moving to Boulder from Europe and need help with housing questions (Niwot: rentals, townhome)

[bisou]

Bonjour!
I've written once before and I'm hoping to get more helpful comments again.
My family and I currently live in the South of France but plan to move back to the US this summer. Don't worry, we plan to keep a foot in France too. We've narrowed our search down to Boulder and we are more than thrilled about the prospects of making Boulder our new home.

Here's where we need help:
1) We want to put our son in Fairview HS. We think this is the best fit for him due to the IB program. The IB corresponds the most with his current education and should he decide to return to France/Europe once he graduated, the IB certicate would be easily recognized.
We need help figuring out WHERE we would need to move to in order to be in the Fairview district. I've looked at the districting map and it still looks like greek to me.
It looks like 80305 zip code is what we should be looking for?? Are their 2-3 bedroom apt./townhome complexes that are half-way decent in the $1000-2000 range within the Fairview school district?
My son is 14 and in the equivalent of 10th grade.

2) To make it even more complicated, we have an almost 3 year old. Since my son grew up outside of the US, I'm really out of the loop about what offerings are out there for a 3-4 year old. She would be eligible for some sort of Pre-K program right? We would only be looking for a couple of mornings a week. Any ideas about resources for children her age would be great. I'm a stay at home mom for now and would welcome any suggestions/info.

3) My husband will be making the trip to put final arrangements in place. When do you think is a good time to go about looking for housing (hopefully signing a lease)? I know there is steep competition with college students.

Sorry for the length but we REALLY could use a bit of help!
Thanks in advance!!!!
Bisou

[DressageRider]

If you do an advanced search on the website coloproperty.com (select "more search options) you can search by school.

Hope that helps!

[WhereTheSidewalkEnds]

I can't comment on neighborhoods. Only thing I would mention is that Niwot High also has an excellent IB program. And not far from Boulder.

When is your son's b'day? 14 would be a very young 10th grader. My son was a freshman when he was 14. My son's best friend, who is one of the youngest in his class, was barely 15 when he started 10th, but still 15.

Preschool in the US is generally not part of the school system. If you choose to find one to put her in (and there are many, although I know in Boulder some of the really good ones and very long waiting lists from what a friend went through), it will be something you pay for. She would start kindergarten when she's 5 (depending on when her birthday falls).

[bisou]

Dressagerider,
Thanks! I'll check out the site.

Jkcoop,
My son started 1st grade when he was 5 and then skipped 5th grade. So he will be a young 11th grader when we arrive. He makes up for it in maturity and height though.

The info on pre-school is VERY helpful and kind of confirms my suspicions. In France pre-k/kindergarten starts at 2-3 years old and is a part of the system.

Thanks!

Bisou

[qfrost]

In France pre-k/kindergarten starts at 2-3 years old and is a part of the system.

Now THAT's the way it should be.....

[WhereTheSidewalkEnds]

Originally Posted by bisou

The info on pre-school is VERY helpful and kind of confirms my suspicions. In France pre-k/kindergarten starts at 2-3 years old and is a part of the system.

I was a stay at home mom as well (well, still sort of am - just work from home). What we did way back was put him in a preschool I think 2 days a week, when he was 4 and 5. (His birthday falls in October, so he started kindergarten on the older side because of that).

When he was younger than that, we did different little classes through the local recreation center. That was great because I got a chance to meet other mom - and some of us ended up putting our kids in the same preschool.

[bisou]

any adice on best times to look for home rentals so we aren't competing with students? We plan to book a flight for my husband so he can get the housing aspect of things set up.
Thanks,
Myla