School districts in/around Denver (Aurora, Lakewood: spring break, apartment complexes, rentals)

[Capricorn75]

I have been offered the chance to move to my department's Denver helpdesk and am beyond thrilled. My son and I will spend the week of his spring break visiting the city and looking at schools. If we like it as much as we are expecting to, then we would move out next June, after his current school year ends.

The company I work for has a location on Broadway, but my actual position will be work from home. Therefore I do not have to base where we live around a commute to work or anything. It will instead be based around finding a good school for my son.

I have seen numerous posts on here in the month I have been researching (lurking!), but I'm still a bit confused about the various school districts and how they work. We live in Louisville, Kentucky and have a pretty crappy public school system. You can go to your neighborhood school, or be bused across town, or apply to a magnet program and cross your fingers you get in.

I understand that Denver has schools with various programs that you can apply for, as well. However, I would like to find a system where all (or at least the majority) of the schools are high quality. I don't want to take a chance on applying and not getting in, and then being stuck with a crappy neighborhood school. In Louisville (again, KY not CO), all the public schools are part of the Jefferson County public school system. The other counties- which are not part of Louisville- are different school systems. Denver seems to me like different neighborhoods within the city of Denver has different school systems? But I'm probably reading things wrong.

My son will be in 8th grade next year, so we are concentrating on looking at high school options since he'll only have one more year of middle school. He is in the AP program and orchestra, so those two programs are must-haves for us. While I don't have to go into the office at this current time, I would like to stay within a 30 minute commute to the 700 block of Broadway in case things change in the future.

I guess the purpose of this novel I've written is to find out what exactly are the school systems in Denver and the surrounding areas, is busing implemented or are you guaranteed to be able to go to your neighborhood school, and are there any school systems that we should run like the devil to avoid? Once I have more information, I will know what to look up on GreatSchools.com.

[Prodigal Native]

Originally Posted by Capricorn75

I have been offered the chance to move to my department's Denver helpdesk and am beyond thrilled. My son and I will spend the week of his spring break visiting the city and looking at schools. If we like it as much as we are expecting to, then we would move out next June, after his current school year ends.

The company I work for has a location on Broadway, but my actual position will be work from home. Therefore I do not have to base where we live around a commute to work or anything. It will instead be based around finding a good school for my son.

First of all, congratulations!

In order to help you out it would be good to know a few more things:

Renting or buying? (House or apartment? Renting to start and then buying? If so, important to stay in the same school district?)

Price range?

What do you like to do?

Would you prefer the heart of the city, the suburbs or "out in the country"?

I have seen numerous posts on here in the month I have been researching (lurking!), but I'm still a bit confused about the various school districts and how they work.

GENERALLY speaking it's all about where you live. That determines the school district and the individual schools. You may have the ability to get into a different school, but for the more desirable schools the only way to guarantee your son will go there is to live within their boundaries.

I am fairly sure you will get at least one recommendation for the Cherry Creek district, in which case you would want to look at http://www.cherrycreekschools.org/Di...istrictMap.pdf

Denver seems to me like different neighborhoods within the city of Denver has different school systems? But I'm probably reading things wrong.

Keep in mind that "Denver" is not just the City and County of Denver, it usually refers to the metro area which consists of several adjoining cities spread over multiple counties. Denver proper has DPS which generally is not considered a top-tier district.

My son will be in 8th grade next year, so we are concentrating on looking at high school options since he'll only have one more year of middle school.

This would make it fairly easy to follow the standard advice to rent initially and then buy (if so inclined); you can get into an area that feeds to the high school of choice and then move within the same district so your son can keep his friends, etc. Moving once at his age is tough, doing it twice can be very hard, but this should help minimize that issue.

I will leave the specifics to the locals who can provide better answers for your specific situation.

[Capricorn75]

Thank you for the response, PN!

I will definitely be renting, with no plans to buy unless I win the lottery. Even after studying the craigslist and padmapper rentals, I'm still in shock over the housing and rental rates out there. We would need a 2 BR/1.5 BA, absolutely no more than $1000/month. I despise apartment complexes but understand that's pretty much where we'll be living and am willing to concede.

I'm not a fan of suburbia, with box stores and chain restaurants everywhere. I like character, charm, whimsy. Easy access to hiking and biking. A strong sense of community- I like to see and talk to my neighbors, go to community festivals/picnics/concerts/etc. I love family-friendly downtowns, bustling Main Streets, and old architecture.

