Schools info

[Mike from back east]

Originally Posted by Sonic_Spork

Hey guys, husband is bugging me to look at Security Widefield area (so close to work for him, Ft. Carson, he's drooling over the thought of no commute.) He's also got a friend in that neighborhood who swears the schools there are good. Thoughts on D3 anyone?

Don't overlook Fountain, very convenient to Fort Carson, and is in D8, a very good district. We have a former D8 teacher who has posted quite a bit on the areas and schools around Fort Carson; here are a few of her posts...

Originally Posted by froggin4colorado

You could find housing in D3 and D8. In fact, the tri-level next door to me with 4 bedrooms and 2 baths just rented for 975.00. It was totally redone inside with new paint, bathrooms, carpet, etc. If we don't sell our house soon, we will be renting it for 1000 a month. (5 bedroom 2 bath). D8 is a good school district and belongs to a small community south of Colorado Springs. Otowi lives in Security also, by Fire Station 1 so she can also fill you in. Fountain (not to be confused with Fountain Blvd.) is a small community that is really growing and you can get a lot of bang for your buck down here. Bad parts of Ftn would be the neighborhood off of Southmoor behind Walmart, and the very southern end of Fountain by the 7/11. Otherwise, Heritage, Countryside, Mesa School area, Cumberland Greens, High Oak Farms, and Little Ranches are all great neighborhoods.

Here is her Photo Tour of Fountain.

Originally Posted by froggin4colorado

I also live in Ftn. There are plenty of new homes in the area and very close to Ft. Carson. Additionally, D8 is a good school district. Granted we don't have the wealth that D20 or D12 has, but we share the same curriculum and teachers (meaning we have a lot of teachers come from those districts and some who transfer up there too). So, teaching styles/training is the same. D8 teachers get xmas bonuses, something rare in our area. We don't get many snow days though. Heritage has great trick or treating too! Small town atmosphere with its town hosting a variety of events for families to include its own farmers market.
It takes me 15 minutes to get to Mountainside Elementary which is on the other side of the base from Ftn. To get from house to the gate, about 5 minutes, now that construction is over.

Originally Posted by froggin4colorado

...If you live in D8, preschool is free and it is held 4 days a week (am or pm). You must live in district for the preschool program. The teachers are mandated to be certified in both early childhood and special education, so they typically have 2 master degrees. Typically, there are 2-3 para-educators in the room with 12-16 kids. Didn't know if you had that bit of info and thought it wouldn't hurt to put it out there. Good luck with your choice of preschool!!!

[Sonic_Spork]

And Mike, I was also enthused by what I saw on one Fountain middle school's website. However, I've got that one detail that's a make or break for me...kiddo's Orchestra class. I didn't see that Fountain's schools have that. He's in his 3rd year playing viola, so it is a big deal to him. Security-Widefield middle schools, oddly, have the program. I just don't know how they measure up in other ways.

Honestly I'm still leaning towards D11, some of those middle schools are doing cool and innovative things, I'd love to find him some neat extracurricular stuff like lego robotics and whatnot... I'd just be negligent on my husband's end of things if I didn't ask about the area HE likes, too.

Oh and I read in that one CSIndy article you linked, Mike, about a district giving the middle schoolers Ipads. I do understand that this is an attempt to save on the cost of textbooks by having text content loaded on a device, and hopefully it will get the kids interested in learning via a "modern" and "hip" format. But does anyone else suspect, as I do, that most kids will see the gadget as more of a toy than a learning tool, and use it as such? And what happens if they break them, lose them, or they get stolen?? I mean these are expensive devices in the hands of like 12 year old boys. My 12 year old still thinks he's a ninja. I'm not sure the Ipad initiative is such a great idea.

Thoughts?

[hollyt00]

I had the opportunity to pilot some iPads in my classroom, and I did enjoy them. As I teach a subject not easily adapted to the technology, and I'm also pretty busy, I did not utilize them as much as I think I could have. I did "give them up" to another teacher who will use them considerably more than I did.

Part of the reason why I gave them up was that the students would ask to "play" with the iPads. Only my high level French students really used them well- the verb conjugators, the dictionaries, came quite in handy. Otherwise, for me, the applications available weren't the best for me, and didn't fit well with my grammar, the vocabulary I was teaching, nothing fit nice and neatly as I wanted.

That said, they have some AMAZING apps for some subjects that are really cool. They are interactive and often will trick kids into doing fun things. You can easily restrict the internet, so the kids can't try to go on Facebook or anything. The only apps that can be available on them are specific to the subject you want, and since the games and resources are so... neat... the kids will enjoy using them quite a bit.

There's such a neat Moon app that our Astronomy teacher has, and an Earth one- you can make it get bigger, spin it around, change the reflection of the light, it's really really cool. There's biology dissection apps that mimic the dissection of animals. Periodic table of the elements apps. My games included spelling words, learning numbers, stories that read aloud that would translate from French to English, French scrabble, things like that. The opportunities are endless. I had my students record a conversation onto the iPads, for which I was going to take it off the iPad onto the MacBook and then grade them. Until I accidentally wiped them clean. There is a place on iTunes that is called iTunesU, which is content made and offered to schools for free. I downloaded stuff from there, had podcasts for French radio, lots of stuff.

It just didn't work really super well in my classroom. It doesn't mean I didn't like them, and doesn't mean I won't use them again- I will- I gave up the iPads because I felt they would be better used by a subject that had much more depth to the applications offered.

While it is not hard necessarily to break an iPad, they are pretty resilient as well. You would have to work very hard to break an iPad. I don't know if I would feel comfortable sending them home with a student, though! We have a user agreement for the students.

Obviously I support iPads in the classroom and think they are a really neat way to get instruction across in an innovative and creative way. While I feel that it would be... safer... to have them at home, the iPads are best used given to the students as a resource to have at home, where they can create projects, do homework, etc.

[froggin4colorado]

Sonic, I just found this and it is worth checking into
First Pres Colorado Springs: Staff Bio
Cynthia Robinson is described as, "Cynthia Robinson
has played first violin in the Colorado Springs Symphony/Philharmonic for over twenty years. She performs regularly as a soloist or in string quartets, trio and duo groups for special occasions. She is a violinist in the Hausmusik String Quartet and is the solo violinist for the Fine Arts Center Repertory Theatre Company. She teaches instrumental music at Fountain Valley High School and at the Colorado Springs Conservatory. Cynthia also plays the viola."

With Colorado Springs' population, I would hope that there would be more opportunities in the orchestra area such as in the youth symphony.

This type of post puts a smile on face, my heart warm and melt. What awesome, awesome! criteria to have in your search for a school. Thank you

[Sonic_Spork]

Thanks, froggin'! I can't wait to have everything ironed out and this move done with...my poor dear husband, who is stuck in school all the way in South Carolina, is now trying to "help" by sending me listings of houses he likes. LOL But I've got about a million big and small factors to consider, as being the Mom I'm a multitasking maniac who juggles everybody's needs. I'm hoping for a cool middle school for my little ninja, with Orchestra as a requirement and cool extracurriculars as a plus. I tell ya, while both of my sons are amazing, I'm especially fascinated by the stage my 12 year old is at right now. He does such cool things, things I can't do, that totally impress me! Not just his viola, but origami and advanced math...he's very technical. And somehow it all comes together, this mathmatical precision and his creative side, and awesome stuff happens. My kids are in the process of transformation, going from little boys to complicated pre-teens...it's scary and awesome all at the same time...they think I'm a total nerd for being so fascinated and astonished every little thing from their latest weird quote to their new shoe size. LOL