Relocation to Denver/Aurora (low crime, new house, transfer)

[Jet1980]

We are thinking of relocating to Denver. My spouse was offered a job in Aurora, but I'm not finding a lot of good information of Aurora or the school districts.

What we will be looking for:

Homes in the 300,000 - 350,000 price range
Excellent school district with excellent reputation
Low crime
Small community feel

Outside of Aurora, can anyone suggest other areas to live in. My spouse's potential company is about 8 miles from the Denver airport.

We don't need to live near the mountains...

TIA

[Nav]

I am assuming you are looking for planned communities in the aurora area. If so, I would concentrate my focus on the areas east of Southlands mall. (that's east of 470 around smokey hills rd) There are a lot of newer communities in that area and you are far enough east that the "higher crime" areas of aurora are far away. Given the economy, I'm sure there are plenty of places in that area inyour price range.

Nav

[Jerry Bckr]

Just a quick note before I dash out. To research schools, go to w.schoolperformancemaps.com/co. They map out all the school locations and provide links allowing you to research each one for your criteria. You didn't say in what direction your spouse's job was from the airport. That could be a help. Generally, you'll find the newer and safer communites in the south part of Aurora, or north around Reunion and that area to the south. Forget about the small community feel.

[the3Ds]

Originally Posted by Jet1980

We are thinking of relocating to Denver. My spouse was offered a job in Aurora, but I'm not finding a lot of good information of Aurora or the school districts.

What we will be looking for:

Homes in the 300,000 - 350,000 price range
Excellent school district with excellent reputation
Low crime
Small community feel

Outside of Aurora, can anyone suggest other areas to live in. My spouse's potential company is about 8 miles from the Denver airport.

We don't need to live near the mountains...

TIA

You'll have to search through some of the threads here on C-D because this topic has been discussed frequently. My husband works at DIA and we live in SE Aurora. It's technically in an unincorporated area of Arapahoe County but my address is Aurora. My neighborhood is surrounded by the city of Centennial. Look in the 80016 zip code and on a map, off the E-470 and Smoky Hill. My zip code is 80015, but you will find by looking that zip code up, it's a very large zip code that stretches well into the Aurora Public School District (not a great one). You will find the Cherry Creek School District (one of the best), low crime, great neighborhoods, total suburbia and homes well within your budget. From our driveway to my husband's parking space at work (next to the terminal at DIA), it's 35 minutes. Drive out here and take a look. Get off on Smoky Hill Rd and drive around. Even in the so-called middle of nowhere (where some anti-suburbanites say we are), the views of the mountains are gorgeous, the drive to the mountains is less than an hour (45 minutes to I-70) and 40 minutes to downtown. We came from Florida, where anything less than an hour drive is considered "down the road" so the entire City of Denver feels very small and manageable to us. It's great.

[A.n.n.a]

I don't think Aurora schools are that bad. The high schools have a middle college program where you go to high schoo, CCA, and Pickens. WHen you graduate you graduate with a high school diploma, an associates degree, and a certificate for a trade.
My sister just told me thst they now have a new program where seniors can graduate but they won't get their diploma so they can continue going to CCA and APS pays fpr it until they get their associates and then they'll get their diploma.
I went to Rangeview, it's a good school. Mrachek middle school sucks I went there too.

[Count David]

Originally Posted by the3Ds

My zip code is 80015, but you will find by looking that zip code up, it's a very large zip code that stretches well into the Aurora Public School District (not a great one).

Find me an area of 80015 that is within APS.

80015's northern border is Quincy Ave. Cherry Creek Schools extends north of Quincy, well into 80013. On the east side of Aurora, CCSD extends up to at least Hampden Ave. On the west side of Aurora, CCSD occupies a hodgepodge of 80014 and 80012.

http://www.ccsd.k12.co.us/documents/...istrictMap.pdf

Our experience with CCSD was average at best. Our experience with APS was dismal on a good day.

Now we're in DPS, and are actually very pleased.

