"Best Schools" in Denver area (Boulder, Lake City: house, neighborhood)

[Katiana]

Many posts state "looking for a neighborhood with good schools". I found this on the Salt Lake City forum, felt it should be posted here.

Jilene, I understand your dilema. Most caring parents want their children to go to a "great school" and have access to accelerated learning, foreign language or other special programs. As a parent with two children now in college, the best advice I could give to you is to be "involved" as a parent, rather than worrying so much about WHERE your child will be educated. Teacher quality, school standards, class sizes, student behavior etc are issues all over the US (and in Australia too) and are often beyond your control. But the one element you can control is your input. When my children were in elementary school, I didn't work, and so was able to contribute a good deal of my time to both the school and to my children "outside of school". Your child will learn to read faster and better, if you spend time with them: reading to them, listening to them read and encouraging them to enjoy books. Even in a class of only 20 students the teacher cannot spend much one-on-one time with any child. If you spend time volunteering at the school, you will get to know the teachers & they will get to know you. In my experience, teachers are more likely to take a personal interest in your child and/or approach you if they think your child has a special talent that needs encouraging, or a difficulty that needs attention, if they "know" you and your interest in helping your child's education. You'll also get to know your child's classmates & friends better and get a real feel for the quality of the school and its teachers. Not only that, but at elementary school-age, kids LOVE having Mom at the school. It would be a shame for them and you to miss out on this because you had to work just to send them to a "better" school. If you think your child needs more intellectual or cultural stimulation, you can always get suggestions from their teacher or spend time on extra-curicular activities at home or outside of school. Think dance lessons, music lessons, drama classes, sport, hiking, bike rides, travel. There are a whole host of things that you can do to help your child be a happy, educated, well-rounded individual. We'd all like our children to be little geniuses, getting a fabulous education, but I think sometimes people expect too much of their child's success in life to be the responsibility of teachers and schools. My children attended the local school wherever we lived. Some years I thought their teachers/school was great, other years I thought it could have been better. At the end of the day they both did well enough to get into college and 4 & 3 years in respectively are both succeeding and enjoying life.

Also this: Listen to aussie_american, he (or she) seems to know what they're talking about. Don't worry about finding the very best school, it's a waste of time and all relative. Let me just make a few points.

-Even really "good" schools have bad teachers.
-Even really "bad" schools have good teachers.
-Each school is better in different areas. Finding the one "best" school, and looking at statistics, is a pointless, neverending endeavor that ultimately means little.
-The most important thing to a child is their home life, not their school life. You have to be active in helping your child learn and in being involved in your child's school.

I agree. I would like to add: the "best" teacher may not be the best one for your child. I have seen this happen many times over.

In 1989, the Colorado Legislature passed the School Equalization Act. This act was meant to equalize school funding across the state and eliminate rich and poor districts. While there are still some disparities, it has been successful. A wealthy district cannot just raise taxes beyond a certain level. Poor districts get more money from the state.

Test scores are highly correlated to socioeconomic status of the parents. The only way schools are allowed to differentiate SES is through the percentage of kids on free and reduced price lunches. That is why you see that number in the CSAP reports. In the wealthier districts, many kids will learn regardless of the teaching methods. So in a sense, all this agonizing over test scores and trying to find the best school is an exercise in futility.

When we moved to Albany, NY with a soon to be school age child, a childless friend told me, "there are good school districts and bad school districts there, but you're not going to buy a house in a bad district." It was good advice. That, coupled with the above, should reassure parents about the schools when moving to Colorado. Of course, if your high schooler or middle schooler has a passion, it is important to find a school where s/he can continue with it.

[BlueWillowPlate]

Originally Posted by pittnurse70

the best advice I could give to you is to be "involved" as a parent, rather than worrying so much about WHERE your child will be educated. Teacher quality, school standards, class sizes, student behavior etc are issues all over the US (and in Australia too) and are often beyond your control. But the one element you can control is your input.

. If you spend time volunteering at the school, you will get to know the teachers & they will get to know you.

. If you think your child needs more intellectual or cultural stimulation, you can always get suggestions from their teacher or spend time on extra-curricular activities at home or outside of school.

We'd all like our children to be little geniuses, getting a fabulous education, but I think sometimes people expect too much of their child's success in life to be the responsibility of teachers and schools.

-Even really "good" schools have bad teachers.
-Even really "bad" schools have good teachers.

-The most important thing to a child is their home life, not their school life. You have to be active in helping your child learn and in being involved in your child's school.

I would like to add: the "best" teacher may not be the best one for your child. I have seen this happen many times over.


Test scores are highly correlated to socioeconomic status of the parents.

Good stuff, Pitt.
I have quoted and bolded what resonates most with me.

I realize that the Unknown is intimidating; that's why this forum exists.
Pittnurse's last three paragraphs are pertinent info for anyone asking about Denver's Best Schools.

We raised two boys who went to Denver Public Schools; they are young men now, and I could not be happier.
We looked at it as a partnership between us, kids, and teachers.
When it comes to a young child's education, IMHO the buck stops with Mom and Dad.

[Katiana]

Thanks, cil. We raised two daughters who are now young women, who attended one of Boulder Valley School District's high schools that did not offer IB or an AP diploma. When DD #1 went went there, the school was very new (opened her freshman year), and even when she was a senior did not offer a lot of AP courses. By the time DD #2 was there, the AP offerings increased, and they were very popular. Even sophomores were taking them. We limited her to two a year, junior and senior year. Now that they are in college and grad school, I think it preposterous that high school sophomores should be taking college-level courses. High school is for high school!

