Arvada West High School

I have had three (very different) kiddos at Sierra and it has been a wonderful school for all of them so far. The Specials team is fantastic! They have Art, Music & PE and days called ROAR days that my crew absolutely loves. The building is light and bright. Administrators are visible and accessible. Two of my kiddos have had IEPs, and they have been well supported.

I engage with the staff and administration at this school regularly and feel I have a good sense of Stott. The Principal The principal weighs the family perspective as a top priority when making decisions. If a decision doesn't sit well, she always has excellent reasoning for why decisions are made a certain way, and makes sure everyone wondering understands the reasoning. She has always made time to sit down and talk with families who have questions and concerns. The TeachersThe teachers care firstly about student well-being, growth, and engagement. They seem happy at Stott and to be in their positions, and this positively affects my child's overall experience. Happy teachers have happy classrooms. The teachers I know are cheerful, know about their students beyond just test scores, and there's little turn-over. Many teachers have been at Stott long enough to see entire families start in kindergarten and move on to middle school, high school, and beyond. They always look for ways to support and challenge students' abilities. EngagementStott has come a long way with student and family engagement over the years by hosting implementing weekly STEM classes during the school day, fundraising activities like the Fun Run and Read-a-Thon, after-school extracurricular options like Robotics, Art Club, Dance, and more that I'm probably forgetting. The teachers communicate frequently in a number of ways -- in person at school events or at the door during arrival and dismissal, e-mail, phone calls, apps like Class Dojo, newsletters in Friday Folders, and even postcards when students really go above and beyond in behavior or academics. There is a small but mighty cadre of consistently involved families who support through the PTSA or other means as they're able, and this is a HUGE part of Stott's improvement over recent years. StudentsThe students at Stott are generally hardworking, kind to others, and respectful. All schools see conflicts between students, but Stott seems to have the kind of kids who treat each other with kindness without much in the way of bullying. The mental health awareness and support at Stott is fantastic with responding to concerns and communicating with families about issues students might be experiencing. Stott recently adopted an Autism Spectrum Disorder center from a school that closed, and its presence has certainly raised my child's awareness and acceptance of differences among her friends, and her empathetic skills.

A new principal starting in 2023 has really been detrimental. Her approach was to jump in and make immediate changes, which in my opinion created confusion and stretched herself thin. For example- there is an issue with parking lot flow. It is a flawed lot and would probably need to expand to make it better. She opened up the area used for bus drop off and created an anxiety inducing safety hazard that added more points of entry and exits that reduce traffic flow. Not well thought through and has made the problem worse.At the beginning of the year our child needed extra help after missing a large portion of the year with a serious medical condition. She brushed off our highly advised attempt for an IEP before the year started, which delayed our child four months of getting the help she needed.Our child’s celiac was not properly handled in the classroom. There were concerning practices by her teacher that year. Communication with that teacher lacked.Next year, the principal sent out an email the WEEK before school started to let us know fifth grade classroom size would be 29!! She failed to hire a teacher and brought class size from 21 to 29. We were not allowed the time to find a new school with acceptable class size. Our children will not get their needs met with such large classrooms. The teachers will get burnt out with the added weight.There’s been other head scratching changes that have left teachers confused. The principal’s short body of work has been a failure. Our two children have had their education stunted and we are left filling in the gaps at home. It’s been a sharp drop of quality from the prior principal to the current. The school district needs to intervene.

Absolutely horrible school. As a current student I wish I didn’t go here and the principal doesn’t care about the students nor do the teachers

My children attended Mountain Phoenix from ECE all the way through 8th grade, and it was truly a gift to our family. The teachers nurtured not just their academics, but their curiosity and sense of self. Today, both of my kids are in high school and still carry a genuine love of learning that was sparked at MPCS. The community and the Waldorf-inspired education gave them a foundation that continues to serve them.