Homes under which high school? (Denver, Aurora: appointed, to rent, house)

[r.cerberus]

Thanks to tips on another post and some research, I've narrowed 3 high school zones under one of which we'd like to rent and then eventually buy.

- Cherry Creek High
- Moutain Vista High
- Arapahoe High

Does anyone have any opinions on one vs. the other? We have a child - 11, and interested in a good suburb so a recommended combination of suburb + school would be great.

Also found that the middle school in the Mountain Vista wasn't great - it's confusing. These are clearly fairly affluent suburbs and presumably with good education, so unclear why Greatschools ranks several schools pretty low, is it that they're new, or is it something else? For e.g. where we will in Katy right now (west of Houston), there are so many 9,10/10 ranked schools but it's been a bit of a struggle to find in Denver suburbs, or maybe I'm not seeing something right.

Thank you for your insights!

[Katarina Witt]

Cherry Creek is the "Big Kahuna". I've never heard of Mountain Vista, and I don't know anything about Arapahoe.

[davebarnes]

Cherry Creek and Douglas County (Mountain Vista) are huge school systems.
Arapahoe is part of Littleton which is a much smaller system with 15K students.

Middle schools, for the most part, are the weak link in all the school systems in greater Denver.
While some are very good, many are mediocre.

Personally, I think your child should visit each high school to get a feel for it.

[Timmyy]

My daughter will feed into Mountain Vista. Right now she is in 4th grade so we have a few years yet.

Some of areas around the high school could be considered partially affluent and partially upper middle class. Mansion Point and Back Country are just down the hill from the school. There are also some affordable homes in the area which are very family oriented. It is Highlands Ranch which means cookie cutter. My house is about 2 miles North of Back Country and quite a bit more affordable. I think there was a house around the corner from us that just rented for $2,700 a month. The house across the street from us listed for $450K two weeks ago and was under contract within a few days. There was a bidding war on it. The house is quite a bit smaller than ours but it is still very nice. There are also some great homes in the Indigo Hill area which is across Wildcat Reserve Pkwy from Back Country. We looked in Indigo Hill before buying where we are at now because my daughter attends Saddle Ranch Elementary. You could even look at homes in Westridge which is our old neighborhood. Some homes there go for around $400K.

Mountain Ridge middle school rates at 6 out of 10 and feeds into Mountain Vista which rates at a 9 out of 10. On the other hand there is Ranch View middle school which is rated at a 4 out of 10 feeding into Thunder Ridge which rates at 8 out of 10. Thunder Ridge and Mountain Vista are only a few miles apart on Wildcat Reserve Pkwy. The ratings on Thunder Ridge have gone up.

[rtloucks]

Ever Consider Columbine? Wee absolutely loved living in Littleton 80123 - Just did not love Denver metro so we left. but We could not have picked a nicer, more friendly place with great neighbors as Littleton 80123 in Leawood. there are sever good areas around there

[2bindenver]

All three of my kids went to Mountain Vista.

There is only one feeder into DougCo high schools.

Schools start mid August here.

Another good high schools to add to your list is Littleton and Heritage.

[randomparent]

Arapahoe High School is flagship of the Littleton Public School district and has a fine reputation. It's feeder area lies just to the west of Cherry Creek High School's and has similar demographics to CCHS. The same is the case for Mountain Vista, which is just to the south in Douglas County. Although the students like to pretend that they're very, very different, it's not true, which becomes crystal clear when a huge chunk of them end up at CU or CSU for college.

My own kids attend Cherry Creek, which I have discussed in another post found here. We have been very happy with our kids' education there. It's not perfect for every student, but it was a great choice for us. We love our neighborhood and its accessibility to community resources. I think the Arapahoe County public library system is top-notch, and we're also fans of Douglas County's library system, too. One thing that I will warn you about is that traffic in this part of town can be a bear, so when narrowing down where to live, consider your commute carefully and aim to minimize the amount of time you need to spend on the interstate. The closer to work, the better.

And with that, let me welcome you to Denver. It's a great place to live!

[Timmyy]

Originally Posted by randomparent

Arapahoe High School is flagship of the Littleton Public School district and has a fine reputation. It's feeder area lies just to the west of Cherry Creek High School's and has similar demographics to CCHS. The same is the case for Mountain Vista, which is just to the south in Douglas County. Although the students like to pretend that they're very, very different, it's not true, which becomes crystal clear when a huge chunk of them end up at CU or CSU for college.

My own kids attend Cherry Creek, which I have discussed in another post found here. We have been very happy with our kids' education there. It's not perfect for every student, but it was a great choice for us. We love our neighborhood and it's accessibility to community resources. I think the Arapahoe County public library system is top-notch, and we're also fans of Douglas County's library system, too. One thing that I will warn you about is that traffic in this part of town can be a bear, so when narrowing down where to live, consider your commute carefully and aim to minimize the amount of time you need to spend on the interstate. The closer to work, the better.

And with that, let me welcome you to Denver. It's a great place to live!

What do you mean by the bolded? How do they think they are different? I have never heard that before.

[Gorges]

OP, do you realize that the schools you listed are in 3 different school districts?

Arapahoe HS - Littleton Public Schools
Cherry Creek HS - Cherry Creek School District
Mountain Vista HS - Douglas County School District

If you haven't already done so, you should use the search function here to get more information on those districts. They are not run the same way and have different demographics.

Just to clarify because the names can be confusing. Cherry Creek is the name of a district, the Cherry Creek School District (CCSD), as well one of the high schools within that district, as well as a high-end neighborhood in Denver that has nothing to do with the school district.

I'm only talking about CCSD because that's what I'm familiar with. If you're looking at neighborhoods for Cherry Creek High, be aware that it's a very expensive area and the homes can have an older look. If they're not updated, that can be a turn-off for some people. Personally, I love these older areas, but many don't. Look at zipcodes 80111, 80112, 80113 in Centennial, Greenwood Village, and Englewood. Some areas in these zipcodes are also zoned for Arapahoe HS. As I mentioned in your other thread, I would also look at Grandview HS in Aurora. It's a good school in CCSD surrounded by some lovely newer suburban neighborhoods. Zipcode 80016.

Since you're from Katy, I'll say this. Some people move here from Texas and are a little disappointed with the schools. They think they aren't as academic as what they're used to. For instance, CCSD had 34 national merit finalists this year throughout the district. Not bad, but there are schools in Texas that have that many in just one school..... as my family in Plano and Houston keep reminding me.

Good luck with your move!

[randomparent]

Originally Posted by Timmyy

What do you mean by the bolded? How do they think they are different? I have never heard that before.

High schoolers like to emphasize their differences, and Cherry Creek and Arapahoe, in particular, are athletic rivals. They like to talk smack about each other. And then they get to college, and their alliances change. That's all I meant.