Bear Creek Elementary School

2500 Table Mesa Drive

School District

Boulder Valley Re 2
Grade

K-5
Teacher/Student Ratio

1:16
Type

public

School Map for Boulder Valley Re 2 School District

GreatSchools Rating

The school rating calculation is based on four ratings: the Student Progress Rating or Academic Progress Rating, College Readiness Rating, Equity Rating, and Test Score Rating each designed to show different facets of school success. Learn more about GreatSchools Ratings

Reviews

Submitted by parent on November 13, 2023

We put two children through this school. Every teacher has been energetic, enthusiastic, and caring. Our kids had a fantastic experience. Front office and administration is friendly, knowledgeable, helpful and supportive. Specials (art, music, gym, library) all are excellent programs.
Submitted by parent on October 22, 2023

We currently have two children at Bear Creek and couldn't be happier with our experience. We think it is an excellent elementary school.
Submitted by parent on October 18, 2023

I have two sons at Bear Creek Elementary and could not be happier with the academic and social/emotional educations they are receiving there. Every teacher we have had has been truly amazing. The community of families is outgoing, inclusive, and very supportive. We feel very fortunate to be a part of this school.
Submitted by parent on October 12, 2023

Bear Creek Elementary is an excellent school from Kindergarten through Fifth grade. The staff and teachers bring excellence and energy to teaching, social emotional learning and the many extra programs BCE offers. (ie: incredible performances, assemblies, community garden, carnival and overall community involvement). There is truly something for every student to be a part of at this school.
Submitted by parent on October 11, 2023

Bear Creek has been a wonderful place for our children to learn and grow. The teachers and administrators really get to know each student and support them academically, socially and emotionally. The school community itself is incredibly welcoming, kind and interesting. It's been a true delight to meet kids and parents from all over America and the world who choose to live in South Boulder.
Submitted by parent on October 11, 2023

We love the cozy, inclusive community and the high quality academics you can find at Bear Creek. The teachers really go the extra mile to get to know their students. The school offers an annual lip synch group event, carnival, and musical--these traditions make Bear Creek special. There are also a wide variety of after school clubs and Lifelong Learning classes through the school district held here throughout the week.
Submitted by parent on March 15, 2023

I just love everything about this school. I have a kiddo who came into first grade with a LOT of work to make up after not being enrolled in BVSD kindergarten. In both first and second grade his teachers went above and beyond setting him up on an individual program to motivate him with both behaviors and school work. He just loves school as a result and I am not concerned at all that he will fall through the cracks. I was surprised to hear some negative reviews regarding the PTO moms. I am not the biological mother of the child I have enrolled at BVSD. If anyone was to be concerned about not being accepted by some snobby parents, it would be me. However, my experience has been quite the opposite and these PTO moms have always been super welcoming to me. I have also witnessed them reaching out to children’s nannies, making sure they feel included on numerous occasions. I have been asked to volunteer in the classroom and do not feel excluded in any way. Quite to the contrary, I am grateful for the friendship extended to me.
Submitted by parent on May 20, 2022

My kids's scores significantly dropped after 1 year at Bear Creek. We are quite concerned and wanted to reach out their teachers. But none of the teachers responded to our email on time. We got a reply after 3 months. They blames our kids and said their teachers were always right. If you look at some ranking or some reviews and decided to come to this school, I would definitely suggest you do a second thought. Just give other schools a try and it may save 1 year for your kids.
Submitted by parent on September 28, 2021

Front office including Principle Tanner Dayhoff need a few courses on manners.
Submitted by parent on October 12, 2017

There is a massive amount of hype around this school but the school is fine – it’s ok – it’s nothing grand. The kids are mostly sweet and, from our experience, bullying issues with the kids are dealt with firmly and swiftly. There is no homework assigned at the school. The library is big and spacious with beautiful windows. The gym is large and new with a perplexing large mural of a stoned-looking bear mascot. The facility itself is beautiful, clean, and well tended. One thing I really loved about the school is that the kids go outside every day no matter what the weather. It’s so good for kids to run around and to know that every day can bring an adventure with the weather. The office staff are well organized and friendly. From the previous reviews, it’s not really fair to dislike a principal because of the way he looks – I had very little interaction with him but the kids liked him a lot. The only parents I saw him interact with were the PTO sharks. There are a fair amount of passionate teachers and also a fair amount of teachers who are older and just checked out – who want to teach to the kids who easily excel. The gym teacher is beloved and deservedly so. The music teacher was average – however the same kids who are easy to manage but void of talent dominated the shows we had to endure. The social atmosphere is ruled by people in aerospace or who teach at CU and their kids volunteer information like “I’m a genius” but who don’t know how to shake hands or make eye contact when conversing with an adult. The PTO is impenetrable and the meetings are held midday on weekdays. There’s zero chance of participating if you are a working parent. Not that you’d want to spend any time with those folks anyway. The events they held were pretty lame but most parents donated to the school nonetheless. The neighborhood is wealthy and white. There is no socio-economic or ethnic diversity at this school. If those are attributes you value, then this school is probably not for you. I was relieved when our child moved on to middle school mostly to be away from the mostly nasty parent base.
Submitted by parent on August 15, 2017

