If you're in the Cherry Creek School District, you know this name. It's the magnet school for…read moregifted and talented students in the district. I resisted at first and wanted my children to go the assigned school, Eastridge. In short, it didn't work and I applied for my daughter to get into the Challenge for 3rd grade. Lo and behold, her test scores, references, and kiddie resume got her in. The application is many pages but the info is easy to collect - a friend urged me to include her picture and artwork even though it doesn't say to. I watched my 3rd grade daughter's confidence soar last year. Homework expectations are high, but only during the week - none on weekends which is nice. My son applied and got in this year and I'm very satisfied they are getting the best elementary education they could and would dare to compare it to any private school curriculum. It's an elementary IB program - International Baccalaureate and continues up to the 8th grade. It's been a great gift to our family.

"After 12 years and two children at Challenge School, I couldn't be more grateful. The small K-8…read moresetting and diverse community foster lifelong friendships. The teachers are exceptionally dedicated and the academic preparation is top-tier. The accelerated math and focus on research/writing gave my daughter a huge advantage in her current IB high school program. While there are no formal sports or band, they had a strong musical program, and the kids stay active in competitive sports outside of school. It's a special community that I highly recommend, especially if you are concerned your child will be bored at the neighborhood school."

PLE has been great for our children and they genuinely enjoy going to school! It is evident ALL of…read morethe staff at PLE adore the students as well; bus drivers, ancillary and support staff included. The "specials" classes are always a favorite. The mental health staff also makes visits to the classrooms to help kids build important social and emotional skills and tackle important issues. It has been a joy to see all the hard work and effort the staff puts into supporting their students. They work very hard to greet the students in the morning by name, making each of them feel special. The teachers take special care to individualize learning to each student as much as possible within the classroom. Their special programs are great and they truly have the child and families interests at heart. PLE PTO is always working hard to help the school and engage the community through special programs, fundraisers, and events. Special favorites include Trunk or Treat, Wish Week/Spirit Week, Kids Night Out for a Cause and the Bear Crawl. The teachers really do an amazing job getting the students involved in things they can be passionate about. The yearly carnival is one example of this, it's purpose is to raise funds for global environment issues and is completely constructed and run by the students with support of teachers and families. The principal and leadership team make it a priority to be available and hear any feedback from families. They periodically host events for parents to come and discuss needs or concerns with the principal. They also continually seek parent and community feedback during their open SAC (School Accountability Committee) meetings every month, using this information to potentially make changes and improvements to the school. PLE is a great fit for our kids and even though we have moved within the district we continue to choose to open enroll at PLE. After several years at PLE, we truly do feel like family and are grateful to be a part of the PLE crew! Special thanks to Mrs. Lintelmann, Ms. Condron, Mrs. Kawamura, Mrs. Curfman, Mrs. Franks, Mrs. Kallsen, Mrs. Wilde, Mrs. DeRose, Mrs. Caster, Mr. Stairs, Dr. Jennings, Mr. Spencer, Mrs. Johnson, Mrs. Gammel, Kevin, Chester, Eldon, Maria, Linda, Barb, and all the preschool, SSN, OT, ST, specials, and support staff! You are all appreciated!

Pine Lane Elementary school is a wonderfully diverse school. The current administration is…read moreincredible and foster such a great sense of community. They are committed to providing excellent educational opportunities both in and out of school. They hold students accountable for their behavior and won't allow disruptive students to continually take away time from other students. They have a strong PTO and community involvement is good. The community activities are top notch and create amazing memories for the staff and students.

