What Am I Missing??

[davidv]

Originally Posted by davebarnes

Slavens K-8 in DPS and then Littleton IB.

While your chances of open enrolling into Littleton HS are good, I would advise against moving anywhere where you are not comfortable with the home school. The "neighborhood" high school for the Slavens area is Thomas Jefferson -- not a great high school by any measure.

Originally Posted by sandsthree

A school rated a 6 could still be a "good" school. If you're looking specifically in Highlands Ranch or Castle Pines, you're looking in the Douglas County School District which is a bit of a mess currently and scores might be reflective of that (or the change in the past few years). You can search on here for more info. In my (limited) experience, it didn't seem as though the school we were in last year taught to the test as I know some public schools do. I don't know if that's the same across the county. There are quite a few charter options in Douglas County and most have looonnng waitlists. We were fortunate to get into a charter that just opened this year and while it's certainly not perfect (yet), it's SO much better from our neighborhood elementary school.

Just say no to Douglas County schools. There is a reason why the charters have "looonnng waitlists."

Originally Posted by TigerLily24

My guess would be overall quality of life.
Those areas offer lots of amenities that balance out the poor(er) perception of the schools.

These areas do not offer amenities that other areas do not. And the issue with the schools is NOT perception, it is reality.

In 2014, Douglas County (61,000 students) had 21 national merit scholarship semifinalists. Cherry Creek Schools (54,000 students) had 31 national merit scholarship semifinalists with 16 of them coming from Cherry Creek High School.

The best middle schools in the south area are in the Cherry Creek School district -- West MS and Campus MS. Both feed into Cherry Creek High School, which is arguably the best neighborhood high school in the state (Fairview HS in Boulder is on the list of top neighborhood schools).

Newton MS, Powell MS --> Arapahoe HS is your second best option.

I was talking to a custom home builder the other day, and he scraped and built two identical houses in the south metro area. One sold for $150,000 more than the other, and when I asked him why, he said the main reason was because the more expensive one was located in the Cherry Creek School District and the other was in Littleton School District.

[sandsthree]

Originally Posted by brown_dog_us

I think people like the neighborhood feel of HR, Castlerock, and Parker, so they put up with the schools and assume they will improve. The housing stock and amenities are so much nicer and newer compared to the neighborhoods closer to the Denver.

As someone who recently moved to CR, I would agree with this and add that you can get a lot more home for your $$ here in CR. We purchased a new build home. The exact same model started at about 50K higher in Arvada making it way out of our price range. Despite the school woes, which hopefully we, personally, seem to have rectified by switching to a charter, we absolutely love it here. There's a strong sense of community and our neighborhood and neighbors are pretty fabulous. Our new school is a much better fit for our son too. I will add that our neighborhood school was our first go around with public school. We moved from Baltimore where he attended a private school (that I also taught in). It had been awhile since I taught in public school so we expected some "culture shock" but had no idea it would be as bad as it was. The primary issue, in my opinion, was nearly all brand new teachers with poor classroom management techniques and no support in that area from the administration. It's hard to effectively teach a classroom of close to 30 students when you have poor classroom management. The kids ruled the roost and got away with some horrible things- and this was 2nd grade! It seems as though most of the experienced teachers who could potentially mentor the new teachers have left DCSD and I can't say I blame them. I had planned to return to the classroom, but with all of the turmoil in the system, you couldn't pay me enough to teach in DCSD (and from what I've heard, they'd likely pay me less as an experienced teacher then they would a brand new teacher- INSANE!).

DC schools used to be held in high regard and a lot of people you talk to who aren't familiar with what's happened in the past few years still say, "There's great schools in DC." I think there likely used to be great schools in DC, but the current administration has tarnished that for sure. I'd steer clear of DC schools as well at this point unless you are able to get into a charter (best shot at this is a brand new school- Parker Performing Arts school is opening next year; not sure of any others- if you opt to go this route, fill out your intent to enroll form NOW- lotteries are coming up soon) or can afford private school. Hopefully it will turn around again in a few years, but unfortunately that's years away. Even if we elect some new members to the board, they still won't have a majority or the ability to get rid of our crazy superintendent.

[Gorges]

sandsthree, excellent post from someone close to the situation. family4pack, I would advise you to just get as much information as you can, and not just from your friends. If you're looking in certain areas, ask anyone you see on the streets their opinion. If you have doubts about the schools and really want the newer construction, check out SEAurora which has the same builders, housing prices, and young families as further south, but is in the Cherry Creek School District which still has strong neighborhood schools. The commute would be about the same or possibly even less, but with Arapahoe Rd under construction in the area, the toll road would probably be a must for a while. Personally, I prefer the older leafy close-in neighborhoods with the bigger yards that you say you want, but I understand the attraction of newer neighborhoods with lots of kids. The bottom line is to get informed, and it seems you are doing that. It's good that you're coming out to look in person.

[step33]

I would say the JeffCo schools aren't in the Douglas County boat "yet," but it remains to be seen. The current board hasn't done anything to get the teachers on to their side for sure, but the teachers I see every day in JeffCo are still committed to their kids and hoping things will change/improve.

My concern with DougCo would be that their schools should be AWESOME! If their schools were simply a reflection of the socio-economic make-up of the area, they would be stellar. It probably doesn't help that in the environment the "reform" board has created, the Charters and Private schools are picking off some of the best/brightest and those kids with highly committed parents - a key factor to me in the education a child gets.

But, as noted, they have a board intent on overdoing the charter/private/voucher thing, and it's having an adverse effect. And it may not be fair, but a 6 in DougCo is pretty disappointing - whereas a 6 in a less advantaged area might be looked upon totally differently.

And no, I'm not against private schools and the right mix of charter schools is a GOOD thing. I am against vouchers and boards that treat teachers as the enemy - the really good teachers just won't tolerate that and will go to the districts where they get treated better - just as any employee of any company would/should do.

Oh - and I usually mention here that I LOVE the west side of the metro area, and can't imagine living "down south." I moved for the mountains, I want to be close to them