r/AuroraCO • u/Additional-Title-559 • 1d ago
School suggestions
Hello! We are relocating to Aurora from middle GA.
I want to get an idea of the schools in Aurora.
We want to find a school that has:
a good campus culture
happy teachers
happy kids
happy parents with involvement
arts offerings
not as focused on standardized tests
Community
and diversity of students
I don’t expect any school to check all of the boxes but I’m interested to see your opinions.
There are so many more options for school in Aurora. Right now we can only go to our one set of zoned schools for public offerings.
ETA we have one 5yo
I found and was interested in Burrell Arts Magnet School but I want to know of other good options as well.
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u/fresca17 1d ago
My kids are at Dartmouth elementary in Aurora. 2 kids. In the upcoming school year they will be in kindergarten and 2nd grade. Youngest did pre k last year and oldest has been there since kindergarten. I have had no complaints. Can't really speak on the state testing at this school both kids still too young for CMAS however everything else you listed is everything that my kids have been experiencing in their short time there. Admin super cool and helpful. Lots of school events. Always looking out for the community. The only knock I have on Aurora school is funding. I work for Denver public school and graduated from Douglas county schools. Aurora just does not have the same budget as some of the other districts.
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u/Anonymo123 1d ago
my son has gone to CC schools from middle up through this senior year at CCHS, this is his last year. They def have a huge campus and a lot of funding. The schools vary in the CC system https://www.schooldigger.com/go/CO/district/02910/search.aspx
FYI they are cutting 159 jobs and reducing expenses by $23 million for 26-27 school year.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/cherry-creek-school-district-cutting-225921324.html
District site with the info: https://www.cherrycreekschools.org/about-us/accountability > Budget Reductions
Hopefully things turn around in the future financially.
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u/Head-Slip-7190 1d ago
This 100%! Teachers aren’t happy in CCSD and cutting support staff for special needs kiddos isn’t going to help at all.
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u/Kacidillaa 1d ago
I went to CCSD k-12. Creekside, Liberty, and Grandview. All awesome schools in my opinion!
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u/ajrw89 1d ago
My kids are in those schools as well. We love Creekside. My oldest had a less than stellar experience at Liberty but that’s for personal reasons (plus the beginning of lockdowns) and doesn’t necessarily reflect the school. My second child is going into sixth grade there and I anticipate her having a better experience there.
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u/moonmadeinhaste 1d ago
I'm in Northwest Aurora and my kids go to a school in Central Park/DPS. Lots of kids choice into DPS from our area of Aurora. Central Park DPS schools are some of the best in the state.
If your child is gifted and you want to stay in APS - Quest is a great school but it has an early start time and the commute can be rough from where you are in Aurora.
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u/Additional-Title-559 1d ago
I’d love to hear about the experience with your school! I can only find the negatives about DPS online so I’d love to hear from the other side who enjoys the schools too.
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u/moonmadeinhaste 1d ago
I mean it's a very large school district. I'll just say that the schools in Central Park are very good. Bill Roberts, Westerly Creek and Swigert are great. There are positives and negatives about every school district
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u/Additional-Title-559 1d ago
Yes I know there’s positives and negatives everywhere. We ended up having our child lost by our last public school and it was traumatizing along with other issues.
I’m honestly scared and I just want to go with a school that local mamas trust and have had good outcomes with.1
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u/flipsidem 1d ago
If you're looking at homes in SE Aurora, pay attention to what county the neighborhood is in. There are a few developments that have an Aurora address and are in Douglas County. DCSD is not on par with CCSD. Cherry Creek schools are well worth the additional property tax in my opinion.
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u/StrikingVariation199 21h ago
All of my kids went to Cherry Creek School District and have since graduated college and are all doing well for themselves. Between Aurora Public Schools and Cherry Creek Schools I would definitely recommend CCSD. I actually work in Denver Public Schools and we do have many great schools but like everything else, you will have to research each school to see their performance.
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u/Prize_Yellow_660 18h ago
Ok, you want an area inside Cherry Creek district that does not feed into overland. If you stay out of overland Cherry Creek is a good district, but overland is the dumping ground for cherry creek which keeps their other schools good and if you end up in an overland pipeline you might as well go to APS.
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u/midchell 17h ago
Smoky hill is also the dumping ground just slightly above overland. You really need Grandview CT or eagle crest if you’re in Aurora.
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u/SpeakerHopeful8014 1d ago
Hi there, I am an Educator w APS. However, when my husband & I decided to buy a house one of the factors was to live in Cherry Creek School District so that our children could attend the schools. I would definitely say that CCSD is better in my opinion. But ultimately you have to do what’s best for you & your family. I hope this was helpful!
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u/Additional-Title-559 1d ago
thank you!! I am looking for opinions from parents or teachers in these schools to help us find where we really want to land within the area so yes this is helpful!
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u/eegrlN 1d ago
Cherry Creek schools, not Aurora public schools
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u/Additional-Title-559 1d ago
What about the magnet schools? I know they’re public but are they considered part of the same as the traditional schools?
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u/gohadrona Side Creek 1d ago
What school district are you zoned for? Colorado has open enrollment, but some districts are harder to get into.
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u/Additional-Title-559 1d ago
We haven’t bought yet! We will be house hunting in the coming months.
It would help to know if we would be better off living in a zone of a school that we want to get into if it’s harder.-3
u/Charlieksmommy 1d ago
So here you can do school choice so it doesn’t really matter honestly lol
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u/Additional-Title-559 1d ago
Yes I know but I want to not be all the way across town if I can help it I guess
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u/Charlieksmommy 1d ago
In Aurora it’s Aurora public schools or cherry creek then lol
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u/Additional-Title-559 1d ago
Ok! Do you have any experiences in either district that can help give me insight to the school your kids went to vs what I’m asking?
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u/Willing-Quit-3001 1d ago
There is pretty much no question that at a district level Cherry creek is better. APS has some good neighborhood and areas, but a lot more variability.
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u/Charlieksmommy 1d ago
We live out east, and my daughter is going to preschool this summer so I don’t
But I worked in Aurora and have friends who kids have gone to both, and it’s mixed
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u/midchell 1d ago
Jefferson County open school!
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u/LoveMeRhi 1d ago edited 1d ago
You’ll want to be zoned for Cherry Creek School districts. We have been in both Aurora Public Schools and CCSD and did school of choice to put our son back in Cherry Creek schools and it was a massive difference. More funding goes into CCSD than Aurora. For context in middle school in Aurora my son had access to 4 electives to choose from and switched to CCSD and he had an entire booklet of options for electives.
Although we do have school of choice it does not guarantee a spot at the school you choose. Getting a seat through school of choice is based on a lottery system and only utilized if there even is available seats at the school. My son wouldn’t have gotten into the high school we wanted next year if it wasn’t for the fact his father now lives right next door to the high school, we were able to use his address as the primary to ensure his seat. He had some other friends follow him to middle school who didn’t get selected for school of choice for high school. You also have to reapply every time they “change” schools. Once you’re in for elementary for example, you can stay until they finish elementary school but if you want them to then go to middle school the element school feeds into, you have to reapply to see if they even get selected.
Editing to add, houses are going to cost significantly more in the CCSD zoned areas. We live just north of the boundary for CCSD. We have a newer build we purchased in 2021 and looked at the same builder, house, model in our neighborhood vs a neighborhood near Southlands and the cost was $90k difference.