[the3Ds]

The conversations with various people on this site who want to defend or tear into the ONE school within ONE district that fared well for their family is getting tedious. I am not an expert at schools. In no way will I ever say that a kid in Cherry Creek School District will succeed more than a kid in DPS. It is not the school that will give your kid a leg up. It's the school district and the school district's curriculum that WILL give your kid a leg up on other students if they do well in school. That is a fact. It's the reason why so many kids who graduate "top of their class" find out that they don't know anything compared to other kids when they get to college. They met their district's goals and probably did "outstanding" according to the standards the district set. Then they head off to college and can't even pass Math or English 101. Many people ignore this fact and make broad comments like "Colorado schools don't differ THAT much from each other so it doesn't really matter in the long run where your kid goes to school as long as you're involved." I would disagree and show year after year of testing and school grading that shows consistently high marks for some school districts while others go up and down. A good school district will perform well no matter what stupid standardized tests are done that particular year. A poorly performing school district only does well when the standards are lowered to rock-bottom. That's when the PR people come out in force to do news interviews touting their so-called bullet points that will bring their schools "up to par". Those school districts spend more money doing PR to cover their butts than they do actually educating their students.

Do some research. The only thing a so-called "good neighborhood school" provides is probable parental involvement and a fairly safe school environment. Schools continue to dumb down their curriculum in order to qualify for money under the No Child Left Behind Act. No school wants to be listed in the Denver Post as a poorly performing school so they help their kids cheat on the standardized tests or they basically spend the entire year preparing them for the test but not actually educating them. There is proof that this is happening.

People who are new to this site and are starting out fresh in their househunt but in their initial question of "where should I live" include a comment about "good neighborhood schools" need to understand these things. I as a parent am on a continuous learning curve but after spending time doing research and hours and hours involved in our school's PTO and district governing board, I am beginning to understand the importance of school district over a local school. Start with the district FIRST. Once you figure out where you want your kids to go, then you can get more specific.

Your kids have one chance at an education and a good education (even if they don't go to college) can and will make a huge difference in their lives. When you are looking for a house and have children, the best gift you can give them is not the "new house smell." It's enrolling them in a good school district and a great neighborhood school that will expect them to succeed...not be surprised when they do. After living all over this country, I can speak from experience. Denver is a great city that has excellent school districts that are not just in the wealthy areas. This is not the case for the majority of the country and if you are moving here and have kids, take advantage of it.

[FentonForche]

Short answer. Stay the heck out of Aurora Public Schools. Any school that touts itself based upon AA transfer programs or vocational program completion has set itself low standards. I'm not trying to be a jerk by deriding those programs. They're legitimate accomplishments for a lot of kids and it's something to be proud of.

But if you want to get a good sense of the academic quality of a school, look at the % of the student body that matriculates in to a four year institution after graduation.

The southern part of Aurora that funnels to Cherry Creek schools is good.

[Katarina Witt]

Originally Posted by the3Ds

The conversations with various people on this site who want to defend or tear into the ONE school within ONE district that fared well for their family is getting tedious. I am not an expert at schools. In no way will I ever say that a kid in Cherry Creek School District will succeed more than a kid in DPS. It is not the school that will give your kid a leg up. It's the school district and the school district's curriculum that WILL give your kid a leg up on other students if they do well in school. That is a fact. It's the reason why so many kids who graduate "top of their class" find out that they don't know anything compared to other kids when they get to college. They met their district's goals and probably did "outstanding" according to the standards the district set. Then they head off to college and can't even pass Math or English 101.

While Colorado is a local control state regarding schools, there are state standards that need to be met to graduate, and indeed, all along.

Office of Standards and Assessments - Colorado K-12 Academic Standards

Schools have some control over how to implement these standards.

Schools continue to dumb down their curriculum in order to qualify for money under the No Child Left Behind Act.

Actually, that is not how the NCLB Act works. This article is a good overview of NCLB.

No Child Left Behind Act - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The system of incentives and penalties sets up a strong motivation for schools, districts, and states to manipulate test results. For example, schools have been shown to employ "creative reclassification" of drop-outs (to reduce unfavorable statistics).[24]

[80skeys]

Well if you like "suburb" living the 470 toll road which goes around Denver (and by the airport) passes by a lot of those types of neighborhoods.

You're going to get mixed responses regarding Aurora crime. Some people don't like it. Others think it's okay.

Originally Posted by Jet1980

We are thinking of relocating to Denver. My spouse was offered a job in Aurora, but I'm not finding a lot of good information of Aurora or the school districts.

What we will be looking for:

Homes in the 300,000 - 350,000 price range
Excellent school district with excellent reputation
Low crime
Small community feel

Outside of Aurora, can anyone suggest other areas to live in. My spouse's potential company is about 8 miles from the Denver airport.

We don't need to live near the mountains...

TIA