8686 E Phillips Avenue
Centennial, CO 80112

I am the parent of an excellent student at CCHS. I recently reviewed the data on where this year’s graduating seniors will be attending college, and I noticed that only a couple of students are going to Top schools. For a high school of this size (more than 3700 students) , that is not acceptable. The data from previous years shows the same pattern.This has also been my experience with my own child. It seems that the school is not interested in investing in the success of its highest-performing students, nor is it truly partnering with their parents. Instead, the school appears to follow more of a “no student left behind” philosophy.My suggestion to the principal would be to personally ensure that the top students are paired with the strongest teachers. Teachers should also be evaluated, in part, based on their success in preparing students for admission to top colleges.My child is enrolled in all AP and honors classes, yet he still has some mediocre teachers—some who do not teach effectively and others who are frequently absent during the school year. This is not the level of instruction that high-achieving students deserve.The principal should also meet with the parents of these top students and involve us more in supporting their academic success.

I attended west during the 24-25 school year. I left for online school halfway through the year because of the bullying i experienced. For some context I come from a lower income household, and i’m somewhat alternative (dyed black hair, comfortable loose clothes like sweatpants and hoodies, a nose piercing.) I was made fun of for living in apartment homes as well as relying on government aid. I was also made fun of for my appearance. Kids would come up to me asking to see my wrists, (insinuating i self harm,) asking if i have depression and other mental illnesses such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder (all based on my appearance.) At first, it was simple teasing. Then, it escalated into harassment. I alerted the administration, and they did nothing. I witnessed multiple people being admitted to psychiatric hospitals because of the anxiety that this school brought on. This school is very “cliquey”. If your child has a hard time making friends, is openly LGBT or alternative, or a racial minority, they will be singled out. This school is very racist. I don’t recommend sending your child here if they’re a racial minority because they WILL be discriminated against. As for curriculum and teachers, the curriculum is boring. Most teachers are nice and genuinely care about their jobs. However, others not so much. The administration is awful, and so is the district. DO NOT SEND YOUR CHILD HERE!

As a parent whose child attended Willow Creek, I was somewhat surprised to see the school singled out in this way. Not because the concerns raised aren’t serious, but because they sound very similar to what families across the Cherry Creek School District have been experiencing for years. Willow Creek may have its own issues, but it largely falls into the category of many barely functioning schools in CCSD right now, operating with very little real accountability or leadership.Recent media coverage about district leadership helps explain why confidence has eroded. Families have learned that the former superintendent of Cherry Creek School District was married to the district’s head of HR, and that the former assistant superintendent was married to the head of special education. Meanwhile, the new interim superintendent appears to have spent her first months negotiating compensation while parents are still waiting to see meaningful improvements in the district’s direction. When leadership at the top raises those kinds of questions, it’s difficult to expect strong accountability further down the chain.Given that backdrop, focusing on a single principal doesn’t really address the deeper problem. The district’s administrative culture feels stagnant and insulated, and real change would likely require a full reset with new leadership across the board, including at the building level.Until that happens, the same issues will continue to affect schools like Willow Creek: administrations that seem indifferent to parent concerns, contract teachers who appear to be counting down the clock rather than investing in the school community, and facilities stretched to the point where storage rooms without windows are converted into classrooms. Willow Creek may be the most visible example of this culture, but families should understand that within Cherry Creek School District the grass is often not much greener elsewhere.