Rampart and enjoys the diversity of the school and seems to be getting on the right track after adjusting from CSCS).

Sorry if that's kind of choppy, working on about 4 hours of sleep if even that. But that's my take on local schools.

[Curious in CT]

What makes a district such as 20 so great over another??? I keep hearing so many great things about that district in particular....but what is the main thing that makes it so great? Is the curriculum above and beyond other districts? Is it the teachers? Do kids walk out of these schools much smarter? Just curious.