Interesting City Neighborhoods vs High Schools (Denver, Lakewood: houses, transfer, school districts)

[hobari]

My family is going to relo to Denver over the summer and we need to start our house search. I've done as much internet research as I can, and it appears to me that the most interesting and comfortable places to live for us would be Washington Park or the University of Denver areas. We are familiar with and comfortable with those kinds of neighborhoods, living as we do in Evanston, IL which is a close-in Chicago suburb.

But there seems to be a real problem with the DPS high schools. I have an 11th grade transfer student to be concerned about, and I can't figure out what in good conscience I should be doing. It seems incongruous to me that there are so many million dollar homes in these areas, but the school report cards as reported by the state are, well, average to poor. Where do all these relatively affluent people send their kids to high school? We aren't exactly private school kind of people, but on the flip side poorly performing schools are not acceptable. Must we flee to the suburbs and Cherry Creek?

[tfox]

I totally understand what you mean -- for thousands of parents there's a tough choice to be made between Denver, which is more desirable (at least for some) for its culture, history, central location, activities and neighborhoods, or the suburbs, which can have good schools.

Yes, the "regular" DPS high schools range from average to awful. There's plenty of publicity for this, and it's not acceptable in my book nor for many other Denver residents. To be fair, many of the suburban school districts struggle with the same issues as DPS -- but that still is no excuse. However, there are options.

There are several excellent charter high schools -- Denver School of the Arts and Denver School of Science and Technology. These schools rank among the state's very best. Unfortunately, these schools are very popular since not only DPS students but also suburban students vie for limited space. (School Choice works both ways).

You can also go out of district. Lots of Denver parents send their kids to CCHS or other well-liked suburban schools. Your 11th Grader probably can drive him/herself so this might be an option for you. You're not guaranteed entry into these schools but there's quite a few good schools in CCSD, Jeffco, so you'd likely get into one of them.

Another option is to choose an International Bacculaurate program within one of the normal high schools -- these programs are very popular for some families and are generally well-thought-of.

Private schools are an option for some -- and there is a wide range of tuition in private schools with the parochial/religious ones generally less expensive. In researching this topic myself I was surprised at how the tuitions at some parochial schools was far less than I would have imagined. Of course the "old-money" private academies have stratospheric tuitions by design.

A final option to consider, as a way of "having your cake and eating it too" is to consider some of the Arapahoe County exclaves in southeast Denver. These would be in CCSD. Not all of the exclaves are as desirable as Denver (i.e., Glendale) but some are.

By the way, also, Cherry Creek (the neighborhood) is in DPS as well like the rest of Denver -- this does not coincide with the Cherry Creek School District. This unfortunate choice of name for the school district is very confusing for newcomers.

Hope that helps! It's a tough choice to make, and I totally understand the parents who choose to live in the suburbs for the sake of their kids, but there are other options to consider.

[hobari]

Thank you T. The charter schools seem to have already cut off apps. I'll need to find out more about living within Denver and using a Jefferson County High school, because yes, our daughter now, scarily enough, drives a car.

[2bindenver]

you may find houses in Southmoor to your liking.

[BlueWillowPlate]

Originally Posted by hobari

Thank you T. The charter schools seem to have already cut off apps. I'll need to find out more about living within Denver and using a Jefferson County High school, because yes, our daughter now, scarily enough, drives a car.

As with any school, it really depends on the parents and the student.
I am openly prejudiced in favor of Denver Public Schools.
If you only look at Great Schools or NCLB scores, you are missing the essence of the educational opportunities of the school.
My son graduated from George Washington High, and until we moved, our younger kid went to East High. My nephew will attend East in the fall.
East (I graduated from there years ago) is an interesting socio-economic mixture of kids and can provide a good education for the motivated student, or the kid can skip the AP classes and other challenges and merely skate by. East's PTA and alumni are both active.
2007 East High Constitutional Scholars
George Washington is capable of giving any good student a fine education, especially if he/she is in the rigorous International Bacculaurate program.
GW Teacher wins 2007 Distinguished Teacher Award (broken link)
I guess it depends on what you are looking for. We wanted a 'real world' experience for our kids, and we were not interested in going out of Denver.
I always had a solid relationship with my kid's teachers, because I made it my business to know how the kid was doing. Private schools are tricky. The expensive ones such as Kent can offer a fine education--at a price. The less expensive parochial ones may lose a teacher and your child goes without math class for 4 months (I know, I talked to the kid that this happened to.)
I had one central Denver friend who sent her daughter to Jefferson County Open School. I had another whose son will be graduating this spring from Lakewood High School, which offers IB.
Getting out there in the winter weather might be a bit messy from time to time, maybe you could get into a carpool. Also up for consideration might be the fact that as of April 6th, Jeffco teachers have reached an impasse in contract negotiations (but this may well be worked out by the fall).

[dj32]

So glad you posted this. We live in Wash Park, and are struggling with this very topic. We are looking at elementary schools and although Steele is "good" it isn't great and we'd liek to do better if we can. I struggle with paying private school tuition, but that is not even the biggest issue- it is SO competitive here I am scared we will not get in. It is amazing that you see scrape off after scrape off here on every single block and yet the schools aren't great?! There was recently an article in teh Rocky Mountain News about DPS and it broke down all the neighborhoods and the percentage of kids who went "outside" of DPS (private or parochial) schools for education. In our East Wash Park neighborhood the number was something like 40% did not go to their "home" school.

My suggestion would be, as your H.S. is likely South is to try and open enroll somewhere else- like George WAshington or East.

[hobari]

Any comments onthe Intenational Baccalaureate program? Where can I get info on it? My kid now is in a school with a mixed bag of acheivers/nonacheivers, but all her classes are Advanced Placement and all her friends, fortunately, are good, smart kids. Sounds like that might work.

[BlueWillowPlate]

Originally Posted by hobari

Any comments onthe Intenational Baccalaureate program? Where can I get info on it? My kid now is in a school with a mixed bag of acheivers/nonacheivers, but all her classes are Advanced Placement and all her friends, fortunately, are good, smart kids. Sounds like that might work.

This link gives you an idea of the IB program internationally as well as the curriculum at GW in particular. Let me warn you: it is a tough program, and some kids opt out of it and do AP classes instead.

International Baccalaureate (http://gwhs.dpsk12.org/ib/index.htm - broken link)

[hobari]

oh, closed for enrollment for next year. I'm frustrated!

[BlueWillowPlate]

Originally Posted by hobari

oh, closed for enrollment for next year. I'm frustrated!

I assumed the IB is closed, but not the high school.
Have you called the school? I would talk to the principal, Mr. Williams.
She could start out with AP classes, and then go from there. That might be a good way to start out, anyway. IB is not for everybody.
AP Classes at George:
AP courses include: AP Language and Composition, AP Literature, AP European History, AP U.S. History, AP Psychology, AP Physics, AP Biology, AP French, AP Spanish, AP Music Theory, AP Chemistry, AP Calculus, AP Geometry.
GW contact info (broken link)