Fort Collins Parents, your opinions please... (Colorado Springs, Boulder: top schools, university, move to)

[damusic]

Hello everyone, our family has finally decided to move to Fort Collins. I have seen and read all of the threads and looked up the school accountability reports, etc. but I would love to hear your own personal experiences with the various schools you have your children in. (Fyi, I have also read greatschools.net parent reviews).

What schools are they in and are you happy? And why or why not are you happy? According to the research I've done, there are plenty of choices of good schools with good test scores. But, personal experiences also mean something. I would greatly appreciate all your help. Thank you very much!Denise

[colorado_native]

It really depends on what you are looking for in a school. To be honest, between all the charter schools and the school of choice program, you can essentially give your kids whatever type of education you choose. I grew up in Fort Collins and had two siblings go to the Liberty Commons school for elementary school. I would highly recommend Liberty or Ridgview for Elemetary aged kids. The education is much more versatile and expansive than traditional elementary school. I also work as a youth advisor to a local youth group and the kids in the Ridgeview and Liberty Junior high school programs rave about the fun things they get to do.

[damusic]

thank you! I didn't think I would ever get a response. I will check
into these schools.

[lart]

Let me begin by saying that I was going recommend one and warn about the other and then I realized that we have some wonderful schools here that meet a variety of interests.

The schools I would recommend is the Washington Lab School. It's a creative supportive environment. There's Dunn elementary, with a wonderful IB program, and Bennett has a wonderful multi-cultural group of students, probably because it's so close to the university. Fossil creek is new and very hands on style of teaching. And finally, Harris Bi-lingual is wonderful and has great overall scores.

Having experienced Liberty Common I would NOT recommend the school. It's a "core curriculum" school which believes all basic knowledge is found in the writings of the old white European men. They use the lecture lecture lecture style. The instructors not only don't have to have a degree in education, if they do, they're discouraged from veering from the lecture. All in all, it was very destructive and I regret the day I listened to a friend and sent my daughter to that school.

[cobmw]

Core knowledge is probably the most successful teaching system there is unless all you want to teach is political correctness. Speaking of which I place a lot of value in the writings of those old white men. They created a coutry that has lasted 200 years and is the best place in the world. But you are free to think and teach your kids otherwise.

Look at the top schools in the US. Many use the core knowledge curriculum.

[Katarina Witt]

Originally Posted by cobmw

Core knowledge is probably the most successful teaching system there is unless all you want to teach is political correctness. Speaking of which I place a lot of value in the writings of those old white men. They created a coutry that has lasted 200 years and is the best place in the world. But you are free to think and teach your kids otherwise.

Look at the top schools in the US. Many use the core knowledge curriculum.

Could you give some examples?

[cobmw]

We can start with Liberty Common Chater School, Ridgeview Charter School (both in Ft. Collins) and The Classical Academy in Colorado Springs. These schools all use core knowledge and produce the smartest kids in the state. If you google Colorado core knowledge schools you will get a list of schools using core knowledge. Then go to the state website that lists school academic performance. You will see many of the core knowledge schools rate in the "excellent" category on the state performance listing. This same relationship is true with core knowledge schools in other states. It is a great way for kids to learn. And these kids do very well in college based on my experience with the Ridgeview grads. By the way Ridgeview has been the #1 school in Colorado for the past two years and also has been in the top three schools for all six years of its existence. Core knowledge works!

[suzco]

Originally Posted by cobmw

. . . By the way Ridgeview has been the #1 school in Colorado for the past two years and also has been in the top three schools for all six years of its existence. Core knowledge works!

There are many ratings out there, so I'm wondering which rating system you're using where Ridgeview is the #1 school in Colorado. I've posted this on another thread, but for what it's worth, here's the list of the 10 top scoring high schools on the CSAP high schools (and their districts) in the state for 2007, found at Colorado State Schools - CO School Rankings.
(You can check that site for elementary and middle school rankings as well.)

1 D'Evelyn Junior/Senior High School Jefferson County R-1
2 Fairview High School Boulder Valley Re 2
3 Cheyenne Mountain High School Cheyenne Mountain 12
4 Cherry Creek High School Cherry Creek 5
tied:
5 Poudre High School Poudre R-1
5 Evergreen High School Jefferson County R-1

7 Telluride High School Telluride R-1
8 Monarch High School Boulder Valley Re 2
9 Merino Junior Senior High School Buffalo Re-4
10 Niwot High School St Vrain Valley Re 1

[cobmw]

I looked at the site you mentioned and I don't see Ridgeview (or Liberty Common) listed under any ranking. Perhaps this site does not include charter schools in their rankings.

The #1 ranking is valid. It is included in handouts from the school and it has been in the Coloradoan newpaper each year that they have made #1. It's no secret. I tried to do a search of the Coloradoan archives to get an article for you, but you cannot search very far back in time without paying a charge. So you'll have to take my word for it, search the Coloradoan for yourself or call the school. They will confirm it.

[Tom Emmerling]

My friend has her children in Liberty Commons. They all seem to be doing very well however they always have a lot of homework. To some that is a bad thing but I believe they are getting a good education. In order to get into the school you have to be part of a lottery. If you get one child into the school then your other ones can automatically go there also. My granddaughter goes to Timnath Elementary and seems to be doing very well there. She seems to really enjoy it there.