Our daughter attended SCS for 3s Preschool and we had a wonderful experience. As she is our eldest,…read moreI was curious about exploring other educational models / learning methodology. I also was not yet 100% sold on paying for a Christian education. She did a year of Montessori preschool and two years at a homeschool hybrid. This process of exploration over three years helped me gain clarity on what we want to prioritize in our children's education. It ultimately led us back to SCS, with grateful hearts. She returned to SCS as a first grader this past school year and I was completely blown away. I'll touch on three areas of 'insider insight' that I couldn't have known about until we were part of the school: community, discipleship and spiritual maturity. Community Community is of utmost importance to me, especially coming from a small, tightly-knit homeschool community at our previous school. SCS not only met, but exceeded my expectations for a parent community. I immediately felt plugged in and connected to the parent community just by jumping into a few of the many opportunities for parent involvement like Parents in Prayer, Mom's Time Out, Women's Bible Study, Room Parent and Volunteer XC / Track Coach. Raising our children in a community of like-minded, trustworthy, faithful and believing families is high on our priority list and brings so much peace of mind. I have connected with and really love and enjoy, not just a handful of families, but SO many families at SCS! Discipleship We truly felt that our daughter's teacher and all of her 'specials' teachers (PE, Music, Art & Library) partnered with us in training her up in the ways she should go. A biblical worldview and curriculum is woven throughout all subjects. As such, we have a consistency of discipleship from home, to church, to school. Spiritual Maturity Growing in my own spiritual maturity over the past three years and critically thinking about what I want our kids to take away from their education convinced me of the importance of investing in a Christian education, including any sacrifice necessary to make that happen. This first year back at SCS only affirmed and solidified that decision for me. I recently attended the last chapel of the year which featured two graduating eighth grade speakers. I was moved to tears by the spiritual maturity of these two young ladies. The spiritual fruit of a Christian education was evident in their words. I left challenged, moved, and hopeful for my own young children's experience. My own daughter demonstrated so much spiritual growth this past year too. From the conversations we had, to the Bible stories she recounted to me, to the songs, pledges and other things she memorized - her little heart was captured. The culmination being when she gave her heart to Jesus toward the end of the year. Her teacher emailed my husband and I to share the good news and I just cried and praised God. Our daughter's first grade teacher and SCS are forever a part of our family's eternal story and we are beyond grateful. This school is educating for eternity and, as a parent, I can think of nothing more valuable.

Happy to see all the videos. Excellent job of educating children. Keep up the great work. Christ…read morecentered education is vital. Proverbs...Train up a child in the way he should go...and he ell not depart from it.

I have a boy in Primary and a girl in Lower Elementary and so far, I couldn't be happier. We've…read moreattended other montessori schools before, as well as non-montessori public and private with my other kids, so I have a pretty wide scale of comparison. The kids are HAPPY - and that is the most important thing you can ask for! They are excited to go to school in the morning and happy to share what they are learning. They are, in comparison to their non-montessori peers very advanced both socially and academically, a lot more verbal and definitely way more independent. Time will tell how they will compare to their peers when they enter high-school, but if your child's need are not being met in this school - it is time to rethink your strategy. Both the Montessori education model and MSD teachers stress the importance of individualized curriculum and approaches to learning, so if your child is especially gifted, dyslexic or average, he or she will not feel any different, yet be learning at their highest potential. The community has been great so far as well - no one is cliquy, no one is cold (like some claimed) - it feels like a very welcoming environment to all - and I have met parents from different walks of life, different ages, economical status or upbringing. Kids have playground time together with other classes and already make friends school-wide :) And - I have to share this - me being me - when I see something wrong, even if tiny, I say it out loud and try to get it fixed. In all the previous schools my complaints would hit the wall of no response or 'thank you for your opinion but we will continue as we see fit' type of a response. For the first time (and my oldest is in college!) I have received a 'Thank you, you might be right' and 'How would you suggest we fix it' type of response! Taking feedback and constructive criticism has been something I've always thought just does not happen in school administration! I am so very excited (and proud!) to be a part of the MSD community!

Wonderful school. Caring teachers, consistent admin team, and great curriculum. We've been here for…read more2 years and our child is thriving. You can get as involved as you would like - plenty of opportunities to engage as a parent.

Denver Academy is an outstanding school. It evaluates the students strengths and weaknesses and…read moreprovides students with the academic tools to succeed. Its greatest attribute is that it provides students with self-esteem so they feel they can succeed and are not dumb.

