Free educational stuff for kids? (Fort Collins: renting, credit, house)

[carecare7]

My husband and I may be moving to Fort Collins this summer. We are coming from Flagstaff, AZ. We have a lot of free things our kids are participating in and we wanted to know if there are any similar things in Fort Collins.

One daughter gets free guitar lessons through a program called "Young Jammers."

Another daughter gets to participate in the local children's chorale for free because they gave us a scholarship.

Another daughter is in a free filmmaker's class that is running from last October through next July in which she learns everything about filmmaking and will actually make a short film for the Flagstaff Film Festival.

All the kids have participated in Flagstaff Youth Theater for free because they don't turn any kids away that can't pay.

The science fair each year has free admission days to local educational places like the observatory, the meteor crater, the Indian ruins, and so on.

Does Fort Collins support education for kids in ways similar to these?

Also, are people in Fort Collins friendly? I mean at the store, the credit union, the restaurants, etc? People here let others in (in heavy traffic), allow people to get the parking place, make room for each other when there's a show or display going on. Are people in Fort Collins courteous like that?

Does the university have any free things for educational enrichment for kids?

Can anyone also tell me what neighborhoods to avoid when renting there?

Also, are there any secular homeschool groups there?

Thank you so much for any help you can give. I give this kind of information to people coming to Flagstaff so I hope someone does the same for me. Thanks in advance.

Carrie

[TCKx3]

If you go to Recreation: City of Fort Collins you will find some information on different programs for youth, including some programs geared specifically for home-schooled children. Most of the programs have a fee, but the fee can sometimes be waved for needy families.
As far as neighborhoods to avoid, some areas of north fort collins are questionable, but I have found the rest to be good. The areas directly around CSU have lots of undergrads living in them, making them somewhat louder then the other areas.
Hope this helps some. How old are your kids? You might want to look into schools, and decide the neighborhood you want to live in that way. While we do school of choice here, some schools are very difficult to get into if you do not live in the district because of the large amount of kids who want to attend that school. There is info on the different public schools here on the Poudre School District website.

[possible relo]

Also, are people in Fort Collins friendly? I mean at the store, the credit union, the restaurants, etc? People here let others in (in heavy traffic), allow people to get the parking place, make room for each other when there's a show or display going on. Are people in Fort Collins courteous like that?

Regarding the friendliness of Fort Collins... We moved here this past summer and the one thing that immediately stood out the most was how genuinely friendly people are here. We've always lived in super busy metropolitan areas (D.C. and South FL) where people walk with blinders on, avoid eye contact, and could care less about saying hello. Having someone working at a register asking how your day is going is a pleasant change. Of course you'll always encounter a grouch anywhere, but on the whole, the folks in Fort Collins are some of the nicest, in my opinion.

[TCKx3]

I think people in Fort Collins are pretty friendly. Like any town, you are going to run into grouches, but overall, most people here will go out of their way to help you. Here are two of my examples from the past month and a half:
I have to leave for work at 6:30am. I went out to my car and it wouldn't start. I found a neighbor with a light on in their house with the hopes they would be awake, and knocked. They weren't awake, but the guy inside went and got dressed, then came and helped me jump start my car (at 6:30am!), then wouldn't even take a gift certificate I had in my car as a thank you, just said that people needed to look out for each other in a neighborhood.
Example two: I was walking out of the laundromat with lots of laundry, and nearly dropped some of it in the snow. A lady driving by stopped her car, and got out to help me.

That is one of the things I love the most about Fort Collins, that most people will go out of their way to help you!

[rachaelb]

I homeschool as well, so feel free to PM me about the homeschooling groups.

There are lots of free things, but it takes awhile to find them all:

certain days that zoo is free
RMNP has free admission weekends thru out year
Free factory tours -- Celestial Seasonings, breweries
Free music during summer on certain days


You just have to look around and do all your research.

People are nice here, but leave you alone, so sometimes you have to be the one to extend the first hand. But since you are in the West already, that probably is what you are used to.

Very safe, nice family oriented area to live.

[Mike from back east]

All sorts of FREE things to do in Colorado.

[rachaelb]

Mike, you're awesome! How helpful is that? I am excited to check all of those out!