Cherry Creek/Arapahoe High alternatives? (Denver, Highlands Ranch: credit, house, theater)

[weemaple]

I've read a number of posts all touting Cherry Creek High and Arapahoe as being generally the best-run high schools, with great teachers and lots of clubs to choose from. I've also seen the comments pointing out that there are also some concerns that can come with attending a huge school.


I was just wondering if anyone had kids in other high schools that seem to have good ratings on greatschools.org, that have a somewhat equivalent commute to downtown. Are there any smaller schools as well-run, with a majority of passionate teachers that really engage with the kids, a decent variety of extracurricular clubs/activities, and possibly smaller class sizes? Is anyone able to compare through direct experience of more than one school? Any particular strengths for any of these alternatives - AP, IB programs, science, math, the arts . . . without sacrificing the other side of things? We're not as concerned about super-competitive sports as much as our kids could join something and get good, fun exercise if they wanted to, without necessarily signing up (any paying extra) for a league sport.



We're looking at public and charter schools. Going solely on location and greatschools.org, I'm curious if anyone has direct experience with:


-Highlands Ranch High


-Thunderridge



-Columbine

-Heritage

-Littleton Academy (plus advice about which high school kids would go to after this one, since it's K-8)


-D'Evelyn (comments online sound like this one is about hitting the books hard for college-prep, at the loss of quality extracurriculars . . . any thoughts on this? How about IB?)





If someone were to say Cherry Creek and Arapahoe are just better high schools all around, I would love to know in specific detail why . . . minus the factor of highly competitive sports!


Thanks!!

[2bindenver]

What are you looking for? Academics, athletics, music, theater, IB, college credit?

[Moonwalkr]

Better is very subjective, what you want is the best fit for your kids. I would not dismiss those schools because of size, there are obvious advantages like an abundance of no-cut sports, more variety in class selection, not being singled out because everyone knows you, etc. You know your children best so prioritize those needs to arrive at the best-fit school.

[vunderbar]

These things are so subjective and personal. My kids would have hated the schools you listed. Too white, too conformist, too burby. Both went on to selective colleges and their education certainly did not suffer by attending a large, urban school with very diverse student body that offered something to every kid.

[Mugofbeer]

My kids went to Arapahoe. We have found it to be a very good school that has, unfortunately, had to endure a lot of problems that no one has been able to explain....a whole lot of bad luck. Is it better than others? I think it places better than most but and it remains so despite the very adult experiences forced on students.

[weemaple]

Thank you all for your replies - I guess I need to check settings to get e-mail alerts from this site.


Our kids are young, so we won't know exactly which interests to pursue yet. We've just moved so many times, and are hoping to find a house we can just stay in for the long-haul, without having to disrupt our kids' friendships through their years in school. That's why I'm looking all the way toward high school.


Vunderbar, may I ask which school your kids went to?

[TCHP]

I'll preface this with my experience is in the Colo Spgs area, but I would imagine the application to Denver is somewhat similar.

We have a range of districts and within them a range of schools. Obviously, online rating systems show these systems all over the map in opinions and perceived and actual achievements. We live in and attend a district that is not particularly noteworthy for its reviews and is one that actually appears lackluster compared to some neighboring districts.

With that said, my kids are very high academic performers. Within our district their academic career has included G&T, Honors, and AP classes and advanced curriculum.

They also are highly engaged with sports and we have participated not only in school athletics but numerous club teams. These club teams tend to engage students from all over the region and not just a few schools. It is in these club environments where we have been able to compare and contrast some of the grade level work from some of these higher rated districts as well as engage with good parental discussions about those schools.

Our discovery through this is that despite many ranges in ratings, academics do not radically diverge from district to district and school to school. My kids are doing the same level of work that some of the areas higher rated districts herald as their hallmark. IMO, the biggest differences will tend to be broader district demographics that your kids may or may not encounter along the way and how the teachers and administration deal with these challenges.

That is within public school ranks and even the charter schools, which are still public but with a more direct focus. Once you get into private schools, then it is an entirely different animal.

[weemaple]

TCHP - thank you for your thoughtful breakdown.

[Gorges]

Originally Posted by weemaple

...............
I was just wondering if anyone had kids in other high schools that seem to have good ratings on greatschools.org, that have a somewhat equivalent commute to downtown.
..................

Please do not rely on Great Schools for ratings. Great Schools changed its methodology a couple of years ago from when it only relied on test scores, and this change means that schools with more diversity and at-risk students now receive even lower scores than before. If a school has any achievement gap, it is assessed an additional penalty by Great Schools that can lower its score by as much as 2 points from when the scores were only determined by test scores. This means that schools with a uniformly high-achieving population are basically being given a pat on the back for keeping out low achievers, and schools with more economic diversity are being assessed a penalty because they happen to have at-risk students in their district.

If you want to look at school rankings, use a site like Niche. It will give you a better idea.

[weemaple]

Thanks for the input. I'll start including Niche in my searches, with what you said in mind.