Littleton Schools (Denver, Aurora, Boulder: relocating, rental, housing)

[txspamom]

We're relocating from the Dallas area by Aug 1. Our kids are 7 and 10...going into 2nd and 4th grades this fall.

This is kind of embarrassing but I'm not sure what I am looking for when I say I want to find them a good school. I've looked at all of the reports but I'm not sure exactly what it all means. Here in TX...we know that we want the schools that rate "Exemplary" or "Blue Ribbon".

How are the elementary schools in Littleton? We have found some really nice rentals for good prices on the internet and will be visiting there next month to see it first hand. I have heard that Littleton is family friendly.

Any suggestions on which schools are better than others based upon your experience?

Thank you!

[rkb0305]

Do you mean "Littleton Public Schools"? Littleton addresses can be in the City of Littleton (Arapahoe County), in unincorporated Jefferson County (Jefferson County Schools), or in Highlands Ranch (Douglas County Schools). I found it to be pretty confusing when we were looking a year ago. I don't have any experience with any of the school districts, but I have a friend who bought a house specifically to be in the Littleton school district. She lives in Centennial.

[txspamom]

Yes, public schools. I see that they have open enrollment -- meaning....wherever we live our kids can go to the school we want them to go to within the district?? I hope I'm understanding that correctly.

[aeh]

I am from Dallas, too (though now in Canada) and moving to Denver. I believe the open enrollment, from what I think I am understanding from these boards, is that they can go to the school of their choice (provided that the school isn't full) as long as you will drive them to and from school (there will be no busing if you are not in the designated area). You also might want to check and see if there is a deadline as I know there are some schools that require open enrollment to take place by a certain date in the spring or you can't go there the next year. Not sure if this applies to Littleton or not.

These boards seem to suggest Cherry Creek and Douglas County schools are the best although other districts do have some good schools, too. Sounds like Douglas County and Cherry Creek are consistent in their quality.

[txspamom]

I was looking at the Littleton Schools online and there are quite a few that are rated "excellent". I'm assuming that it is different from most areas of Dallas (we're actually in Grapevine) where you have to live in a certain area to be able to go to a specific school. We live in the Grapevine/Colleyville ISD but where we live designates that my kids go to Silverlake Elem. vs. Dove which is also right down the road from us.

I'm going to look also into Cherry Creek and Douglas county. Which cities would thost districts cover?

[tfox]

Originally Posted by aeh

I am from Dallas, too (though now in Canada) and moving to Denver. I believe the open enrollment, from what I think I am understanding from these boards, is that they can go to the school of their choice (provided that the school isn't full) as long as you will drive them to and from school (there will be no busing if you are not in the designated area). You also might want to check and see if there is a deadline as I know there are some schools that require open enrollment to take place by a certain date in the spring or you can't go there the next year. Not sure if this applies to Littleton or not.

Here's something I found from Cherry Creek Schools (as an example) about open enrollment. Apparently, their deadline is August 1st, but I think other districts have earlier deadlines (i.e., in the spring in some cases).

http://pdfserver.ccsd.k12.co.us/vol1...pdf/JFBB-R.pdf

I personally know families here in Denver Public Schools who have sent their kids to Cherry Creek High School through open enrollment, though given that school's high reputation (deserved or not), being selected for enrollment may be a challenge compared to other schools in CCSD and other districts.

Also note that intra-district open enrollment does usually get priority over open enrollment between districts.

Living in DPS, this is something I've kept tabs on since DPS has many good elementary schools, but we may consider open enrollment for high school, as do many other Denver parents.

[aeh]

Cherry Creek S.D. covers Cherry Hills Village, Greenwood Village (I would kind of compare these to HP/UP though maybe not as old) and then I believe some parts of Centennial and maybe Aurora (though not sure on this).

Douglas County School District covers Lone Tree, Highlands Ranch, Castle Rock (at least those are the big ones that I know of).

We used to be in West Plano (TX) so I know you and I are used to excellent schools. I myself don't know if I would want to chance doing the open enrollment thing, especially wondeing every year if you would get in and also might not have a lot of neighborhood kids that would be going to school with your kids. I think if you were going to do an open enrollment though that at the very least I would make it in-district. Just my two cents.

[Dreaming of Hawaii]

I raised my kids in Littleton (yes, the real Littleton) and have always loved the area and the schools. They attended Field Elementary, Goddard Middle, and Littleton High School. Littleton School District has always been highly regarded as is the Cherry Creek District.

The poster who explained the different areas that people call "Littleton" was right on. There are lots of areas that have a Littleton mailing address that are not in the city, or even the same county. And there are Littleton public schools that are not located within the city limits. So just be sure to double-check.

[Katiana]

Originally Posted by txspamom

Yes, public schools. I see that they have open enrollment -- meaning....wherever we live our kids can go to the school we want them to go to within the district?? I hope I'm understanding that correctly.

Originally Posted by aeh

I am from Dallas, too (though now in Canada) and moving to Denver. I believe the open enrollment, from what I think I am understanding from these boards, is that they can go to the school of their choice (provided that the school isn't full) as long as you will drive them to and from school (there will be no busing if you are not in the designated area). You also might want to check and see if there is a deadline as I know there are some schools that require open enrollment to take place by a certain date in the spring or you can't go there the next year. Not sure if this applies to Littleton or not.

These boards seem to suggest Cherry Creek and Douglas County schools are the best although other districts do have some good schools, too. Sounds like Douglas County and Cherry Creek are consistent in their quality.

These two posts seem to go together, so I'll reply to both at once. aeh is correct about the gist of open enrollment. The exact policies vary from district to district, and year to year in the same district (confused yet? LOL!). I live in Boulder County and am more familiar with the policies in our two districts, but. . . There is no guarantee of open enrollment in any school in any district. Most schools have enrollment caps, beyond which the school cannot take any more students. Some districts, such as St. Vrain have a policy to send OE students back to their neighborhood schoos if the need arises due to an increase of students into the attendance area. Other districts will guarantee an OE slot as long as the child is in a particular school, e.g. Boulder Valley. Most districts require the student to find his/her own transportation when open enrolling. Boulder Valley allows students to petition to ride a bus on a space-available basis. District students generally have priority over out of district students. Students are selected by lottery, with a preference system. Each district has a different system of preferences, and a different deadline. The deadline has passed for Boulder Valley, but if a school has room, you can still apply to OE. I would not secure housing thinking that I could open enroll my kids if I didn't like the neighborhood school. That said, there are very few "bad" schools in suburban Denver.

Originally Posted by txspamom

I was looking at the Littleton Schools online and there are quite a few that are rated "excellent". I'm assuming that it is different from most areas of Dallas (we're actually in Grapevine) where you have to live in a certain area to be able to go to a specific school. We live in the Grapevine/Colleyville ISD but where we live designates that my kids go to Silverlake Elem. vs. Dove which is also right down the road from us.

I'm going to look also into Cherry Creek and Douglas county. Which cities would thost districts cover?

I would suggest googling their websites for this information. I would also not rule out other districts. There are a lot of people on this board from Cherry Creek/Douglas County, so that is part of the reason you read a lot about them. Jefferson County SD is huge, covers all of Jefferson Co, including some areas with Littleton addresses. The north area has Boulder Valley, St. Vrain Valley, and the Adams County Districts: AC 12, 50, 14, Brighton and maybe some others.

[txspamom]

Douglas County is an all-year schedule?? My kids would have quite a bit of adjusting to do! In that case, how do I know when one year begins and one ends? My kids are going into 2nd and 4th grades and I want them to start from the beginning of the year.