bad part of Fort Collins?Schools? (Loveland, Windsor: for sale, crime, house)

[Cin]

Hi , I am planning a move to FC and have been generally been looking at the South side. It seems I may get a bit more land if I look a little more north but I remember reading something about more crime...not as good to go toward northern part...is that true? And schools....does anyone know if there are certain ones to avoid? Big h.s all seem fine on paper...Poudre h.s is north I guess and then Fossil Creek(newer)...FC H.S and Rocky Mtn. H.S...is there an area that is best? I think Rocky Mtn. is more sw central? anyways I have 4 kids so I want to do what is best...yard size isn't as important as their education ...if anyone can share some input or concerns I would greatly appreciate it! By the way....I already have researched test scores etc...I am looking for what happens behind the scenes.

[ncrea]

Cin,

Ft. Collins is school of choice. I haven't heard of anyone turning away a student who didn't live within the traditional boundary lines.

I honestly haven't heard of much crime in Ft. Collins. It is fairly safe in Northern Colorado. Meth seems to be huge out here, and there are frequent busts.

You've already checked the HS scores, so you know the strengths of each school. Poudre has the IB program, and takes students from anywhere, so long as the student can get there.

What after school activities are your kids in? Currently, Rocky (SW) has some solid programs across the board in sports. Fossil Ridge (SE), being new, is going through some growing pains, getting beat badly in most areas. Ft. Collins (SEC) is fairly new, and is tough year in and year out. I haven't heard much about Poudre's sports this year. Poudre (NW) is the oldest, then Rocky, followed by Ft. Collins, and Fossil Ridge.

I haven't heard about the social makeups of the schools. As with anywhere, kids will get out of school what they put into it, and they are who they hang with. Every school will have their good groups of kids and bad ones.

Hope your agent finds you a nice house. Check www.coloproperty.com for listings. This is the public side of Northern Colorado's MLS listing service, and is more reliable than realtor.com. Best of luck to you and your family.

[debi5828]

This is tough for us to. Finding out the real scoop about the schools in Fort Collins. I do not know much about charter schools either. We are Jewish (not very religious though) and do not want our kids going to a Christian HS, understandably. We felt that COS would be more like that so that is why we are looking into Fort Collins because we heard it was less conservative. We are coming from the east coast and the schools out here are highly ranked. We have crazy high test scores that seem to match more with the Charter schools than the HS in the area.

Any one have any more info on this?

Thanks!

D.E.

[Cin]

Debi,
In the research I have done...I was confused about our test scores being higher here than in FC also...however I found out that the Colorado testing is a different test system and is higher than many others in the U.S...so it is decieving. Every one of the H.S's in FC is rated well...but you know that doesn't tell you how the kids are etc. On great schools.net I saw some nice comments on Rocky Mtn. H.S...and it makes you feel good hearing real info..but it is hard to find. You sound like me...it is not all about grades..is it clicky? We want a welcoming environment for our children..moving is hard enough. Sooo I hope if there is anyone that reads this that lives or has lived in FC...replies to the both of us.

[Jnorman]

Hi,
We visited FC in December and went to many schools, we felt that the overall feeling at Rocky Mountain was very welcoming and are planning to buy in an area where our daughter can attend this school. But, we do not yet have children there, so I'm basing my opinion on a very limited amount of information. I'm mainly responding because my family is also Jewish (not very religious) and I had many of the same concerns about Debbie, so thought I would share my feelings on how I felt at Rocky Mountain. When are the last two people on this thread moving to FC -- I wonder if we will all arrive close to the same time.
Thanks,
Judy

[Kaligirl]

I like the site that NCrea shared for house hunting. But I did find one that lets you research by school, which may be helpful to those of you with interest in a particular one. http://www.cohomefinder.com/browse-c...gh-schools.htm

I dont know how accurate it is, but at the very least it may point you in the right direction as far as neighborhoods to consider.

Good luck. I am not in CO yet, just researching like all of you. We are very interested in FCollins, Loveland, Berthoud and Windsor. If you find any sites I need to know about please post them. I would like good sites regarding the schools over all score. How do we tell the extra good ones apart? And if any locals can say, which ones might have a bad reputation or a good reputation and why etc. That is not something we can find in the stats. I am mainly interested in Elementary and Middle Schools at this point, but welcome any info.

Thank you. K

[ncrea]

Hi all,

www.coloproperty.com is the public website that contains all of the MLS listings from the Northern Colorado area. This is updated on a nightly basis.

On the first screen, click on Property search. When the next screen pops up, click on "More Search Options". This is a more indepth search that also allows you to search for homes for sale within a specific school's boundary. You must select a city first, then the available schools will appear in the elementary, middle school, and high school fields.

Happy house hunting.


NCREA

[fc89]

When choosing a school, you should also take into consideration the different systems they have. Rocky only has four 90-minute periods a day which change each term or semester. A student will only have math half the year unless they decide to take another math course the next semester. Collins is on the traditional 8-period system. Fossil & Poudre also use a system that alternates periods depending on the day of the week.

[rya700]

[/QUOTE-Debi5828]We felt that COS would be more like that so that is why we are looking into Fort Collins because we heard it was less conservative. D.E.[/quote]

FC is definately conservative......probably not far behind COS.

I live in FC. All I know is, not everyone likes the 'school of choice' system. Especially those parents who didn't get their 'school of choice' - like my coworker. She was nearly in tears last year -livid-when her ds didnt get into this certain (elementary) school - and it was the closest one to her house I can't quite recall all the details, but it is a fairly heated topic among parents of school age children. And the schools in the northern part are losing enrollment, while the 'south' schools are bursting at the seams.

There was an article in the newspaper a couple weeks ago stating that the FC schools have seen a substantial increase in the number of children qualifying for and receiving reduced price or free lunches, which is indicative of the numbers of children living at or near the poverty line....changing demographics, perhaps? Supposedly this will be further researched.

[Rumblebelly]

Crime in FC is spotty and the north side isn't really all that bad. There's a couple of trailer parks waaaaaay on the north edge of town, one has a bad reputation. The College ave on the north end of town looks worse than it really is. Lot's of used car lots, mechanic shops, the occassional homeless person walking. However, the north end of the city also has the Country Club and huge homes so go figure.... I live on the north end of town in a blue collar neighborhood. Never felt unsafe at all.

The rest of town is safe too. Their might be a housing complex here and there where you'll hear about something. College kids are responsible for a great deal of the crime too.

Just keep in mind, where there's crappy looking housing, there might be some crime. Crappy housing = poor folks = more crime. Some of these areas can be found on the south end.

The south end is the burbs, a massive sprawl of burbs and strip malls. If you like that, go for it. South of Prospect is like a different city.

For many, the choice area to live is the old town area. Beautiful old homes but pricey. The downtown area is one of the nicest in the state. Very vibrant and busy. Only drawback for some is the college kids. Now and then there will be a ruckus. Also since a train goes through old town and we have some shelters, the town gets a nice population of homeless people.

For a town this big though, it's very safe.