Bear Creek is an excellent school with fantastic teachers, administration, and students. My two children went to Bear Creek and loved it! I think the negative reviews in here are from one parent who didn't like it. No school is perfect for every child, but leaving misleading reviews is petty. The principal does a great job of balancing the needs of all the kids, the staff, and the school district. Not an easy job, but he makes it look easy.
Submitted by parent on February 03, 2015

The best thing about Bear Creek is the gym teacher who along with at least 5 other teachers are truly talented. The worst thing is the principle. Bear Creek thinks of itself as a neighborhood school when really what is going on is affluent people from all over the Nation buy their way into this school. In our time there we knew of people renting houses they did not live in just so their multiple children could attend, they actually lived in Thornton. Saying it was cheaper than private school. The science fair was shut down because it became too competitive, one mum was actually a rocket scientist and basically did her kids project for her. Also be warned the PTO is very aggressive and if you are unable to make a sizable contribution your families name will be know by others. The principle has a very special and close relationship with the PTO leadership, and it is a very cliquy group. In summery this school is elite.
Submitted by parent on January 26, 2015

This is an exclusive school, where you have to be wealthy to be living in the neighborhood and attend. The principle is driven by test scores, and having the "best" school in the area. We found the teachers to be remarkable for one of our children who is a academic achiever, but appalling for our other child who was not academically driven. The treatment was worlds apart. The professionals at this school seemed to know nothing about Learning Differences, which is shocking. Interestingly our child was also carefully coached around the test scores (see other reviewer). The PTO is extremely active, and raises huge amounts of money but not once in six years did I ever hear about the school donating some of it's surplus funds to a less fortunate school. The community at Bear Creek is all about Bear Creek, those are not the values of our family.
Submitted by parent on January 25, 2015

This was our neighborhood school. At this school, our child was given answers for CSAP tests by staff, was told by the principal he would be suspended for tearing a paper ("destroying school property"), was told by a teacher that he could never learn math, was pegged by the school psychologist with a diagnosis he didn't have, and was reduced to tears on "graduation" day by the music teacher, who ruled with an iron fist. This is not a school for kids with any learning differences. The psychologist also told us our child "could never make it in middle school" (he did, and did great). It required legal action to keep our child's placement here which we did because he had friends and some truly loving, great teachers. Avoid this school unless you are a wealthy white family with athletic kids who have zero learning issues. The principal is a Ken doll bent on cooking the school's math scores for the sake of his own career. Check out Mesa, a friendlier school in same neighborhood. Parents are very involved at Bear Creek - the good part is this generates money and amenities other schools don't get. The bad part is the alpha moms are competitive and intense.
Submitted by parent on August 11, 2014

Our family has been at Bear Creek for 6 years and we have been happy to see our children grow and flourish at this exceptional school. It is a neighborhood school, and with home prices sky-rocketing here, the community is not as diverse as other sections of Boulder. But as I watch my oldest preparing to enter middle school, I can do so with relief, knowing that she has the knowledge, study skills and maturity to handle the next stage of her education. Thank you Bear Creek!
Submitted by parent on April 02, 2014

Bear Creek Elementary is a wonderful school. The teachers, principal, administrative staff, and parent volunteers are truly outstanding. It is clear that they all love what they do.
Submitted by parent on November 13, 2013

Our child was going to BC for 2 years and her math and reading comprehension have been consistently low. She was assigned the ESL program, even though English is her only language. She has trouble with paying attention in class so at times she would be disruptive. Last month her behavior was very bad so we disciplined her. She went to school crying and the principal called *** on us. A couple weeks after the *** visit, and them finding nothing wrong at the home front, they actually had the nerve to call us to set up a conference. By then we have already been looking at alternatives, and have decided to pull her out and home school her to try to undo all the bad habits she has been picking up at this school. Perhaps their call was their way of trying to bully her out of their school since they are more concerned about the overall test scores than they are the individual children. I wouldn't recommend this school to anyone, especially if you have children with darker colored skin.
Submitted by parent on November 12, 2013

My child was there for 5 years and he couldn't read. The principal told me it was my fault and he caused a horrible fight in my family. After I finally had enough I took my son and sent him to another BVSD school and with in 2 months he was reading. Run away from this school unless you want fake people, spoiled children, and a principle who should have been a politician.