denver/ lakewood schools (Fort Collins, Arvada, Boulder: top schools, live, zoned) - Colorado (CO) - City-Data Forum

dr cap · 07-01-2009, 09:47 PM

My wife, 2 preschool kids, and I are possibly moving to the Denver area. I've been checking into schools, and there seem to be several high quality public schools in the Lakewood area. My wife and I were raised in Northern Virginia, and we have lived in the Los Angeles area for the last 13 years. We consider ourselves very open-minded, and while we want the best education possible for our kids, we would like them to grow up with some diversity. I was raised in a religious household, but my wife and I are planning on raising our children in a secular environment, until they are able to make up their own minds. I am not very comfortable with the idea of religion in schools, and much less comfortable with intolerance. I was wondering if anyone could comment on the level of diversity, open-mindedness and tolerance in the top schools in Lakewood. I have read some postings on school-rating websites that imply that children are sometimes singled out for not having the same religious and/ or political beliefs as the majority of students (and staff). I know you can't always believe what you read on those sites, so any 1st hand comments would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

ms ball · 07-02-2009, 07:13 AM

You may also want to check out this map regarding school performance for that area.
Colorado School Performance Maps

dr cap · 07-02-2009, 11:22 AM

great, thanks

housetrained · 07-04-2009, 01:25 AM

I have very similar concerns/questions, in regards to both Lakewood and Arvada - we raised and older child in Boulder Valley school district, through high school, but are moving with our 2 year-old to shorten our commute to Lakewood. Boulder Valley was exceedingly tolerant towards most interests - religious, secular, eccentric, mainstream. It was easy to find a school that fit most students' needs. Somewhat lacking in cultural diveristy though - until high school non-white students tended to cluster at schools that ended up not being rated so highly.

In any case, I wonder how "ok" it is to be different in some of the schools outside of BVSD - it seems almost expected there. What I've observed so far in other areas is that homogeneity is the norm, at least in the 'burbs. Again, can't believe everything you hear - but.....

If you do get any posts offline (can it be done on this board?) I'd be interested in that info too, if you care to share. Did you find any good sources of parent reviews, besides Great Schools? Good luck.

dr cap · 07-04-2009, 01:07 PM

Thanks for the interest and comments. In addition to greatschools, I usually check schooldigger.com, which doesn't seem to have parents comments section, but it does have a lot of info on demographics. I will definitely let you know if I get any additional info offline (not posted to this thread), but to this point, I haven't heard much of a response at all. Kind of surprised because I'm reading other threads that have several responses. This thread has been read 200 times, but I've only received 2 responses. Must not be a popular topic...

In general, I have noticed that there seems to be the same problem in most of the Denver area that we have here in Southern California, and that is that if you find a great elementary school, it may not feed into a great middle or high school. Or if you find a great high school, the feeder schools may not be great. I'd love to find a suburb area (not too far of a drive to downtown), that has decent size lots, and great schools from elementary all the way thru high school.

Thanks again, and best of luck on your move!

ms ball · 07-06-2009, 08:14 AM

If you are looking for demographics for a particular school, I recommend going to the school districts website. At Jeffco schools website you can pick a school, then click on the links that will show you the demographics, test scores, and school accountability report. I found that information to be much more useful than other websites such as greatschools.com when we were relocating from out of state.
http://www.jeffcopublicschools.org/schools/index.html

monika214 · 09-10-2009, 04:45 AM

Thank you so much for that awesome map Ms Bell

You've just saved me days!!!

monika214 · 09-10-2009, 08:51 AM

A friend in Fort Collins mentioned that they have a "School of Choice" program, where you are free to attend any school as long as there is room...anyone know anything about this? Do they have it in the Denver area? Here in Florida you pretty much must attened the school you are zoned for...

Moonwalkr · 09-10-2009, 09:13 AM

It varies by school districts, and may be easier in some districts than others. I'm in a different district and ours support school of choice; I haven't done so since we have a great elementary school that feeds up to excellent middle and high schools. I would definitely check with your district and see how many people apply for particular schools and how many of them get in.