As a stay-at-home mom for the past five years and a former educator, choosing a school for my children became a full-time job! I am joking but at times, it felt that way. Who knew choosing an elementary school for my twin boys was going to be such a process, and a stressful one at that! I’m not sure if it’s because we live in the city and DPS, like most city school systems, doesn’t have the best reputation. Do moms in the suburbs research schools to this extreme or just send their kids to their neighborhood school like my mom did with us many moons ago? When talking to my mom while going through this ordeal, she thought it was absurd how much time and effort I was putting into this search. She told me when we were growing up, like most moms in our town, she threw my siblings and myself on the yellow school bus, to the school our neighborhood was districted to. No questions asked! Oh how easy life would be if it were that simple…but it’s NOT! And questions are asked…..lots of them! Many parents want to give their children the best education possible. We are united because of this.

When I first began this school quest, I was guilty of seeking out DPS schools rated with “excellent” test scores. Wasn’t this the only thing that truly mattered….test scores? I mean excellent rated schools automatically meant excellent staff, excellent curriculum, excellent kids, etc. I couldn’t wait to tour these schools. And once I did, I was a bit disappointed. Don’t get me wrong, they were great schools and lots of learning was taking place but they lacked “that something.” I didn’t get the vibe as I meandered through the hallways. And it’s all about the vibe…that gut feeling that helps you make a decision.

After a lot of soul searching, touring schools, comparing lists, talking with friends, teachers, and acquaintances, asking questions, I slowly started letting go of the test score obsession and really started to focus on other things….such as school leadership, staff, community, programs, parental involvement, curriculum, class size, etc. You see, there is more to a school than just test scores, and it took me a while to learn this.

There was a time when we seriously considered moving to the suburbs so we wouldn’t have to worry about choosing a city school and, instead, have our children attend a school like the one I grew up learning in. In the end, we stayed in the city (thank goodness), and my husband and I decided to choose a school that was much different than both the schools that we went to as children. We chose public versus private because we believe in the public school system and private was not an option for us at the time. We choiced into a school rather than attend our neigborhood school. We chose a school with a very diverse student body and socioeconomic background. This has been an education in itself. We chose a school that has made a major transformation from what it was like four years ago due to a strong parent movement and an amazing principal. It’s a Beacon School and recently was two of the only schools in Denver, to seek Innovation Status. The Secretary of Education recently visited the school to see the changes that have occurred!  Every so often, I question the decision we made, but when I see how much my boys have grown both emotionally and intellectually, and see just how thrilled they are to go to school each day, I am reassured and justified in our decision. Nothing is forever and things change, but for right now my husband and I couldn’t be happier with the education they are receiving. And it’s great to be a part of a new community!

My greatest piece of advice to all of you is to do your homework, don’t be afraid to ask questions, don’t rely on friends (see a school for yourself), think of your child and his/her needs (in what kind of school environment would they flourish the most?), explore this site and get the information you need, and last but not least, trust that vibe! Best of luck to all of you on this journey.

Hello world. Or better yet, hello Denver for now!  

We are bringing you the scoop today because, well, there is a need for it!  

Here is the premise: This is the scoop about getting your head wrapped around the school “situation” in Denver that can be maddening, confusing, and downright frustrating.  So we are bringing you this blog in order to provide some insight and some relief in your quest to do right by your children when it comes to their early education. 

Here is my (Jenn’s) story and then you will hear from Kerri:

When our family first moved to Denver almost four years ago, our son was 7 months old.  Little did we know that we should have been investigating the school situation here when he was a mere zygote.  

My husband and I began our citywide edu-tour when Andrew was about a year old and we were ready to relinquish him to the world.  What we didn’t realize, was that getting your child into pre-school, or even daycare for that matter, is like training for getting into college, but it’s the parents choice and not the child’s choice….this time!  

We visited in-house day care facilities, “corporate” daycare facilities, ECE programs at public schools, Montessori and non-Montessori situations and what we found, for the most part, was that waiting lists were years long.  Huh?   How were we supposed to know about this?  As first time parents, this seemed preposterous.  How could anyone get back to life or a career  if they had to wait year or longer to get proper care for their child?

After a short stint in an in-home facility, we found ourselves wanting more structure and “real school” environment for our child.  What we weren’t sure of was where that would be.  We found ourselves on waiting lists for several locations, but came across a Montessori School that accepted children from 6 weeks to 6 years old.  The school had just moved locations to a new building and had the space now for children in their Toddler Community (18 months to 3 years).  This was it!  Now we just had to wait for him to become “of age”.  I never thought I’d want to have my first born hurry up and get older so quickly but alas, he did.  

It was a tough transition but like they always say, it’s probably harder for the parent than it is for the child.  Our 18 month was, and still is, a mama’s boy so it took several months for him to get into the groove of sharing space and time with 14 other children.  This coming May (2009) he will have been in this school for three years.  Not in our wildest dreams could we have imagined that our now 4.5 year old would have needed or received the education that he has gotten – we are thrilled.  We owe a lot to his teachers; that is for sure.  We also have high hopes for our 2 year old son, Torin, who has been at the same school since he was 9 months old.  We shall see!  

This leads me to my next point.  Now that Andrew is 4.5 years old, the Kindergarten and Elementary school whirlwind has begun. Once again, we find ourselves in a flurry of school tours that include the gamut of public, private, faith based and charter, (see upcoming related article). There is also DPS Advanced Kindergarten and Early Entrance, testing and applications to think about. Since Andrew’s birthday is in late October, he just misses the deemed October 1st cutoff date for the Denver Public School system.  This is a date that a lot of private schools follow as well.

I find myself often thinking that I need a matrix for all of this crap.   A simple Excel spreadsheet will not do (though I do have one of these).  The problem is that tuition changes from year to year, the rules change from year to year, as do the tour dates, the due dates, the public school zones and the choicing process.  It’s a moving target that requires the power of something more complex to rein in all of the data.

So, where does that leave us all?  We hope that the insight and information you seek about the schooling dilemma can be found here.  At least we tried.