looking for school info in louiseville, superior, lafayette (Westminster, Boulder: how much, houses)

[JenSim]

We are planning on moving to the Boulder area this summer and are looking in the Superior, Louiseville, Lafayette areas. We have a child who will be in 5th grade (currently in a the pull out math and science gifted program) and one who will be in 1st. I have been looking at schools on the internet, but would appreciate any information from someone who has experience with the schools in this area.

We are coming from an excellent blue ribbon school in FL and would like my kids to continue with the high expectations, family involvement and activities, enrichment programs, approachable principal, etc. We would love to live within walking or biking distance (as we are now) and live in a friendly neighborhood where the kids all play and go from house to house. I need to be concerned with elementary and middle school at this point. Are the K-8 schools good too? That would prevent my son having to switch schools 2 years in a row.

I've also heard about the renovation of the lunch progam in the county, which we are very excited about. Are all of the schools putting in gardens or just a few?

[Bradburn1]

Pretty much every school in the area you are looking in is good. Because you stated a desire for a neighborhood where you can walk/bike to school and a neighborhood with lots of kids that go house to house I would suggest you take a gander at my neighborhood which is in Westminster but very close to Lafayette (15 min drive). Bradburn Village on 120th between Sheridan and Federal.

I suggest it because housing is cheaper in here than it is in Lafayette, Louisville, or Superior (well, maybe not Superior, you can get some good deals in there but the homes are not walking distance to anything generally--is super beige box suburban--not that's there's anything wrong with that LOL).

The main reason however, is twofold: Bradburn has excellent schools elementary through high school. The home elementary school is Cotton Creek which we love and which most of the kids in here attend. Very high parental involvement, a really wonderful principal, and great teachers. Unsure about the gifted program as the really gifted kids in the neighborhood attend the gifted charter school, Stargate (which their parents love), but I know the school has one. You can bike right to Cotton Creek easily from Bradburn. There's also a K-12 charter school, the Academy, within walking distance (5-10 minutes walking distance). Some of the kids go there and they like it a lot but it's not suited for everyone (is a bit strict, has a back to basics curriculum, lots of homework).

The second reason is the neighborhood is lousy with elementary aged kids and super family friendly and friendly in general. Everyone knows each other here and we have a very, very strong sense of community. Tons of neighborhood social events and great fun things for the kids like neighborhood movie nights outside in one of our pocket parks (in summer obviously) where the kids bring sleeping bags, the adults hang out and have some beers (not too many of course LOL), and we toast marshmallows over a fire pit. Also have the very fun July 4th kids' parade where kids decorate their bikes/trikes/scooters etc.. Tons and tons of family social things to do. On the other hand, if you don't want to know your neighbors, Bradburn is not a good fit.

This is the kind of neighborhood where my kid can open her front door and find friends playing outside right there, and they go up and down the street, in and out of houses all day long without a care. Because we all know each other, I know my neighbors will keep an eye out for my kid which provides a sense of security I've never known elsewhere. My kid knows all the adults and knows she can ask any of them for help should she need it.

You can also walk to tons of shops/restaurants/services from Bradburn as it is a walkable neighborhood (great for the older kids who don't need to be driven everywhere).

Best of luck in your search!

[Katarina Witt]

My kids went to Louisville schools from K-12. I feel they got an excellent education, and they went to good colleges. Kids in their HS classes went to college everywhere, including the Ivy League, Stanford, etc. My kids are long out of the schools, so I don't know specifics of Talented and Gifted programs any more, especially in ele. school, but suffice it to say, they were well prepared for AP classes in high school.

You can certainly find a house within walking distance of any of the schools in Louisville, Lafayette or Superior, though there is some busing as well. Don't be turned off by talk of high prices in Louisville and Superior. I don't know what your price range is, but there are modestly priced homes within walking distance of Coal Creek, Fireside, and Louisville Elementaries in Louisville, and moderately priced homes near Monarch K-8. There are also moderately priced homes in Superior. I have no experience with the K-8, but have no reason to think the education is not high quality.

[Brain Drain]

One important thing for you to consider is that there is a high degree of variability of how much schools pull from a specific neighborhood versus the region as a whole with open enrollment in Boulder Valley School District. Open enrollment is the ability for students to go to schools other than their neighborhood schools. A significant percentage of students (about a third as a whole) in BVSD do not attend their neighborhood school.

There are schools in BVSD that are focus or charter schools (examples: Summit MS in Boulder, Peak to Peak K-12 in Lafayette, High Peaks ES in Boulder -- a national blue ribbon award winner last year, BCSIS ES in Boulder, Community Montessori ES in Boulder) that do not draw from a particular neighborhood. People often trek for 15-20 mins to get their kids to schools in a search for the best education for their child. While that may be admirable, it does tend to reduce the amount of neighborhood school feel. Your children could have classmates who live a 15 minute drive away. Another implication of this is that if your child forges friendships in elementary school, because of open enrollment there may be not a lot of kids continuing on to the same middle school.

Even some neighborhood schools draw to a significant degree from outside of their boundaries. Southern Hills MS has half or more of its enrollment that comes from outside its geographic area. Other schools, such as Superior ES are almost exclusively drawn from the local area.

This chart (http://www.bvsd.org/planning/Documen...%202008-09.pdf) put out by BVSD shows the enrollment patterns of the different ES schools and is a vital resource if having your children mostly attend schools with their neighbors is important to you.

For other levels of schooling, just google "enrollment pattern matrix bvsd" and they should come up. I never understood why this document is not more widely publicized as it succinctly answers the questions of where a school's students live and what percentage of students in a neighborhood area are retained by the local school.

[JenSim]

Thanks for all of the information. We are visiting at the end of Jan. and will definitely check out all of the neighborhoods including Bradburn which I hadn't considered before, but sounds like there is a lot of what we are looking for there. Thanks for the websites and specific schools to check out also.

[Bradburn1]

Once you check Bradburn out, please feel free to send me a private message if you have any more questions about it.