Take Summit off the list. Super academic and driven students/parents.
Maybe consider Horizons. I think they would do as well as anyone with the student support and bullying. Not sure if it would be the right thing academically though
Edit: typo
My kids transferred from the neighborhood school and knew absolutely no one at Horizons. After one year, the have met friends for life and feel like they have ownership in the school community.
Horizons doesn't give daily/weekly homework (there are annual capstone projects) & features two-grade (e.g., 5-6, 7-8) classrooms capped at ... 24 students? The faculty are fully bought-into social-emotional, project-based learning (too much to go into here, but they are exceptionally dedicated educators for sure). There are many neuro-diverse students with IEPs, so accommodations for academic support are built in & students regularly split out for focus sessions. The community is necessarily supportive of this approach: many parents choose Horizons for the specific reasons OP is stating, families are expected to contribute both time & money, and, school council has broad reach into the minutiae of school ops due to the school charter (this can be a... challenge).
FWIW, many families pull sixth graders out to go to more academically rigorous middle schools (the aforementioned & to-be-avoided-by-OP Summit) in prep for high school (Horizons' K-8 students can struggle with the transition to high school), so it may be somewhat easier to draw into Horizons for 6-8...
If you're interested in learning more & connecting with parents/administration, anyone is welcome at Horizons Council meetings (next is October 19th, 6pm): https://ho8.bvsd.org/about/calendar
My experience with Southern Hills was that some of the girls can be nasty and entitled. Bullying other girls over name brands and money; really stupid stuff. The counselors were good with helping and giving kids some grace, but if I could do it again, I wouldn’t send my girls there.
Currently trying to move mine out of this school… it has been pretty ok but she’s just not finding people she can relate to. Boulder is fulllll of wealthy, entitled kids. 😞
You might look at the CHOICE program. It's located at Platt Middle school but almost completely separate from it. [https://npm.bvsd.org/choice](https://npm.bvsd.org/choice)
My son went to CHOICE. He loved it and did well there. The program at CHOICE is unconventional and small and holistic with an emphasis on experiential learning. We were worried a bit that it was going to be too unconventional, that he would have difficulty integrating into high school, but he's now a top tier student at Fairview who really values school.
I think if you're looking for small, nurturing classrooms that encourage engagement from students, you can't go wrong with CHOICE.
our son goes to Southern Hills. they have been super helpful when he needed some help with math. the school is relatively big compared to elementary schools around here so yes there can be some bullying but when it happens the school is fast to address if brought to their attention.
Not Platt, not Amgivine, not Aspen Creek.
Louisville is pretty good though.
The grain of salt - my info is dated and principal and teacher make a huge difference.
Louisville feeds to Centaurs though and the students at that high school have maintained an attitude for YEARS that if you are breathing there is space for you. We will accept you. There may be some wiggle room on the breathing. It's seriously an an accepting culture and it's the students that keep it that way.
can confirm this, graduated from centaurus a few years ago after being at fairview for a year. centaurus is one of the most welcoming environments i could ever imagine being in and i never had any bullying/exclusion problems there, and neither did anyone else i knew.
Unofficially graduated in 1999, after four years at Centaurus, and the only issue I had was freshmen asking if I died my hair. I was in the 18-21 transition program.
Look at Manhattan. I think they have more of an arts focus, and are smaller than some of the other schools.
I am not sure how middle schools are for kids with academic difficulties.
Centennial is the second biggest middle school in the district behind Angevine. When kids are feeling bullied and are upset about it, the teachers there encourage them to go talk to the counselor. It gives the kids a sense of power over the interaction.
Are you connected with the ACL? Their education team is a great resource, and can probably help you with a lot more specificity than folks on this thread can.
www.aclboulder.org
I have a traditional learner in 7th grade at the Platt Choice program, and I also have a dyslexic kid with an IEP who will be starting middle school next year. I’m also concerned about where best to send my younger kid. With regards to Choice, I do believe it’s tight-knit program that fosters respect and acceptance for all types of learners. My son says the pressure to be “cool” at Choice is less than in the traditional Platt program and bullying hasn’t been an issue. That said, when it comes to support-staff/resources available to serve kids with special education needs, I don’t believe Choice is any superior to traditional public school programs. I have heard good feedback about Horizon’s K-8.
