Greenwood Village/Cherry Creek High?? (Denver, Highlands Ranch: houses, landscaping, job transfer)

[pje192]

we are moving to the Denver area from the northeast. Several people have suggested Greenwood Village and to send our kids to Cherry Creek High. I know that Cherry Creek is a a big school with a good rep. It is a little late in the game to be transplanting our kids, but a job transfer looks like it is unavoidable. Don't get me wrong, we like Denver (but less so since the uncontrolled suburban sprawl). I would like some opinions about living in Greenwood Village. How does it compare to HR which has also been reccommended? Does anyone have any first hand experience with Cherry Creek High School? My kids are pretty adaptable, but leaving thier friends will be tough. I just want to make the best choice posible. We like diversity in housing stock, larger lots, mature landscaping, neighbors who want to know eachother and families with kids in HS. I would appreciate any and all opinons. I have seen the stats. I need personal reactions. thanks

[BlueWillowPlate]

My kids went to central Denver high schools. (As a matter of fact, Creek was our arch enemy in sports. )
I do not have first-hand experience with Cherry Creek High School.
I did work for many years with a woman whose kids both attended there.
She shared a lot with me. She was mostly pleased though her daughter occasionally struggled with typical teenage girl issues.
Creek is excellent academically and very clicquish (but what high school does not have clicques?)
It is also humungous; largest high school in Colorado, close to 4,000 kids, but that does not mean your kids would not succeed there.

[2bindenver]

You get more house for the money in HR. Cherry Creek serves GV, south Denver & parts of Centennial...CCHS has the IB program, if your kids ware into that...good sports (Elway's son is their QB)...decent music and arts program. Cherry Creek & Douglas County have a lot of high schools rated High or Excellent.

[TinajaCo]

As far as schools go, you can't go wrong with Cherry Creek. I didn't go there but I know many people that did recently, and they are overall pleased with their education there. They wish it was smaller, but it has always tested high for academic standards and whatnot. Cherry Creek and Douglas County both have good schooling options.

As far as differences between Greenwood Village and Highlands Ranch, you do get more house for your money in HR. Greenwood Village has a number of more upscale neighborhoods, and adjoins Cherry Hills ( a very affluent area). But, HR is for the most part a newer area, whereas many parts of GV have been established and have the mature landcaping and generally larger lots than what you will find in HR. It also has a wider variety of housing-- homes in GV range from being built in the 1950s-1960s (and those neighborhoods are starting to be redeveloped, with people scraping houses and rebuilding) and newer homes as you go east, near the Tech Center. Most of what you will find in HR has been built in the past 10-20 years, with a few exceptions. I am sure you can find neighbors that want to get to know each other in either place. Both places are great, though, and I don't think you can go wrong either way.

[xxman777]

Cherry Creek is a massive school which provides every type of oppurtunity you or your child is looking for. If you want your kid to get the best education possible, they can get it at CCHS. Of course if your kid is looking for the wild scene (you know the one loaded with drugs and alcohol) they can find this also at CCHS. I didn't go to CCHS but I do know a handful of kids who graduated from there in the last 10 years, some went to some of the best colleges in the nation. Others have been through rehab a few times. I knew one kid who started with pot, switched to coke, then went to heroin. Then he tried to pull a murder suicide with his sister as the victim (luckly he didn't succeed). My point is this, the school is huge and has a lot of money. It provides many oppurtunities for success (although it doesn't actually have IB) but if you don't watch them they can also get into a lot of trouble.

[2bindenver]

you are right xx Cherokee Trail now hosts the IB program for CCSD

http://www.ibo.org/school/search/ind...d_schools=Find

[cchsstudent]

if u still need info cchs is a good school to go to they have a very strong AP program as well as good student services and such. i am actually in an alternative learning program at cchs and it has saved my life! but yeah.
have you already made you move?

[pje192]

My son will be starting CCHS in August as a Sophmore. He's coming from a very small school (120 kids per grade) in the NYC suburbs. tell me about the program that you are in and your experiences at Creek.

[vegaspilgrim]

Originally Posted by 2bindenver

You get more house for the money in HR. Cherry Creek serves GV, south Denver & parts of Centennial...CCHS has the IB program, if your kids ware into that...good sports (Elway's son is their QB)...decent music and arts program. Cherry Creek & Douglas County have a lot of high schools rated High or Excellent.

Incorrect. Cherry Creek HS, while a great school and with tons of Advanced Placement classes, does NOT have the IB program. If you want the IB program in the Cherry Creek school district, you have to go to either Smoky Hill (go buffs!) or Cherokee Trail. I am a graduate of the Smoky Hill IB program, and would highly vouch for it-- it's like going to an elite private school inside of a large middle-of-the-road public school. I know tons of people from the Smoky Hill IB program that are going to Harvard, MIT, Stanford... every Ivy league school you can name. For me, it helped lead to a full ride scholarship for college. Although, if you take all AP classes at creek and do volunteering and extra-curriculars, it will be roughly the equivalent of IB.

[vegaspilgrim]

(oops... didn't see that 2bindenver already corrected that). my recommendation still stands though...