How "easy" is it to use school choice? Work transfer w/1st grader & modest rental budget (Denver: apartment)

[accidentalhippie]

Hi All,

It looks like I will be transferred from NYC to Metro Denver. Most of my work will be in downtown Denver but I will also commute to the Boulder office once or twice a week.

We currently live in Brooklyn but are looking to live in our own 2br house/townhouse/duplex with a modest garden area/sunny patio for a (container) garden and a small dog. Here't the rub: as a single parent with student loans, my housing budget is capped at $1600.

I've been researching Arvada (decent schools, some rentals with gardening space, light rail), Applewood, Park Hill/Stapleton, and Five Points.

We will visit in early June to choose a place for July 1st and I'm not sure what to prioritize:

• The best rental I can find close to an above average public school with a strong spanish and math program
• A decent rental at a lower price but close to a Montessori school w/financial aid
• The best rental home I can find that's a straight shot to a choice school

How hard would it be to get my daughter into West Woods or Meikeljohn in Arvada, Gilpin Montessori, Brown International Academy, or Denver International School? Are there neighborhoods besides the one I mentioned above that I should explore?

Thank you!

[davidv]

If you are moving this late, then you need to move into the attendance area for the school you like. This is the only way you can guarantee acceptance into the school.

Public School of Choice applications were due months ago, and schools are not likely to accept your child for next school year.

Denver International School is a private school, so you might get accepted there, but any financial aid has likely been allocated for next year.

[brown_dog_us]

For Choicing into a public school: The applications are due in January and the acceptance letters are in Feb/March. The desirable schools are full and have long waiting lists. You can apply in January of 2017 for the 2017/2018 school year.

[brown_dog_us]

Where is work?

[emm74]

Ditto what everyone is saying - you cannot rely on choice at this point in the year. Well, you can't really ever *rely* on it, since you are never guaranteed you child will get assigned where you want. But esp. by now, the more popular schools are full and do not have any choice seats left. However, if you are in the boundary for a school, they have to make room. So you need to pick which school you want and then make sure you find a rental that is in the boundary area for that school.

And it's also the case that even if a private school has open seats - also unlikely as their application and admissions process was completed months ago - they will not have any financial aid funding remaining.

Additionally, your price is not a realistic match for your wish list, certainly in Stapleton/Park Hill, which is the area I'm familiar with. I'll let others weigh in on some of the other locations you mentioned.

[blondmoray]

Denver Language Schools is a DPS school. You might want to call them and see if there are any spots left for next year (just FYI, I hear mixed reviews about the school). Since it's charter, you could live in Five Points or other Denver areas within your budget. If it's a no-go, then at $1600 won't get you into the good neighborhood school boundaries in Denver. You're on the right track looking at the western 'burbs (stay away from the east...). From what I hear, the Arvada elementary schools are very large, but good. Good luck.

[blackmet]

At 1600 in a decent school district...think apartment with a balcony. Townhome if lucky.

Arvada is a good place to look. Westminster is fine too, but the parts in Adams County have pretty bad schools, so stay in Jefferson (west of Sheridan Boulevard, generally). If you can handle a nasty drive once a week or so to Boulder, Wheat Ridge and Lakewood are options.

[Kibbiekat]

Open enrollment isn't guaranteed, especially if it is a popular school. Living in the attendance area of your "school of choice" is always a better option.

[accidentalhippie]

Sorry for the radio silence and thank you for your feedback. I will be working primarily downtown and will commute either by bike (I'm doing a 35-45 minute one way commute in NYC now) or by light rail.

So far, I have bumped my budget up to $1700 and changed the areas to focus on DU/University Park (UP Elementary), Platte Park/Harvard Gulch (Asbury Elementary), east of Sloan's Lake (Brown Elementary), and Arvada (Peck and Warder Elementaries). We will definitely move into the attendance zone rather than attempt School Choice. Hopefully one of the options above will land us in a decent enough neighborhood with a school that has some non-negligible diversity of family types and demographics since we are a single parent household with multiple heritages.

At any rate, wish us luck! We arrive this week to find a place!

Thank you!

[SC123]

I would also look at the area a bit south of DU....University Hills area. Elementary school is Bradley International...an IB school. The neighborhood is a bit more affordable than DU. Great school, great staff, great kids.