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Old 04-14-2008, 09:19 PM
 
Location: Colorado
346 posts, read 1,562,768 times
Reputation: 265

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Quote:
Originally Posted by tfox View Post
Cherry Creek School District may or may not bet the best school district in the metro area, but by all accounts it is one of the better ones, and infinitely better than Aurora Public Schools, which is the local school district for where your job is located. Despite the name, much of southern Aurora is actually in Cherry Creek Schools and not Aurora Public Schools. Get out a map and check the boundaries of Cherry Creek District, but really anywhere within the Cherry Creek School District is likely going to meet your requirements as far as safety and desirability goes. Aurora does have some bad neighborhoods, but few if any of them are in the Cherry Creek School District part of Aurora.
And I'll bet the teachers in Aurora Public Schools are just as well-qualified as those in Cherry Creek or elsewhere. I'd also be willing to bet they work just as hard, if not harder. I've taught in both lower-socioeconomic areas and mid-upper, and it's not always the teacher who creates the high test scores. There's also much more to a school than test scores anyway.
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Old 04-14-2008, 09:44 PM
 
Location: Foot of the Rockies
90,316 posts, read 120,288,414 times
Reputation: 35920
Quote:
Originally Posted by rebagirl View Post
And I'll bet the teachers in Aurora Public Schools are just as well-qualified as those in Cherry Creek or elsewhere. I'd also be willing to bet they work just as hard, if not harder. I've taught in both lower-socioeconomic areas and mid-upper, and it's not always the teacher who creates the high test scores. There's also much more to a school than test scores anyway.
I think that is true. My daughter has a friend who teaches in APS, and from all accounts works hard and cares about his students. All the districts around here can be picky about who they hire, as they get many more appicants than they have openings. Sometimes the ratio is > 100 apps/opening.

It is hard to say with certainty which district in Colorado is "best", and I know of no national rankings of school districts done by any education entity. Rankings of high schools done by Newsweek, etc, usually just look at # of students taking AP/IB tests, etc.

Last edited by Katarina Witt; 04-14-2008 at 09:54 PM.. Reason: add infor
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Old 04-14-2008, 09:57 PM
 
2,756 posts, read 12,941,296 times
Reputation: 1521
Quote:
Originally Posted by rebagirl View Post
And I'll bet the teachers in Aurora Public Schools are just as well-qualified as those in Cherry Creek or elsewhere. I'd also be willing to bet they work just as hard, if not harder. I've taught in both lower-socioeconomic areas and mid-upper, and it's not always the teacher who creates the high test scores. There's also much more to a school than test scores anyway.
I agree with you rebagirl, and remember that I live in DPS, so I know that it's more than possible a quality education in a diverse district.

However, if the poster is coming in with an empty slate, am I going to direct them to Cherry Creek or Aurora? Or DPS for that matter? Probably Cherry Creek in this case. As a parent in DPS, I'm learning the pitfalls of navigating the district, and for a newcomer it's my opinion that Cherry Creek is easier to deal with.
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Old 04-14-2008, 10:14 PM
 
8 posts, read 22,635 times
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Ok, maybe we can get a little more on topic here...

I appreciate the info on the schools...and maybe this will help:

We pretty much know we will not be living in Aurora. Right now we are thinking Littleton, Highlands Ranch, or Parker. But that is really all we know about and we're sure there are other great towns/communities that aren't too big of a commute from Aurora.

We have 4 kids...we need a big house, with at least 4 bedrooms, but more would be great. We are from SoCal so we are used to spending a lot of time outside, with a lot of kids and families around and in our neighborhood.

We could spend up to $350-$400,000 on a house but would prefer to stay in the $250-$300,000 range.

We also prefer the older style homes, with a little character, versus the cookie-cutter, tract style homes. However, that is not our number one priority in where we would choose to live...but if that could be a factor as well, that would be great!

Does that help at all? What other areas, besides the ones that I have listed, would be good for us to look into?

Thanks again for all of your ideas and help!
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Old 04-14-2008, 10:38 PM
 