Denver Academy is not the solution you are looking for…read more There were many situations that happened at my expense including a teacher announcing in front of the whole class that I had to be in therapy, in order to embarrass me. Another time my parents tried to write an email to the school about how it was hard for me to do a "working lunch" (where you sit in the classroom instead of going outside to complete work) because of issues with eating in the past. They completely disregarded my parents' worries until they escalated it to the principal who finally and indignantly accepted that I could sit in another room to do my work. At that point I hadn't been able to eat lunch at school for around a month. At one point during the year I finally felt comfortable eating in class and the teacher made a comment along the lines of "well looks like your parents were just being dramatic because now you can eat just fine, huh?" The same teacher later allegedly "mistook" my name in an email for someone else, (whose name sounds nor looks like mine in any way so he took me out of class during my final exam, yelled at me in his office until I was crying, threatened to expel me and told me I couldn't get into any college if I had that on my record. When my parents emailed him about it, he completely denied it and lied about it. This was what ultimately led me to have to leave the school halfway through the year and now I am completing the rest of my sophomore year online in a different program. This school takes advantage of desperate parents who want what is best for their child who has most likely been struggling in school. Their signature quote "We teach students the way they learn best" should be changed to "We teach students the way that is easiest for us". Where parents and kids think they have finally found a safe space for their kid to grow and thrive it is actually the opposite. The sheer amount of bullying from teachers and students alike that I witnessed at my time there is more than any public school I have ever been to in my life. Please do not send your child here.

Our child is absolutely THRIVING at Mackintosh and has become a more confident person since…read morestarting at Mack over a year ago. Like many kids, my son was apprehensive about changing schools, but within a month he realized that he was where he belonged, and now he tries to spend every extra minute he can at school attending before or after school clubs. The International Baccalaureate (IB) curriculum is an excellent basis for in-depth education and exploration, but the true strength of Mackintosh is the amazing teaching faculty and staff. All of the teachers seem to love their jobs and their students and with the low student/teacher ratios, the teachers truly know the kids and how to elicit their best thinking and work. Like all learners, gifted students have strengths and weaknesses, and the teachers are able to offer broad enrichment to support a student's strengths as well as support and scaffolding for a student's challenge areas. They are able to support a learner who may be three years ahead in math, but who finds writing a struggle. The teachers are willing to differentiate instruction and assignments and meet students where they are and gently push them to grow and believe in their abilities. Some more things that I love about the school: amazing grade-level theatrical performances, multi-day nature-based field trips for the older grades, outside lunch as weather allows, and a well-rounded curriculum that includes PE every day, plus either performing or visual arts every day and a period every day that is split between Spanish some days and design others. I wish more kids could experience a Mackintosh education. I saw some comments about bullying. I am not personally aware of any bullying at the school, and I haven't had any parents share any bullying experiences with me. Also, I haven't experienced any "cliques" among the parents. Everyone seems very nice and genuine. If you have a gifted learner who would benefit from a warm, enriching, education, we strongly recommend that you consider Mackintosh Academy.

My daughter went to Mackintosh. I believe Mackintosh was instrumental in her development. They…read morereally work hard on teaching students the why, the how, and they emphasize on "critical thinking" , evaluating arguments, and analyzing information (areas other schools don't have time or resources for) We also were lucky the school created a "heritage Spanish" class for a few kids like my daughter who were raised bilingual. Maria Cardona was in charge of creating from scratch the curriculum for a handful of kids for a few years. My daughter improved in her writing and reading comprehension a lot. The topics covered during all those years touched on many areas so I'm very appreciative of Maria Cardona's creative curriculum and patience throughout those years. We also had very good experiences with all classes, from advanced math, to art, and everything in between. I'm sure that will be key for my daughter's high school and college future

Beautiful 2008 Pre School, Elementary & Middle School facility. Strong leadership…read more This school earned a Performance Rating (the highest you can get in Aurora Public Schools New Leadership beginning Fall 2020 led by Principal Tavie Maroncelli & Assistant Principal Jamila Gordon

Very good school went their for kindergarten to 2nd grade the teachers are really nice and the…read moreschool is really clean

We have been a part of SkyView over 8 years. I will have 5 children here again this coming year…read more The different obvious thing about SkyView is how the Staff genuinely care about the children in a whole! I know for a fact, that these teachers go above and beyond And are NOT making wnough for what they do!! The best school!!!! I can't recommend it enough.

Good graduation rates but low standards in the classroom. They have very strict school codes but…read moreneither teachers nor students abide by. Limited sports and no music program. The clubs that they have are either Taylor swift or hiking. They do not promote students taking college courses to graduate with AA. Going to switch to another school.