17657 W 78th Dr
Arvada, CO 80007

On one hand, Drake does a very good job with what they have to work with internally: learning, teaching, social-emotional support and safety. Better than many other middle schools in Arvada.On the other hand, there is an ongoing public safety issue with the masses of motorists cramming the parking lot and neighboring roadways during rush hours. The school asks parents to respect neighboring businesses by staying out of their parking lots. What are we left with? A tiny parking lot with poor signage and a daily pressure cook on parents and students in Drake's traffic zones. How many parent hearts are hardened because of the rigors of these daily population bottlenecks? I don't have exact metrics but the ripples are felt and passed along. Community trust from this chaos is broken away one day at a time.Also, I HOPE a government run institution would kindly direct it's paid employees to do parking lot duties and beyond but ultimately accountability is shifted onto parents. Who offers the directive templates? A district running a bad policy framework quietly meanders the many loopholes visible to them, not the public while those below their purview suffer moral dilemmas no paid public servant should ever have to face.It gets to the point where caregivers silently unsubscribe their children to this environment–which logistically hasn't worked for years to gain time, space, peace and hopefully a longer life!

Overall the school is awesome. They lean into new technology and are always testing new teaching methodologies.The fifth grade teachers each have their own passion (eg one teacher teaches all 4 fifth grade classes science, a different one teaches all 4 history). Their passion then comes through in the material.The parents are highly involved which is great.

There is absolutely no way that Ralston Valley is ranked as high as it is, it is a 6.5/10 at best. I attended this school for my freshman year of high school and I was disappointed and unimpressed. Everything at this school is highly competitive and it is hard to try new things. My friend was cut from volleyball even though she made the level 3 team the previous year. She ended up trying out for the musical, but unfortunately didn't make it in. The academics at this school are also made out to be better than they actually are. They are by no means bad, but are nowhere near exceptional either. The choral program at RV is also pretty decent but it is not as good as it claims to be. Schools such as Arvada West, Lakewood, Dakota Ridge, and Columbine have a much better choral program than RV has. The worst part of Ralston Valley is the student culture. If you're not a snobby rich or upper middle class suburban kid whose entire wardrobe consists of lululemon, Nike, and other name brand clothing, then you´ll most likely have a hard time fitting in. In some cases, if you´re wearing something that´s not typically considered trendy amongst teens, you´ll get pictures taken of you and get made fun of on social media ( this has actually happened to me multiple times ). Sadly the administration at this school couldn´t care less about the fact that many students at this school are getting bullied. They defend it and pretend like it doesn´t happen. As a teenager myself, I recommend that all parents avoid sending their teenagers here.