Move from Germany to Denver - schools, where to live... (Lakewood: loans, homes)

[ChrisGER]

Need some help.
We will move this summer from Germany to Denver with 2 kids (17 and 13) and looking for schools with French as foreign language (if possible). Also we need some advise regarding areas to live. What do you think about Arvada, Highlands, Rigde Wheat, Lakewood, Westminister,...
Thanks for all your help
Chris

[2bindenver]

Jefferson County: Wheat Ridge, Arvada, Lakewood, Westminster
Highlands? Could be a neighborhood in Denver (NW) or Highlands Ranch a city sized master planned community in Douglas County.

[Rawlings]

Most middle and high schools offer French. I went to school in Jefferson County--Lakewood, Arvada, Wheat Ridge--and I took french for six years. That's probably the rule for most metro area school districts.

All the areas you listed are very nice. My favorites are Lakewood, Highlands Ranch, and Littleton.

[tfox]

I'm thinking that the OP did mean Highlands the neighborhood in NW Denver rather than Highlands Ranch, since all the other cities mentioned are in the closer-in NW suburbs. Highlands is one of the hottest neighborhoods in the whole metro right now due to its nice proximity to downtown, stately Victorian housing, and rapidly gentrifying character, and neighborhood "downtowns" like Highlands Square and Tennyson Street. I think one reason for North Denver's popularity is that it has great proximity to the city, but is a little less urban and more neigborhood than Central Denver. Plus, the publicity surrounding the Highlands Bridge from Downtown has probably helped.

However, your other cities mentioned are mostly in Jefferson County while Highlands is in Denver under Denver Public Schools. While some DPS schools are excellent, North High School in the Highland neighborhood is sadly not one of them, at least not for most students. I'm not sure if NHS has French or not, but if you choose to live in Highlands I would consider alternatives to North High for high-school age kids. There's an organization called NW Parents for Excellent Schools that can probably provides some guidance on school options.

Some of the older parts of Wheat Ridge, Mountain View, Edgewater, and Lakewood are undergoing their own gentrification due to proximity to the NW Denver neighborhoods of Highlands, Berkeley, and Sloans Lake and their value-for-money housing prices. In fact, I think 5280 had Edgewater as one of their "10 hot 'hoods," -- though if it's in 5280 then that means it's definitely yesterday's news already. I will say that though Jeffco schools are generally excellent, they are not uniformly so, so I would advise looking into the local high schools (e.g., Jefferson High, Wheat Ridge HS, etc) to see if they're a good match for your kids.

[COhomefinder]

I would first check the state school report (http://reportcard.cde.state.co.us/reportcard/CommandHandler.jsp?cmdSelect=&GeoAreaType=2&school Location=2&ListItemName=Cities - broken link) to find high rated schools, and then search for homes within those districts:
Cherry Creek
East

[Katarina Witt]

Boulder Valley schools are highly rated; a little farther out.

[ChrisGER]

I was out of town so sorry for my late responds.
Thank you all for your comments and recommendations.
Right, with Highlands I thought about the north Denver area.
Christoph