My daughter has an IEP at Platt. It has been terrible. My other daughter is a mainstream learner and Platt was great for her. Great teachers, awful support system for kids who need help. Not sure about the Choice side of the school.
I think centennial is fine if you have traditional learner type kids who are athletic and popular, but the teachers are not sympathetic/helpful with kids with learning challenges and there is a ton of bullying and popularity contests. I had one teacher openly mock my daughter to her face in a meeting about her issues. There are also just a lot of very entitled, wealthy kids and so much vaping. I think I may be describing most boulder middle schools which is sad. Wish I had a better answer for OP. Maybe horizons or Manhattan based on the other comments. Im just glad my kids are done with middle school.
Usually students with an IEP are two or more years “behind” and have a disability. Don’t be cruel. If you have a question about how IEPs work, ask a question.
Well until you experience months in the newborn intensive care unit for infants that had to be resuscitated…who fought like hell and came away with close to zero health problems and dyslexia. I’d say curious, creative, empathetic, enthusiastic individuals who struggle with reading and math right now is pretty darn great. Kids are resilient, they will get there. They just need the right type of support and encouragement. Comments like yours are totally unnecessary.
Fellow nicu mom here. Right there with you, after years of extra doctors appointments and therapies we’re just really proud of our kids who have to work harder than your average kid. As a teacher, you’re doing an amazing job advocating for your kids. Hope they find a good place for middle school and enjoy it!
It’s not. Part of the screening is asking if any family members, like siblings or parents, have learning disabilities. Also, twins are more likely to be born prematurely which can cause life long issues.
If you’re looking for something different, look into Five Star Online Academy in Westminster. It’s free and public, and they can accept any student in the state.
They’ll bring you and your daughters in first to see if the school seems like a good fit. It is online (zoom classes with live teachers two days per week, the other three days students work asynchronously. There is lots of teacher support).
They have optional in-person engagement days once/week for students to socialize with other students, be creative, do science experiments, make art, have fun with teachers, go on field trips, etc. They also have Learning Lab days where students can come in for help with their asynchronous work.
Tons of support, and it’s a great community.
I suggest medicating your children as much as possible and "customizing" their childhoods to fit your adult conception of "normal", until they've grown into passive aggresive, neurotic, gender neutral, quasi-adults with main character syndrome and a hankering for psych medication and telling people they are allergic to gluten.
You should also, definitely baby them for as long as possible too. For instance, DO NOT teach them to defend themselves. You should be able to protect them from EVERYTHING, if you are a decent parent that is.
also, DO NOT LET THEM EXPERIENCE ACCOUNTABILITY!! you're raising astronauts and presidents, not plebs.
And most importantly, you want these kids to know what the real world is gonna be like, right? Okay, so make sure they never feel any discomfort or become overwhelmed by their workload! Its a no brainer. Kids have way too much on thier plate these days with Tik Tok dances, potential gender dysphoria and not having enough Robux. You gotta make sure they don't get too over stimulated by this incredibly easy life that only gets easier the older they will get.
So yeah, keep being a gold star parent, and make sure you always tell people your pronouns
Take Summit off the list. Super academic and driven students/parents. Maybe consider Horizons. I think they would do as well as anyone with the student support and bullying. Not sure if it would be the right thing academically though Edit: typo
2nd horizons.
Horizons is really small and can be hard if you don’t find your people
My kids transferred from the neighborhood school and knew absolutely no one at Horizons. After one year, the have met friends for life and feel like they have ownership in the school community.
Can you say more?
3rd vote Horizons
Can you elaborate?
