Are the schools starting to struggle with the amount of people moving to the area? (Denver: to rent, house prices)

[sarahw]

We've been considering moving to the Boulder/Denver area for some time now, we've visited a number of times, we have a daughter in Broomfield and now it looks like our son will be moving to the summit area. We still have a high school sophomore at home so for 2 more years we have to take high schools into consideration. Upon searching for the right area it looks like most of the schools have gone down at least 1 point in their great schools scoring, so I was wondering if they are all struggling to keep up with the new intakes or if some are doing better than others? Any advice from high school parents would be appreciated.

I've had my eye on Niwot (looks like a good high school) but we can go anywhere within about a 1:30 drive of Denver airport for my husbands job so when you have such a vast area that you could potentially live in, it becomes a bit overwhelming. I like old Town FOCO but I don't think the surrounding areas are as scenically beautiful as the Boulder area and the new sprawl popping up is not my favourite, definitely don't want to live in a house where my neighbours can see what I'm having for breakfast but at the same time my husband does need to get to the airport frequently so mountain towns like Evergreen are probably out. My daughter lived in Gunbarrel for a while and I liked it's proximity to Boulder but I'm not sure if it had much of a town of it's own? Been considering Longmont but I've heard mixed reviews.

Another thought is to not worry too much about the school and just get private tutors to help, has anyone gone this route and was it successful?

Likes: Good food, hiking, mountain biking, kayaking, camping, walking my dogs.
Dislikes: zero lot lines.
House price: would prefer to stay in the mid 600K but could probably go up to 750k ish

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

Sarah

[NorthDenverGirl]

What about Broomfield itself? It would fit your budget and Legacy High School in Adams 12 is highly rated with parents. You have easy access to the airport and mountain areas. My son is not in high school yet but middle school and the schools in Adams 12 have impressed us so far.

Lafayette could be another choice, its a little more affordable than Boulder but has the nice downtown area, easy access to the mountains and relatively close to the airport. Centaurus High has a good reputation amongst the locals.

My in-laws live in Longmont, they love it there and love easy access to Rocky Mountain National, not sure on the schools there though, maybe someone will be able to shed light on that for you.

[sarahw]

Thank you NorthDenverGirl.
I asked my daughter about Broomfeild and she said easy access etc, but it wouldn't be her first choice. Some of the southern part of Longmont falls into Niwot high school, the other high schools are rated 6 or below which is a little hard to handle seeing as we will be leaving a 9 :-( I haven't looked at Lafayette so that's what I will do right now :-). Thank you.

[brown_dog_us]

The schools are staying flat or getting better as a whole.

There are still a lot of people moving to Colorado, but there is also a lot of people leaving Colorado. The net increase in population is manageable.

My daughter goes to Fairview and loves it, and I know a few families with kids at Niwot and Centaurus who are very happy also.

What is your budget?

[TCHP]

Originally Posted by sarahw

Thank you NorthDenverGirl.
I asked my daughter about Broomfeild and she said easy access etc, but it wouldn't be her first choice. Some of the southern part of Longmont falls into Niwot high school, the other high schools are rated 6 or below which is a little hard to handle seeing as we will be leaving a 9 :-( I haven't looked at Lafayette so that's what I will do right now :-). Thank you.

You do realize these sites are using primarily test score to determine their ratings and in many cases, the data is 2-5 years old. In other words, I would not put the majority of my relocation requirements into the school scores as a primary criteria and would rather zero in on researching a few schools in greater depth within a reasonable distance of areas you like.

Not sure where you are moving from, but many high schools in CO offer honors or AP classes, some even have IB programs or the like. Many of these can often be found running concurrently in many schools that may not test high and show similar reports in online reporting structures.

[sarahw]

Originally Posted by brown_dog_us

The schools are staying flat or getting better as a whole.

There are still a lot of people moving to Colorado, but there is also a lot of people leaving Colorado. The net increase in population is manageable.

My daughter goes to Fairview and loves it, and I know a few families with kids at Niwot and Centaurus who are very happy also.

What is your budget?

Thank you. Our budget is preferably mid 600k's but could probably stretch to 750 - 800, not that I relish spending that much on a house :-(

[sarahw]

Originally Posted by TCHP

You do realize these sites are using primarily test score to determine their ratings and in many cases, the data is 2-5 years old. In other words, I would not put the majority of my relocation requirements into the school scores as a primary criteria and would rather zero in on researching a few schools in greater depth within a reasonable distance of areas you like.

