Moving to Colorado in March... Need to know if Colorado Springs is the place!! (Center: house, best schools)

[Brooktrout06]

HI!
I am going to be moving to Colorado in March. Why Colorado?... Well I have heard nothing but good about it and I have seen how beautiful it is. Now it's time for me to leave this small town in Iowa. My boyfriend and I have decided that the small town drama has become a thing of the past and we are trying to do bigger and better things for our lives and our daughters life. My little girl is 4 and she will be starting preschool this spring. I need to find a very good school for her and with this being my first child, you know how important it is to do everything right the first time!! Her father has his masters in electrical work so I don't think it's going to be too difficult for him to find something in that field. I on the other hand am more interested in the school for fine arts at Cottonwood. It has always been something that I wanted to do and now the only glitch is trying to find the best possible preschool and elementary school for our daughter in the Colorado Springs area. Soooo now you know the story.... and any help with suggestions and experiences would be so great.
Thanks,
Renea

[Mamameko]

on the main colorado springs page in the upper right hand corner just under the page numbers is a drop down box that says search this forum. Just type in best schools or even schools. There are hundreds of messages where this question has already been asked and answered.

[treedonkey]

Also...
GreatSchools - Public and Private School Ratings, Reviews and Parent Community
Find the Right School - Earn a Highly Respected Degree From Premier Schools
www.SchoolDataDirect.org

..and about a million other sites that specialize in finding the 'best' schools (whatever that means).

[SYS]

I can recommend Academy International Elementary School in the Briargate area to be arguably the best in Colorado Springs and one of the best in the state of Colorado. My older boy graduated from there and his younger brother is graduating this year. Briargate is an excellent place to raise young children. It's very safe with lots of activities for kids. Colorado Springs is a nice graduation from a small town in Iowa, so I think you'll love it here.

[nyce1]

You may want to check out Meridian Ranch. Its a great place to live and raise kids. The schools also have some great programs. Check into D49 schools and see what they have to offer on the website to see if the curriculum is a good match for your little one.

[mzumwalt]

Hi Brooktrout06,

I used to live in MN and have lived in CO for 12 years. You're going to LOVE it here. I agree with above posts, D49 great area!, Briargate also VERY nice. SD11 is a school district that covers a lot of socio-economic geography and is spread out over alot of Colo Spgs. I LOVE LOVE LOVE Steele Elementry, it is one of three (out of dozens and dozens) of public schools that is rated excellent across the board for a multitude of different areas. You can find more info about D11 schools at this addres. [url=http://www.d11.org/schools/]CSSD11[/url] The other two really great public elementry schools are Chipeta and Trailblazer Elementry. You'll see all the zips so you can work with your realtor around those. The bottom line is that any city has it's good and bad. I have been happy raising my children here and have found a multitude of wonderful friends and a great church (Calvary Worship Center). The library system is AMAZING so be very sure to plug in to that as soon as you arrive. You won't regret the time you spend at the PPLD ([URL="http://www.ppld.org"]www.ppld.org[/URL]). They are so geared to families! Good luck on your move, God's speed

[CAtoCO]

I can second Academy International Elementary. My son is only in 1st grade and we just moved here at the end of Oct., but the school is amazing!! Also love Briargate!

[froggin4colorado]

My parents come from IA and I lived there when I was little. We lived in Alta, Cherokee, Grinnell, Cushing. They lived in Waterloo too. My parents love CO. At first they missed IA's beef and still say there is nothing like it. Otherwise they really like it. I was only there until I was in 4th grade before they moved me to AZ till my Senior year in HS. I finished my Senior yr in HS here in CO in Saguache and moved to COS. Loved COS, I miss COS. I am now in VA for DHs job.
My mother and I are teachers so she remembers teaching in IA. She feels IA and CO schools are similar. She had to lower her standards big time when teaching in AZ.
The prek schools in CO actually cater to children with special needs. (Headstart and child find in public schools.) They will typically accept 6-8 "typical" peers and the rest of the class has special needs. By accepting and offering free prek to 6-8 typicals, it gives students with special needs an opportunity to be part of full inclusion, to play and model "typical" kids. There are a lot of great programs for prek out there, but don't plan on them being to academic. Its more about social play than anything. Of course they work on colors, counting, writing their name, etc...but the real push comes in kindergarten when they start learning to read. There is typically a waiting list so get on asap.
All the schools are great its just a matter of what type of students you want your child to be around. D2 has the worst rep in town but the elem schools are fine, its the middle and high school you want to avoid.
Good luck!

[PamelaOrr]

There are so many great schools and preschools. I put my son through Springs Community Church preschool. It's Christian based and my son really stepped into kindergarten easily with his social and academic skills. I heard and have see the children that went through Sunrise Church preschool with the same results.

My three boys are in D11 in the northeast part of town but honestly, we have many great all over Colorado Springs and the surrounding towns.

There are many posts already on the forum regarding specific schools so maybe start with your home search before you get too inundated in school posts.

Good luck! Colorado is Beautiful. I've lived here for "thirty something" years. I move away for a short time here and there, but always come back and happy to be here.

[Falconlady]

There are a number of Falcon D49 schools (Home) with International Baccalaureate programs that might fit what you are looking for. You'll get more house for your money in Falcon, whether it's Woodmen Hills, Meridian Ranch or Falcon Hills.