Teller Elementary School and Congress Park (Denver: renting, buying a home, neighborhood)

[SwedentoDenver]

Any opionions about this school, especially kindergarten? I have checked out info on great schools.net, and it seems OK, but the percentage of students who get free lunch is 62% and there was one negative parent review (five positive ones). Also, any opinions about Congress Park - is it a nice living area for families with children?

[BlueWillowPlate]

Congress Park is a very nice neighborhood indeed.
Many a Denver child learned to play soccer on the green grass of the park.
I am not sure where the border is, but I think, depending on how far south in Congress you are able to live, the elementary would be Bromwell, which is an excellent school (both my kids went to Bromwell--I highly recommend it).
I am sure your child(ren) would get a fine education at Teller. I read the reviews and tend to think the positive ones tell the true tale.

[SwedentoDenver]

Cil, thanks! Bromwell definitely seems like the best public school in Denver from reviews etc. However, the house that we are thinking of renting is north of the Bromwell school boundary, so it belongs to Teller... I am a little bit worried about the school issue, it seems that there are huge differences in school quality. My oldest child will be attending kindergarten in Denver, and she is used to an excellent, very tiny Reggio Emilia-inspired preschool with 24 kids and 5 teachers....

[tfox]

I can second cil on Bromwell -- everyone seems to agree that it's a great school.

I wish I had some firsthand info on Teller for you, but I don't. It is rated highly according to the state board of education and CSAP scores, but don't take those at face value, you definitely want to do your homework and make sure that the school is right for your kids.

I wouldn't be too put off about the free/reduced lunch numbers in and of themselves, though it's worth looking into more. You don't have to be destitute or homeless to get on reduced lunch -- there's lots of normal, working-class Denver citizens in that category.

[dj32]

if you are renting anyway, I'd strongly suggest getting into Bromwell. It is a very good school. For buying a home, typically they can mark up the prices just for being in Bromwell.

[mntnerin13]

My son went to Teller and absolutely loved his teacher and school. We ended up moving him to Palmer after 3rd grade because he was accepted into the gifted and talented program. But, we felt he received a good amount of one-on-one instruction at Teller and we never felt that the school was lacking on attention to students. He loved his teacher and we knew she genuinely cared how he did.

My son's now 17. We've learned that although Denver public schools aren't rated the highest across the board, parents can indeed secure an excellent public education for their children if they're willing to shop around. I wouldn't fear Teller. The school has a good ethnic mix so the children are exposed to multiple cultures. I would shy away from schools where one ethnic or socioeconomic group is predominant.

[dj32]

Mntnerin- Thanks for the good feedback on DPS. We are trying to figure out if we are going to send our daughter to Steele next year.

There is another post from someone who wants to live in a central Denver neighborhood but is concerned about high schools, maybe you can give them some help too?