Not sure where you are moving from, but many high schools in CO offer honors or AP classes, some even have IB programs or the like. Many of these can often be found running concurrently in many schools that may not test high and show similar reports in online reporting structures.

Thank you. Yes, I won't be using the scores as the be all and end all but as a starting point. The school we will be leaving (NJ) scores 9 out of 10 on greatschools, has 1700 students, ratio of students to teachers is 11 to 1. It's a very good school, offers honors/AP, very safe, over 94% go on to college etc etc but it's very vanilla, and although I'm not saying we need a school identical to this one, my son is a soft spoken, nerdy scout with an IEP and would probably suffer in the wrong environment. Given that this is junior/senior year, it's important to get it right.

[sarahw]

Originally Posted by brown_dog_us

The schools are staying flat or getting better as a whole.

There are still a lot of people moving to Colorado, but there is also a lot of people leaving Colorado. The net increase in population is manageable.

My daughter goes to Fairview and loves it, and I know a few families with kids at Niwot and Centaurus who are very happy also.

What is your budget?

I just looked at what $750k get's you in the fairview school district and nearly choked...and not in a good way...wow...expensive :-(

[StealthRabbit]

Originally Posted by sarahw

We've been considering moving to the Boulder/Denver area for some time now, we've visited a number of times, we have a daughter in Broomfield and now it looks like our son will be moving to the summit area. We still have a high school sophomore at home so for 2 more years we have to take high schools into consideration. U...? Any advice from high school parents would be appreciated.

I've had my eye on Niwot (looks like a good high school) ...
Another thought is to not worry too much about the school and just get private tutors to help, has anyone gone this route and was it successful?

Likes: Good food, hiking, mountain biking, kayaking, camping, walking my dogs.
Dislikes: zero lot lines.
House price: would prefer to stay in the mid 600K but could probably go up to 750k ish

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

Sarah

Another thought is to not worry too much about the school and just get private tutors to help, has anyone gone this route and was it successful?

GREAT idea.... ^^^^

Better idea...(with a highschooler)

Temporarily Move to (income tax free) WA State... great during EARNING yrs (and HS) (Tough to beat sea kayaking on inland waters (Puget Sound) and some very HIGH flow river kayaking + Snow Skiing and wind surfing (the same day < 1 hr apart)

FREE FT college instead of wasting away in High School. - Worked excellent for 10's of thousands of students for nearly 30 yrs! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Running_Start

Then... move to Income Tax Free WY (one of the least expensive universities in USA and excellent EDU for engineering / teaching) Great High schools in WY (if you MUST waste your kid's time in a public HS)

If WY wears you out... move to INCOME tax FREE SD (one night / lifetime domicile requirement) Very nice Mtns and recreation near Spearfish (College town)

If you MUST stay in CO... I would chose Gunbarrel, (near Niwot), but I would never subject my kids to HS public EDU in USA. (social / academic suicide) YMMV

Before High School we took a couple yrs off work and taught our kids to design and build their own view / mtn houses. They (we) learned a lot of 'lifetime skills in the process, they each captured $100k in financial equity and had their own houses before age 16... $100k that FAFSA did not capture Lots of work / risk / benefit / time / financial commitment. They could choose to rent out homes (~$1500/ month income during college) or to sell them and take the equity and invest in college or elsewhere. But our kids did not spend a minute sequestered in a USA public school (excluding our 20hrs weekly 'family' tutoring in a nearby public country / ranch school)

[brown_dog_us]

Originally Posted by sarahw

I just looked at what $750k get's you in the fairview school district and nearly choked...and not in a good way...wow...expensive :-(

Yeah, that's why I asked. Don't feel bad though. Most of us are in the same place financially and think the house prices are crazy.

You mentioned above that your child has been in a smaller high school and you are worried about fit. I'd check out Centaurus and Niwot before Fairview. Fairview is big and has a culture aimed at achievement. This culture can make it a bit of a pressure cooker. Centaurus has an excellent engineering program that might be perfect for your child. Centaurus doesn't have the best test scores but I've heard the AP, IB, and engineering programs are excellent and that's where the smart kids are.