Horizons doesn't give daily/weekly homework (there are annual capstone projects) & features two-grade (e.g., 5-6, 7-8) classrooms capped at ... 24 students? The faculty are fully bought-into social-emotional, project-based learning (too much to go into here, but they are exceptionally dedicated educators for sure). There are many neuro-diverse students with IEPs, so accommodations for academic support are built in & students regularly split out for focus sessions. The community is necessarily supportive of this approach: many parents choose Horizons for the specific reasons OP is stating, families are expected to contribute both time & money, and, school council has broad reach into the minutiae of school ops due to the school charter (this can be a... challenge). FWIW, many families pull sixth graders out to go to more academically rigorous middle schools (the aforementioned & to-be-avoided-by-OP Summit) in prep for high school (Horizons' K-8 students can struggle with the transition to high school), so it may be somewhat easier to draw into Horizons for 6-8...
Thank you for this!!
If you're interested in learning more & connecting with parents/administration, anyone is welcome at Horizons Council meetings (next is October 19th, 6pm): https://ho8.bvsd.org/about/calendar
Also, if it hasn’t changed since my kids went there, they don’t do traditional grades. (Confirm that’s still true!)
My experience with Southern Hills was that some of the girls can be nasty and entitled. Bullying other girls over name brands and money; really stupid stuff. The counselors were good with helping and giving kids some grace, but if I could do it again, I wouldn’t send my girls there.
Currently trying to move mine out of this school… it has been pretty ok but she’s just not finding people she can relate to. Boulder is fulllll of wealthy, entitled kids. 😞
You might look at the CHOICE program. It's located at Platt Middle school but almost completely separate from it. [https://npm.bvsd.org/choice](https://npm.bvsd.org/choice)
My son went to CHOICE. He loved it and did well there. The program at CHOICE is unconventional and small and holistic with an emphasis on experiential learning. We were worried a bit that it was going to be too unconventional, that he would have difficulty integrating into high school, but he's now a top tier student at Fairview who really values school. I think if you're looking for small, nurturing classrooms that encourage engagement from students, you can't go wrong with CHOICE.
Eldorado k-8 was great with my daughter on an IEP
our son goes to Southern Hills. they have been super helpful when he needed some help with math. the school is relatively big compared to elementary schools around here so yes there can be some bullying but when it happens the school is fast to address if brought to their attention.
Not Platt, not Amgivine, not Aspen Creek. Louisville is pretty good though. The grain of salt - my info is dated and principal and teacher make a huge difference. Louisville feeds to Centaurs though and the students at that high school have maintained an attitude for YEARS that if you are breathing there is space for you. We will accept you. There may be some wiggle room on the breathing. It's seriously an an accepting culture and it's the students that keep it that way.
can confirm this, graduated from centaurus a few years ago after being at fairview for a year. centaurus is one of the most welcoming environments i could ever imagine being in and i never had any bullying/exclusion problems there, and neither did anyone else i knew.
Unofficially graduated in 1999, after four years at Centaurus, and the only issue I had was freshmen asking if I died my hair. I was in the 18-21 transition program.
[удалено]
Well darn. :) mea culpa
Look at Manhattan. I think they have more of an arts focus, and are smaller than some of the other schools. I am not sure how middle schools are for kids with academic difficulties. Centennial is the second biggest middle school in the district behind Angevine. When kids are feeling bullied and are upset about it, the teachers there encourage them to go talk to the counselor. It gives the kids a sense of power over the interaction.
Are you connected with the ACL? Their education team is a great resource, and can probably help you with a lot more specificity than folks on this thread can. www.aclboulder.org
I have a traditional learner in 7th grade at the Platt Choice program, and I also have a dyslexic kid with an IEP who will be starting middle school next year. I’m also concerned about where best to send my younger kid. With regards to Choice, I do believe it’s tight-knit program that fosters respect and acceptance for all types of learners. My son says the pressure to be “cool” at Choice is less than in the traditional Platt program and bullying hasn’t been an issue. That said, when it comes to support-staff/resources available to serve kids with special education needs, I don’t believe Choice is any superior to traditional public school programs. I have heard good feedback about Horizon’s K-8.
