My wife and I had visited Colorado a few years back as a potential place to relocate our family from the Bay Area before knowing our boy was gifted. We got our DS8 tested last year and he scored higher than we anticipated. The doctor and others thought it made the most sense to find him a private school that specialized in HG/PG kids where they truly understood asychronous learning and development.

We are looking for schooling options for him in Colorado for 3rd grade and are planning a trip out in the next couple of weeks before school is out.

Our boy really likes math, science and reading. He's not very artsy and is somewhat resistant to it:)

Can you please recommend some schools and would greatly appreciate your input on the following:

Ricks
Logan School
Mackintosh Boulder or Littleton


Thank you in advance.

In Boulder (where all your neighbors will also be former Bay Area residents):

Friends School
Bixby School

If you do want to look at public school, the Adams 12 district has a strong gifted program and some excellent schools. Boulder Valley district has pull-out programs for gifted kids that vary hugely from school to school. The bigger schools have more of a budget for gifted programs.

One issue I wish I had considered earlier in choosing what town to live in is diversity. We moved to Colorado from a very diverse state where we had friends and neighbors from a wonderful variety of cultures. Now I think my kids are minimally aware of the reality outside the generally affluent & homogenous Boulder Bubble.

You might consider joining PG Retreat. It is a free organization that I think holds an annual get together in Colorado. Some members there might have good feedback on school options.

Mama Cas- Thanks for your insightful input. Boulder feels like the right place for us on several levels but we worry about the lack of diversity as well. Can I possibly PM you?

The Friends School looks fantastic by everything I have seen and read online. Thanks, I hadn't heard of it previously. This forum is amazing:)

SAHM, thank you and I will apply for the PG Retreat. If I'm not mistaken they have a retreat in Colorado in July. Have you attended one of their retreats previously? Looks pretty amazing. If anyone has I'd be interested in hearing your thoughts....

Macintosh Littleton has a great reputation for gifted kids. Macintosh Boulder has had some recent leadership changes and high teacher turnover. Friends School is not accelerated. Bixby is a good school and is small. Bear Creek and Superior Elementary plus Summit Charter Middle (all in the South Boulder area) are top-rated public schools, serve gifted students, and are bigger in size, but are subject to open enrollment and have long waiting lists. Peak to Peak in Lafayette is rated No. 1 for high school, but their elementary school is terrible. Stargate Charter in Thornton has the best reputation with gifted children, but again is subject to open enrollment and has long waiting lists. Westgate Charter in Northglenn is known for its 2E speciality, but has leadership issues and high teacher turnover. Douglas County and Cherry Creek are the top school districts. Douglas does very innovated things, like differentiate children by learning styles. Garland Day School in Denver is another top school, as is St Mary's Academy and Kent Day (6-12). Also, Broomfield Academy has a gifted specialty and caters to an international student body.

If you move to Boulder, stay south and stick with public schools. They are well funded and so superior to the private schools. BVSD is pretty good with gifted programming.

NGR, Thanks. Good input around Mackintosh.

Had a good conversation with Stargate Charter. I like what there doing there. Admissions said we would have to be living in that district to have a realistic chance in the Lottery which has become more competitive as of recent. I believe she said they are adding a high school one grade per year starting next year. My wife and I wonder if that school may be to big for our DS. We believe he may do better in a more indiviudalized school with a smaller student/teacher ratio. Probably a great fit for our younger boy though.

If we were to move out to CO we would make the school choice the top priority and then find a decent place to live in close proximity. Boulder seems pretty nice though:)

It has not been easy trying to find the "right" school.... Thanks everyone.

IMO, I'd avoid Douglas County like the plague. They have a school board that is bent on "reform." Experienced teachers have been leaving the district in droves. Jeffco is going the same way.

When we looked at Stargate a few years ago, it seemed great for high achieving gifted kids. Make sure that your kid would fit in their box. Westgate was started by a bunch of Stargate refugees. I'm sorry to hear that they have had leadership and turn-over problems. Everything was very individualized and they had some PG kids there. It had a lot of promise.

One other school you might want to check out is Colorado STEM Academy in Adams 50 school district. I know a couple of GT families who have found a home there. Placement is supposed to based on ability not age/grade level.

With respect to Ricks, it can be hard to get into. They are based on the Reggio Emilia model. You might want to read up on it if you are not familiar. I know a couple people who have been happy there but that was several years ago. I've also heard that the parents can be very high maintenance/helicopter/tiger parents.

Colorado STEM is new and going thru growing pains. It's not located in a family friendly neighborhood. I am hearing some complaints about Stargate, growing too fast perhaps??? Macintosh Littleton sounds promising if their financials are healthy. Bear Creek in South Boulder would be a good choice.

I wanted to thank you all for your thoughts and suggestions. We continue to be impressed by the options in CO. We surprisingly just secured a spot in a small gifted school here in the Bay Area! They ended up making a spot for us and we feel exceptionally fortunate!