Co-workers in Denver have mentioned Arvada, Lakewood, Wheat Ridge, and Golden to me, and told me stay away from Thornton, Westminster, and Aurora.

I'm intrigued by all the talk I see on these forums about "green space". Is this just another name for a park? If all goes well and we do make the move then we will have to give up extras like eating out, movies, etc to off-set the higher cost of living. Which means more outdoor activities. I think we can live with that

Safety is a priority, obviously, but everything I've read on the forums seems to say of course use common sense, because crime can happen anywhere, but that there are no truly bad parts of town. I can tell you that in Louisville there are MANY areas I would never go near, even in daylight. The Denver police chief is our former police chief, interestingly enough.

[davebarnes]

Originally Posted by Capricorn75

in shock over the housing and rental rates out there. We would need a 2 BR/1.5 BA, absolutely no more than $1000/month.

Given the current trend in rents in greater Denver, I would expect that $1000 will be $1050 by next Spring.
Colorado 3Q apartment vacancy at 11-year-low, rents at record high - The Denver Post

[davidv]

To start, 700 Broadway is just south of downtown Denver at the intersection of Broadway and Speer Blvd. Broadway is a major street that runs from downtown south through Highlands Ranch. Broadway does not offer any access to the northern part of the metro area. Speer Blvd follows Cherry Creek (the actual creek) and runs from I-25 and Speer (obviously) southeast to the Cherry Creek mall. The 6th Ave Freeway brings traffic in from the west, but it turns into a surface street out east.

You should probably focus on school districts to the south and west of work location. Here are the school districts I would recommend:

Cherry Creek Schools - Cherry Creek HS area only. Cherry Creek is one of the best schools in the state. This district is in Greenwood Village and Centennial. It extend out east, but those areas would be very far from work.

I'll post more later.

Littleton Public Schools - This is the City of Littleton. It is directly south of downtown and Broadway runs through the center of town. There are three high schools, Littleton HS is okay, but it has an IB program. Heritage and Arapahoe High Schools are very good.

Jefferson County - This district is west of Sheridan Blvd. Check out the following high schools: Lakewood HS (IB program), Dakota Ridge HS, Columbine HS, Chatfield HS (all southwest), or Ralston Valley HS in the north. Those would be the best HS in the district. Bear Creek, Wheat Ridge, and Pomona are all pretty good, but second tier.

I do not recommend: Englewood School District, Sheridan School District, and Denver Public Schools. There are other schools and districts that might work, but logistically they would be hard to get to work from.

[2bindenver]

You can buy a small house for $195,000 and have payments at $1100 a month with no 10% increase every year.

[petedoty]

There are multiple and you referred to the Denver Public Schools in your note.
There is also Douglas County School District (includes Highlands Ranch)
Littleton School District
Cherry Creek School District
These are all south end of town.
We live in Highlands Ranch

[2bindenver]

You live in HR Pete, and so do I. But you will find here that there are HR haters. (shocking I know.) HR gets its share of bashing from C-D posters.

That's ok. We still play nice with other posters.

I think if she follows her wish for a specific high school program, her search will be narrow enough.

[billiken]

Originally Posted by Capricorn75

I will definitely be renting, with no plans to buy unless I win the lottery. Even after studying the craigslist and padmapper rentals, I'm still in shock over the housing and rental rates out there. We would need a 2 BR/1.5 BA, absolutely no more than $1000/month. I despise apartment complexes but understand that's pretty much where we'll be living and am willing to concede.

I'm not a fan of suburbia, with box stores and chain restaurants everywhere. I like character, charm, whimsy. Easy access to hiking and biking. A strong sense of community- I like to see and talk to my neighbors, go to community festivals/picnics/concerts/etc. I love family-friendly downtowns, bustling Main Streets, and old architecture.

Co-workers in Denver have mentioned Arvada, Lakewood, Wheat Ridge, and Golden to me, and told me stay away from Thornton, Westminster, and Aurora.

I agree with your co-worker's recommendations, but your chances of finding a 2bd/1.5bath under $1k in those areas is pretty much zero. Even 2/1 is tight--we found a few under 1k when we looked last Spring, but I don't think they were in a good school district.

[Katarina Witt]

I would not rule out Thornton, Westminster and Aurora. There are nice homes in those places, and frankly a lot of rentals. My DD is renting a nice 2 BR townhouse in Westy for a little more than your budget. She is in the Jefferson County part of Westminster, Standley Lake HS area, which AFAIK, is a decent school.