Walkable neighborhood with good public schools (Denver, Boulder: townhome, neighborhoods, best schools)

[fish76]

We are thinking about an eventual move out of downtown Denver to a neighborhood with good public schools (at least through 8th grade). We would love, however, to still be able to walk to at least a few stores, restaurants, coffee shops, etc. Any areas you'd recommend? We work from home, so exact location isn't a factor. Price range would be under $600kish for a 3 bed/2bath and could be a home or townhome. Thanks for any ideas!

PS--anyone from the DC area, I'm looking for schools equivalent to Montgomery or Fairfax Counties

[SkyDog77]

In my opinion, the biggest limiting factor is the walkable aspect because at your price point, there are several areas with good schools. As with all of DPS, the middle school part is the most difficult.

At your price point, I think the best walkable neighborhoods with very good elementary schools are Platt Park (McKinley-Thatcher Elementary: Report Card) and West Wash Park (Lincoln Elementary: Report Card)

Both feed Grant Middle School (Report Card).

There is also the Denver School of Science and Technology Byers Campus for Middle School in the neighborhood, which is the top ranked public middle school in Colorado right now. (Report Card)

The walkable aspects of both of these neighborhoods are very good. South Pearl Street, Washington Park, South Broadway, and Light Rail are all nearby.

https://www.walkscore.com/CO/Denver/...gton_Park_West
https://www.walkscore.com/CO/Denver/Platt_Park

[Gorges]

PS--anyone from the DC area, I'm looking for schools equivalent to Montgomery or Fairfax Counties

I moved here from the DC area and my opinion is that the type of high-end schools we are used to in the DC area don't exist here with the public schools. There are definitely good schools and good school systems here, but I haven't seen what I was used to back east, schools with a very high percentage of students going on to Ivy League schools, the means to prepare those students to be accepted into those schools, large Asian populations, extremely low FARM rates, academics taking precedence over sports.... I've heard the same thing from people who have moved here from Texas. The schools just aren't comparable to what they were used to. Not bad, just not quite on the same level.

[fish76]

Gorges--I was kind of afraid of that. Does that hold true even in the suburbs? We don't have to be in Denver proper....

[Augie Daugie]

Look in Park Hill. Park Hill Elementary, Middle School Choice (McAulliffe, Roberts, Discovery, DSST), and East. Not amazing schools, but good options in a great neighborhood.

[wong21fr]

1) Park Hill
2) Cherry Creek
3) Platt Park
4) West Wash Park
5) Stapleton
6) Congress Park

Stapleton would provide the best schools from elementary thru high school, but you have to ensure that you're close to the 29th Ave Town Center to guarantee walkability. Otherwise, you're getting into a New Urbanism suburb where you have a streetgrid (even loosely defined) but the walkability goes down. Especially north of I-70 in Stapleton- it's just too damn new to have anything approaching half-decent walkability. DSST schools are in most of these neighborhoods and provide the academic rigor that's closest to what you're looking for.

[Gorges]

Originally Posted by fish76

Gorges--I was kind of afraid of that. Does that hold true even in the suburbs? We don't have to be in Denver proper....

Again, there are good schools here, but there's a different vibe. Many schools in the DC areas that you mentioned tend to be super intense academically. Our school was 40% Asian with perfect SAT scores not being unusual. There was intense pressure to do well and get into the best colleges. That pressure isn't necessarily a good thing, but it's the environment many people moving here from east coast are used to.

The schools here just seem different, maybe more laid back. Not a bad thing, but not on the same level as BCC, WW, Centennial, TJ, etc.

For the suburbs, look into the Cherry Creek (Grandview and Cherry Creek are top-rated) and Boulder Valley districts.

[davidv]

Originally Posted by Gorges

Again, there are good schools here, but there's a different vibe. Many schools in the DC areas that you mentioned tend to be super intense academically. Our school was 40% Asian with perfect SAT scores not being unusual. There was intense pressure to do well and get into the best colleges. That pressure isn't necessarily a good thing, but it's the environment many people moving here from east coast are used to.

The schools here just seem different, maybe more laid back. Not a bad thing, but not on the same level as BCC, WW, Centennial, TJ, etc.

For the suburbs, look into the Cherry Creek (Grandview and Cherry Creek are top-rated) and Boulder Valley districts.

^^This^^
Cherry Creek HS has a lot of smart students and very competitive academics. Students graduating from here routinely attend Eastern universities like the Ivy League Schools, MIT, Georgetown, etc., as well as top schools in the Midwest (Washington Univ. St. Louis, Oberlin, Univ. of Chicago, Michigan, Notre Dame etc) and the West Coast (Stanford, Cal-Berkeley, Pomona/Clairmont, USC, etc.). It sends more students to CU-Boulder, Colorado Mines and U of Denver than any other high school in the US. It also has more National Merit Scholars than any other Colorado school.

The school is 60 years old, so it has a more established tradition of excellence than other suburban schools.

[Katarina Witt]

OP, if you're looking for intense, competitive high schools, another place to look, as has already been mentioned, is Boulder Valley, especially the Boulder high schools. It's probably true that fewer kids here go to the Ivy League schools back east simply b/c this is the west! The California schools are very popular; I'll add Caltech to David's list. (It's hard to get in the CA public universities if not a CA resident.) Nevertheless, some every year do go to Ivy League schools, BU, and the like as well as the schools David mentioned.

[fish76]

OP here. Eek, too be honest, I'm not sure we want the super-intense option anyway. I grew up with that in the DC burbs, and I'm sure it's worse now than then. A good balance sounds better to me. Thanks everyone for your feedback.