Heatherwood Elementary School

I couldn’t be more pleased with the way this school has been working out for my child. We initially had her being homeschooled. It was personally hard for our family to trust a school structure with our own personal bad experiences, and difficulties we’ve heard from friends that have kids in different situations. I personally was the most apprehensive and distrustful. Since my child has been attending this school I have seen her flourish into herself in a whole new and beautiful way. We struggled with teaching her foreign language and instruments, but she’s getting that here now. The real hidden gem is that she has the same classroom all the way through 8th grade. She has a teacher who knows her well, and watches her grow, and whose opinion and perspective we can trust. Seeing her work with her classmates in conflict resolution and forming community and long term bonds has been another hidden blessing. I personally have aversions to structured school systems, but this one has flipped my beliefs upside down and I am left with highly recommending Boulder Valley Waldorf School to anyone I can. I also struggled with the idea of paying for school, but I see now how every penny is worth it for her well being, community structure, foreign language, musical learning, artistic creativity, and every normal school subject being arranged in a better format for learning that helps my child to keep her youth and joy without sacrificing it in the name of education and conforming to societal structures that most standard schools prepare you for. Whenever we arrive or leave my child is waving to kids in every class and calling out to them by name, and also to the teachers. Seeing her connected to such a large, welcoming, and caring group of people truly fills my heart to its limits.

Our daughter attended Mountain Shadows International School from YCC level to the Upper Elementary. The AMI Montessori certified teachers here and the school's leadership are incredible. It is a true global learning school that teaches respect, cultural awareness, and formative life skills from the very start. In terms of academics, they allow deep learning & exploration for all core subjects. Their project based approach to learning helps students truly grasp concepts and see how the live in the real world. For example math isn't worksheets - it's an understanding of the material and strategies then applied to real world examples. Also, in the Upper Elementary they put a special focus on "going-outs" which is navigating the world with confidence and independence taking field trips via public transport to Denver Museums, local libraries and events. Also service work within the community. Would highly recommend this school for a modern, forward thinking and thoughtful student education.

My wife and I moved to the Boulder area in 2020 and quickly identified Boulder Country Day (BCD) school as the place we wanted our son to attend for 1st grade. He had previously attended a Montessori school in Philadelphia. He made a quick transition to BCD with welcoming teachers and a focus on social and emotional skills. Our daughter joined BCD in Kindergarten and is thriving now in 2nd grade.What we love about BCD is the balance between strong academics, a focus on developing social and emotional skills, a significant experiential learning program and a welcoming community. The school provides exceptional, music, arts and language (Spanish and French in Elementary/ Spanish, French and Latin in Middle School) programs starting in kindergarten and running through Middle school alongside the expected day to day academics. With our son transitioning into middle school this year, we have been delighted by the introduction to Middle School and specific executive functioning teaching that helped the new sixth graders adapt to managing their schedules and the increased workload independently and successfully. The BCD Middle school offers lots of social activities for the kids after school which has fostered positive cross grade interactions, enabling our son to build confidence and maintain a strong sense of self. This is a wonderful Middle school experience where kids can develop in their own time, supported by a faculty who is adept at helping kids transition through those sometimes-tough early teen years.