Location: Denver, CO
5,610 posts, read 23,240,827 times
Reputation: 5447
Quote:
Originally Posted by Riverside to Centennial View Post
Actually all of the schools within the CCSD are above the national "averages" in regards to test scores/graduation rate, etc.. I never mentioned "top notch"...just one of the top districts; however, I was speaking specifically of the schools related to the area that I was describing (Piney Creek; The Hills at Piney Creek). These schools (especially Smoky Hill High with its' IB program and the newer Grandview High (state of the art facility) are towards the top of the district looking at test scores, etc.).
As a graduate of Smoky Hill's IB program, I vouch for this. Smoky Hill's IB program is like getting a private school education... for free-- and without the snobbery and rich kids that usually goes along with it. Not to mention that Smoky Hill HS is an extremely diverse school with kids coming from families from all over the world. I'm biased of course since I graduated there, but I think Smoky Hill is a better school than Grandview, Cherry Creek HS, or Cherokee Trails, pound for pound. I agree that there are certain schools in CCSD that aren't so great. I'm not going to name names here, but a couple of the schools in the northern/northwest part of the district have issues. But then again there's the "Challenge School," located in a "bad" part of Aurora. Some of the middle schools and elementary schools have gone downhill over the years. But by and large, CCSD really is a great district. If you automatically exclude all of the city of Aurora, a huge suburb, from your relocation search, then you're limiting some of the best potential options available in the southeast part of the city.

And rebagirl, I understand your intentions and where you're coming from, but I can say with certainty, speaking beyond mere theory, CCSD is superior to Aurora Public Schools, as a district. There is simply no comparison. In APS, the good schools are the rare exception, whereas with CCSD the "bad" schools are the exception. And CCSD doesn't automatically mean "non-diverse" either; as I said earlier, Smoky Hill HS is very diverse, with true international diversity (not just the diversity= only blacks and hispanics sense of the world) and it's a great school.
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Old 04-14-2008, 11:53 PM
 
13 posts, read 62,556 times
Reputation: 14
Quote:
Originally Posted by vegaspilgrim View Post
As a graduate of Smoky Hill's IB program, I vouch for this. Smoky Hill's IB program is like getting a private school education... for free-- and without the snobbery and rich kids that usually goes along with it. Not to mention that Smoky Hill HS is an extremely diverse school with kids coming from families from all over the world. I'm biased of course since I graduated there, but I think Smoky Hill is a better school than Grandview, Cherry Creek HS, or Cherokee Trails, pound for pound. I agree that there are certain schools in CCSD that aren't so great. I'm not going to name names here, but a couple of the schools in the northern/northwest part of the district have issues. But then again there's the "Challenge School," located in a "bad" part of Aurora. Some of the middle schools and elementary schools have gone downhill over the years. But by and large, CCSD really is a great district. If you automatically exclude all of the city of Aurora, a huge suburb, from your relocation search, then you're limiting some of the best potential options available in the southeast part of the city.

And rebagirl, I understand your intentions and where you're coming from, but I can say with certainty, speaking beyond mere theory, CCSD is superior to Aurora Public Schools, as a district. There is simply no comparison. In APS, the good schools are the rare exception, whereas with CCSD the "bad" schools are the exception. And CCSD doesn't automatically mean "non-diverse" either; as I said earlier, Smoky Hill HS is very diverse, with true international diversity (not just the diversity= only blacks and hispanics sense of the world) and it's a great school.
Well put. Couldn't have said it better myself.
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Old 04-15-2008, 12:38 AM
 
Location: RSM
5,113 posts, read 19,700,969 times
Reputation: 1927
Quote:
Originally Posted by misssunshinegirl View Post

We also prefer the older style homes, with a little character, versus the cookie-cutter, tract style homes. However, that is not our number one priority in where we would choose to live...but if that could be a factor as well, that would be great!
highlands ranch is a little more cookie cutter(plenty of home styles, but more "planned"). lots of families and nice outdoor areas in the community though. that was the first thing that impressed me about the area when we did our first drivethough looking for homes. lots of kids riding bikes, lots of families goin for walks, etc.

the cottonwood area of parker fits your pricerange though and has some interesting homes. the pinery in south parker has some as well.. dunno about prices though, seems pricey.
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Old 04-15-2008, 01:45 PM
 
8 posts, read 22,635 times
Reputation: 17
Great, thanks for the info!

Any other areas we should look into? I am sure there are more great areas/neighborhoods...we just need to find out about them!

Please drop some names of other cities we can check into!

Thanks again for all of the help and suggestions!
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Old 04-15-2008, 01:53 PM
 
Location: Foot of the Rockies
90,316 posts, read 120,288,414 times
Reputation: 35920
If you don't want 'cookie-cutter', I'd suggest looking hard in Littleton. Unfortunately, there are 'cookie-cutter' areas all around metro Denver. Most of the suburbs are like that. You probably can find some neighborhoods where the houses were built by a variety of builders, thus diluting the cookie look a bit.
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Old 04-15-2008, 09:18 PM
 
10 posts, read 8,031 times
Reputation: 10
I wouldn't consider anything North of Iliff Avenue. The best neighborhoods extend to the south. One exception is the areas along E-470 (Aurora) It is all new out that way,and the terrain is beautiful. I don't know, however, if this area is family friendly.
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