I would add to my OP, "sometimes the most challenging course is not the best course for your child". I remember my younger daughter, taking AP chemistry, which was "par for the course" as a junior at her school, doing gymnastics, playing in the orchestra, and just going crazy. I said something I never would have thought I would say: "maybe it's time to forget the chem and concentrate on gymnastics". She dropped the course, made it to the state meet, and was much happier. AND she still got in to a "good" college with a scholarship and now wants to go to med school.

As cil said, the unknown is intimidating. I would not want to move with kids in high school. It almost happened, so I know the feelings. I hope people moving here feel a little more assured that they will find "good schools" and do not have to pore over test results and plan their lives around them, to do so.

[MobyLL]

pittnurse70 -- just wanted to add that i also agree with your post in general and this point in particular...

Originally Posted by pittnurse70

I would like to add: the "best" teacher may not be the best one for your child. I have seen this happen many times over.

We have 2 kids that are very different from each other and need vastly different things from a classroom environment (one is "high-functioning" autistic, the other "gifted"). Of course a school district that is "good" in general may offer more choices that would fit, but ultimately it comes down to the specific teacher and classmates for a particular year. We have had to switch teachers/classes for our kids (one time for each so far) to find a better fit for them. In both cases, there was a great improvement both academically and socially in the new classes. It was not that the original teachers were bad or anything, just that their teaching style and classroom management were not a good fit for our kids' learning styles.

[MorningGlory]

Just my two cents worth: if you look at the high rated schools on greatschools.net, you can click on a link that says Student stats and it will break down the student population. It becomes obvious quickly (especially if used in cinjunction with citydata) where the 9 and 10 schools will be. That said, my hub and I both grew up in Denver area. For fun, he looked up his elementary, jr high, and senior high schools, and added up the total score. He got 7 total points. I however scored 26 points (my parents were better off apparently). But he is the big bread winner, and the fact that he went to some of the worst schools in Denver didnt stop him, like was mentioned there are good teachers in bad schools, and vice versa. His mother was absolutely devoted and they read together every day. The more I have researched these "great schools" the more convinced I have become that its the parents that matter, and the desire to learn they instill in their children. Not to mention I loathed every one of those 9 schools I attended.

[Charles]

Found this great tool on the LA forum:

Colorado School Performance Maps

[oldhorse]

Among the top 100 Gold Metal Schools published by US News, Peak To Peack Charter School ranked the 47th but is the best from Colorado.
Gold Medal Schools - US News and World Report.
It is a very young school with only 7 years of history (4 years for high school). It is ranked #8 among the top national charater schools.
Top Charter Schools - US News and World Report.
Peak To Peak enrolls students via the normal open enrollment process without additional selection criteria. Anyone in the Boulder Valley district is amost certain to be accepted. It sometime accepts people outside of BVSD on availability basis.
The complete report is available at US News and World Report Best High Schools and High School Rankings – US News Best High Schools.

[Katiana]

Peak to Peak has a lottery. It is not true that "anyone who applies is likely to be accepted". There is a preference system in the Open Enrollment process. I refer you to the BVSD website Boulder Valley School District - Home Page

In brief:
Preferences are given to students wanting to return to their nieghborhood school, students who move out of their attendance area who want to continue attending their same school, children of teachers in the district, siblings of students already in a school, and to man others. In addition, anyone who needs an IEP needs to be assessed to see if their needs can be met in a particular school. In-district students are given preference to out of district students.

[rebagirl]

Katiana--Tried to give you a rep point for your the original post here, but have to spread it around. Great article. I think I myself (as a teacher and parent) have stressed a bit too much over the whole school issue too--although my definition of "best" or even "good" has little to do with test scores and more to do with developing the whole child. But I will never regret that I quit teaching to be home with my kids. Although I now job-share, I still volunteer in my kids' classroom twice a week. I like being connected, it makes the kids feel like their education is important (and yes, they love having Mom there, even if it's just for an hour), and it certainly helps make the teacher's routine run more smoothly. It also is certainly true that there can be excellent teachers at the so-called "bad" schools and vice versa. I taught for 6 years at one of the "bad" schools. Those years are etched in my memory as some of the most rewarding. We had a wonderful staff, and families that were so grateful for what we were providing their children.

[oldhorse]

Originally Posted by Katiana

Peak to Peak has a lottery. It is not true that "anyone who applies is likely to be accepted". There is a preference system in the Open Enrollment process. I refer you to the BVSD website Boulder Valley School District - Home Page

In brief:
Preferences are given to students wanting to return to their nieghborhood school, students who move out of their attendance area who want to continue attending their same school, children of teachers in the district, siblings of students already in a school, and to man others. In addition, anyone who needs an IEP needs to be assessed to see if their needs can be met in a particular school. In-district students are given preference to out of district students.

It is true that when there are more applicants than what the school can accommodate, it will be determined by a lottery system. A couple of years ago when Peak To Peak was relatively unknown, most people from BVSD were accepted, even those on the waiting list. My point was though, Peak To Peak does not select certain type of kids to admit. There are may charter schools in the Denver area that select kids based on IQ, special talents, or achievement test. Peak To Peak does not depend on selective admission to accomplish high percentage of kids in advanced placement.