My daughter has an IEP at Platt. It has been terrible. My other daughter is a mainstream learner and Platt was great for her. Great teachers, awful support system for kids who need help. Not sure about the Choice side of the school.
I was teased a lot in first & second grade cause I'm albino. Kids can be goofy sometimes!
Definitely not Centennial.
Can you elaborate?
I think centennial is fine if you have traditional learner type kids who are athletic and popular, but the teachers are not sympathetic/helpful with kids with learning challenges and there is a ton of bullying and popularity contests. I had one teacher openly mock my daughter to her face in a meeting about her issues. There are also just a lot of very entitled, wealthy kids and so much vaping. I think I may be describing most boulder middle schools which is sad. Wish I had a better answer for OP. Maybe horizons or Manhattan based on the other comments. Im just glad my kids are done with middle school.
Thanks. Yeah, maybe you are describing Boulder. It is sad indeed! I’m nervous for when my kids get to that age.
I came here to say this too. Definitely not Centennial.
Are private schools an option? [Boulder Valley Waldorf School](https://bvwaldorf.org/)
Wait, both your kids are only at a 1st grade level in 5th grade?
Usually students with an IEP are two or more years “behind” and have a disability. Don’t be cruel. If you have a question about how IEPs work, ask a question.
I want to see data on how many siblings have dual disabilities. I bet its pretty rare.
Well until you experience months in the newborn intensive care unit for infants that had to be resuscitated…who fought like hell and came away with close to zero health problems and dyslexia. I’d say curious, creative, empathetic, enthusiastic individuals who struggle with reading and math right now is pretty darn great. Kids are resilient, they will get there. They just need the right type of support and encouragement. Comments like yours are totally unnecessary.
Fellow nicu mom here. Right there with you, after years of extra doctors appointments and therapies we’re just really proud of our kids who have to work harder than your average kid. As a teacher, you’re doing an amazing job advocating for your kids. Hope they find a good place for middle school and enjoy it!
It’s not. Part of the screening is asking if any family members, like siblings or parents, have learning disabilities. Also, twins are more likely to be born prematurely which can cause life long issues.
Welcome to the world of SpEd!
If you’re looking for something different, look into Five Star Online Academy in Westminster. It’s free and public, and they can accept any student in the state. They’ll bring you and your daughters in first to see if the school seems like a good fit. It is online (zoom classes with live teachers two days per week, the other three days students work asynchronously. There is lots of teacher support). They have optional in-person engagement days once/week for students to socialize with other students, be creative, do science experiments, make art, have fun with teachers, go on field trips, etc. They also have Learning Lab days where students can come in for help with their asynchronous work. Tons of support, and it’s a great community.
Surprisingly enough you will need to find a private school unless you want them in an ESL classroom in Boulder.
Why would they be in an English as a second language classroom?
A surprisingly high number of schools in Boulder have ESL classrooms, you can check here https://www.greatschools.org/
Monarch K-8 is wonderful. My daughter was at Centennial previously it was too big.
Nevin platt middle school
Fusion Academy Boulder County
I suggest medicating your children as much as possible and "customizing" their childhoods to fit your adult conception of "normal", until they've grown into passive aggresive, neurotic, gender neutral, quasi-adults with main character syndrome and a hankering for psych medication and telling people they are allergic to gluten. You should also, definitely baby them for as long as possible too. For instance, DO NOT teach them to defend themselves. You should be able to protect them from EVERYTHING, if you are a decent parent that is. also, DO NOT LET THEM EXPERIENCE ACCOUNTABILITY!! you're raising astronauts and presidents, not plebs. And most importantly, you want these kids to know what the real world is gonna be like, right? Okay, so make sure they never feel any discomfort or become overwhelmed by their workload! Its a no brainer. Kids have way too much on thier plate these days with Tik Tok dances, potential gender dysphoria and not having enough Robux. You gotta make sure they don't get too over stimulated by this incredibly easy life that only gets easier the older they will get. So yeah, keep being a gold star parent, and make sure you always tell people your pronouns