St. Vrain Schools Area (Longmont: house, pre-school, cost)

[babyguke]

Hello. I am looking for opinions, both the good & the bad about any public, private, or charter schools in the Longmont or Carbon Valley areas. We have looked at Carbon Valley Academy Charter, Mountain Peak Private, Twin Peaks Academy Charter, Legacy Elementary Public. We are open to hearing about other schools as well. Looking for a good elementary school. Pros & Cons for the different schools. If you went to any of the area schools or sent your children, what did you like or not like. Thanks in advance for all your opinions.

[BigCheeze]

I can tell you about my experience.

We have 3 kids, two of which are school age, and the 3rd is pre-school age. Our oldest is also Autistic. When we first moved here only our oldest was in school (kindergarten), and we only had one choice in our area which was Prairie Ridge. The first year went OK, as the teacher seemed to be a little stressed by having an Autistic child in her class. The special ed teacher however was AWESOME! We weren't impressed at all with the Principle though. The next year we got a new teacher who did very well with him, and we kept the special ed teacher. However the speech therapy teacher changed, and the school started cutting back on his para support. That same year Carbon Valley Academy (CVA) started and we put our daughter in their all day kindergarten program. It was the schools first year and there were some hit and misses, but we liked it over all. The teaching staff seems to be good, and the principle also seemed VERY involved in with the kids.

For the next year, we kept our daughter at CVA and she had a very strict teacher. Which she needed! We also got to know the principle, as my daughter... well let's just say she has EPD (Excessive Personality Disorder ). That same year our Autistic child was still at Prairie Ridge because CVA didn't really have a Special Ed program going yet. Unfortunately the Special Ed teacher moved on to another school (one that was closer to her house apparently) and we got another Special Ed teacher. The old one however picked out a teacher for our kid and boy did she pick the right teacher. The teacher, in looking out for her students, told us that the school all but stopped sending a para with our kid. This was causing learning problems, as well as disruptions in her class. We talked to the Special Ed teacher, and the Principle however they were saying that contrary to the IEP they only gave para's full time to "flight risk" kids or kids that might be a danger to themselves or others. We were of course very upset. His teacher stepped up and just told them to stop sending the para all together since it was so unpredictable when one would show up that it was just causing more problems. The teacher went out of her way to help our kid, and from what we heard got in trouble with the school for telling us about the lack of a para (even though she kept complaining about it to them and they wouldn't do anything so she came to us).

Then this year CVA got a real Special Ed program, with their own Special Ed teacher. I understand they get the speech therapy teacher from the district, but the rest of the teachers are CVA's. All I can say is WOW! Our Autistic child had never done better in school! He's very close to getting on the honor roll. His teachers are amazing, and they have been able to handle everything with him and they are teaching him in a way that has really helped him.

My Daughter had to repeat the 1st grade this year, not because of academics but because she started kindergarten early (youngest in the class) and just didn't mature fast enough. We talked with the Principle about it as well as her teacher last year, and they both thought another year would do her good. The best part about CVA is that things like reading and math are not taught at grade level, they are taught at student level. So our daughter goes to the higher level classes for most of that type of work, while her home room is still in the 1st grade. Also her teacher was her Kindergarten teacher, who for apparently some form of self torture chose to have our daughter back in her class. It's worked out very well for our daughter because the teacher knows her, and doesn't let her get away with stuff.

Right now our youngest is in CVA's pre-K program and is over all doing well. It's the first year of the program, and again we have another kid with EPD. Unfortunately the teachers there aren't quite as well equipped to deal with EPD, as it seem the normal teachers at CVA are. However we can really see his educational growth, and we are planning on enrolling him in CVA's full time kindergarten program next year. It cost money to do the full time program, but we think it's worth it.

I would suggest you go to any of the schools you're looking at and talk with the Principle and see what you think. While the Principle at CVA apparently has political aspirations, I can say I don't think we have had another Principle that actually seems to care as much for his kids as this one. For example right before the winter/Christmas break the school showed the movie The Polar Express, and the Principle dressed up as the conductor. My daughter was star-struck by him and he played it really well. I was very impressed.

Hopefully that helps give you some useful information. It at least sucked up several minutes of your day while I rambled on.