Anyone from STL that moved to Denver. We have some questions!! (Boulder: buying a home, buying)

[bowlersp]

Can you explain the schools in and around Denver and maybe give an example of STL comparable schools?

For example I will be working at Buckley AFB and was told the Cherry Creek School District is very good.

I want my kids to excel in the schools but not feel too pressured by others and not be surrounded by super wealthy stuck up children. Do you think Cherry Creek is still a good option?

Thanks!

[SkyDog77]

Yes. Cherry Creek School District is a large suburban school district that covers many different socioeconomic groups. Unless you are buying a home in an expensive area, you aren't going to be around rich kids.

[billiken]

I lived in STL for several years, moved to Denver for a few years, and then moved back. I don't have kids yet, so I'm not intimately familiar, but I'd say the public school system in the Denver metro is fairly different. In Denver, you don't really have Ladue or Clayton style school districts that are geographically small and pretty much serve only a small, wealthy community. The school districts in the Denver area are generally very large. Also, I'd say charter schools are common in the suburbs, as compared to STL where charters are common in the city but practically nonexistent in the suburbs.

I would say that people speak about Cherry Creek and Boulder Valley SDs in Denver in a similar way that people talk about Rockwood and Parkway in STL. I would also say that Douglas County SD in the Denver area is controversial in ways that are just not common in STL (its a SD in a generally upper middle class area with a very....political school board that has made lots of changes).

[step33]

It's pretty hard to do that comparison. In STL, if you are in a bad district you can't really do much about it except go to a private school (which is far more common there than here).

In Colorado, if you are assigned a bad school, you can choice enroll in to a different school without too much trouble. Sure, the very best schools might be full or have a lottery, but you'll still be able to find a "good" school that should work for your children.

Cherry Creek is highly regarded and as noted above, it's HUGE. You won't have any trouble with economic diversity there. (Other types of diversity may not exist, as Colorado is far "whiter" than StL, though there is a much larger Hispanic population here). To be honest, of all the things to worry about in a move to the Denver area, you can probably push schools down a bit, it's not nearly the concern it would be if making the reverse move.

There are many, many differences between these two metro areas though. Heck, the first difference you'll find here is no one asks what school you went to - at least not around me, but maybe that's because almost everyone I know comes from somewhere else. Replace the "What high school did you go to?" question with "Where are you from?" (and they mean what state).

I'm from the general STL area, but I'm on the west side of town, so not near Buckley, but if you have any other questions, feel free to ask (and if needed, send me a direct message).