With back to school upon us I thought it was the right time to talk about our local schools. We are lucky to have great schools in the Front Range. The two school districts I get questions about the most are Boulder Valley (BVSD) and St. Vrain Valley.
It is important to know the neighborhood school for your home since it is getting harder and harder to open enroll a student into a school outside of your neighborhood.
Having one school age daugher and another about to head into the school system; I too am concerned with a school’s reputation and teachers. I’ve also learned that community involvement and parental commitment to education are keys to success.
I wanted to pass along some resources to use to find out more about our schools. It is important to find out if the neighborhood schools are a good match for your kid(s) and your family.
1) Talk to Families already living in the neighborhood you are considering. What do they like most about the school? The least? What programs do they specialize in and what are their biggest strengths?
2) Use the Boulder Valley and St. Vrain Valley web sites to find out a school’s test scores, their focus, size, and more.
If you are considering a home and need to find out what the neighborhood schools are, you can use their school finder pages. Click here for BVSD and Click here for St. Vrain .
Both of these school web sites are very comprehensive. They will link you to individual web sites for each school (elementary, middle, high school).
3) Greatschools.org is a nice resource that has parent reviews.
I know how important schools are to families. Take the time to look into schools in the neighborhoods where you are considering becoming a homeowner. Schools can be one way to narrow your search parameters. Good luck!