High Peaks Elementary School

3995 Aurora Avenue

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 February 13, 2025

Hands down the BEST teachers and Principal in the district. My son loves going to school, has actively participated in various fun events including scratch coding club, STEM Science Fair, Battle of the Books, dissecting eyeball and our own community International Day.
Submitted by parent on August 29, 2024

Its 5th year for our son at High Peak. He loves high peak as we parents do. its a great school.
Submitted by parent on August 15, 2024

This school is amazing. The teachers are so good with the kids and care so much. My kids are able to receive differentiated math and reading to meet them exactly where they are.
Submitted by parent on July 16, 2024

We currently have one child at High Peaks and couldn't be happier with our experience. We strongly believe it is an excellent elementary school.
Submitted by parent on April 06, 2024

My son has been at High Peaks elementary for all 6 years (K-5) and has had a great experience there. He has been given a good foundation each year to be better at the next grade. The teachers seem to challenge the kids where they need it. My son has grown in his academics at his own pace and he is inspired by the kids around him which I find invaluable. You are who you surround yourself with and at High Peaks there is a lot of good to surround your kids with there.
Submitted by parent on January 18, 2024

I feel very satisfied with High Peaks as a parent from the engaged teachers and Principal to the curriculum and warm parent community.
Submitted by parent on December 19, 2023

We moved our grade 3 child to this school from another BVSD after hearing directly from other parents who raved about the learning environment, high quality teachers and their results (which are outstanding). We were researching alternatives from our neighbourhood school due to being underwhelmed and disappointed with our child’s reports and a lack of enthusiasm for learning. Our experience has been amazing, they immediately identified learning plan, implemented a support system and the turnaround has been incredible. We now have a child raving about learning, is learning to play an instrument, taking science lessons and has jumped 2 grade levels in one semester for reading.
Submitted by parent on November 22, 2023

Three of my children have attended high peaks, we have been consistently impressed with the teacher quality, emotionally supportive environment, and positive atmosphere. This is a school populated by kids who enjoy learning and teachers who love to teach. It is not competitive in terms of pitting kids against each other over academics, rather the culture of the school seems more focused on celebrating one another’s accomplishments and being excited to learn. Nowhere is perfect, the challenge for us is that since kids come from all over the county it is a more spread out community vs a neighborhood school. Also, the GT program isn’t as strong as it could be.
Submitted by parent on November 16, 2023

I have a kindergartener and a 2nd grader at High Peaks, and we couldn’t be happier with our experience there! My children adored their time at Boulder Journey School (a Reggio Emilia preschool), and High Peaks has provided the continuity of a child-led, group-based, and experiential learning environment. Think small groups where children are met at their level and engaged with hands-on learning opportunities. There’s a garden program, purposeful music teaching methods, Ancient Greek play performances, and a Shark Tank-themed invention fair (check it out on YouTube!). Those aren’t the afterschool clubs. That’s integrated into the curriculum.I’ve found the High Peaks teachers to be in a continuous state of flow, moving to each new thing with such intention and responding gently and deliberately as things arise in the classroom. Lastly, I’ve been especially grateful for the friendly, supportive parent community. Go Astronauts!
Submitted by parent on November 15, 2023

We are so happy to be part of the High Peaks community. Our primary reasons for choosing High Peaks include the core knowledge sequence, focus on social and emotional development, diverse student population, the faculty’s experience and qualifications, and student-teacher ratio. Even after a few weeks at High Peaks, we are confident that we chose well for our child, who is assertive, kind, funny, playful, and endlessly curious. Our child is flourishing at this school. We receive regular updates from the teacher as to what the children are learning in literacy, math, and core knowledge. Being a multilingual family, we wanted our child to have multilingual friends, and due to the diversity at High Peaks, our child has many friends who come from other cultures and speak other languages. Because both of us grew up in areas with low diversity, it was important to us to find a school in Boulder with a diverse student population. We have yet to attend an International Day at High Peaks, but we look forward to celebrating all the countries represented by the student population. Our child did not start kindergarten being able to read, and within a few weeks, our child is reading to us (simple sentences, of course)! Our child is gaining more and more confidence when reading at home. Our child even initiates quizzing us on math, and we end up taking turns quizzing each other. We love to hear about what happened at school, but even more than that, we love the wonderful questions our child asks us – which we turn into mini-research projects and learn something new together. Our child looks forward to going to school each day. Generally speaking, we have found the teachers to be very happy there – well supported by the administrators, fellow teachers, and the families, and it is our impression that the turnover is very low because the teachers know that what they have is something special and rare.Because High Peaks is not a neighborhood school and enrollment is only through BVSD Open Enrollment, we feel like many of the families share our priorities in our children’s development. We felt welcomed right away.Overall, we are so happy that our child is at High Peaks and to be part of this wonderful community. We highly encourage all our friends to see if High Peaks is a good fit for their children.
Submitted by parent on November 15, 2023

We absolutely love High Peaks Elementary School. My son is excited to go to school everyday and has SO much to share each afternoon when he comes home. The teachers find an impressive balance between academic rigor and social emotional growth/wellness, and the sense of community is unmatched. As an educator myself for over 10 years, I couldn't be happier that we chose High Peaks.
Submitted by parent on November 02, 2023

My son has been at High Peaks for 2 Years now and we absolutely love it! He struggles a bit with reading and the programs and the Para's they have are amazing! He has made such improvement and I will forever be grateful for their great staff and educational programs. The teacher's have been amazing so far and I love how engaged all the staff is! We live in Westminster, so he's choiced in; and this was the best decision I've ever made. Education is so important to me as a parent and we will continue to send our kids to Boulder Valley School District as long as they will have us! Thank you High Peaks!
Submitted by parent on October 18, 2023

I am a current parent of multiple children enrolled at High Peaks. We chose this school over our neighborhood school due to the smaller class sizes and the Core Knowledge program that is not used at other schools in the district. High Peaks is consistently rated as a Blue Ribbon School, so it is considered an exemplary public school. The teachers are skilled at differentiation, meaning that if your child is advanced, they will get different work than other children. At the same time, if your child is behind, they will get specialized reading or math instruction. The speech teacher is amazing and knows how to work with children of all abilities. From what I have heard, parents fear this school being a "homework school" and that is not the case. They have 20-30 minutes of reading each night plus math homework which is grade-dependent. Please consider this school as a kindergartener, or in open enrollment if you feel that your neighborhood school is not up to par- you will not regret it.
Submitted by parent on January 17, 2023

This is a fantastic school with super engaged teachers and parents, as well as a wonderfully diverse set of kids. I wasn't expecting to attend a public school with such a great parent community, but it has been fantastic. The teachers really care about the kids and meet each child where they are. Highly recommended!
Submitted by other on January 26, 2021

Absolutely love this school! The teachers are fantastic and the Principal is such an effective leader. Enrolling our children here has been one of the best decisions we've made.
Submitted by parent on July 22, 2020

Fantastic school. We are so happy to be here.
Submitted by parent on January 08, 2018

High Peaks has been a great school for our kids - both of whom are good students. The teachers have always been thoughtful and understanding of our kids' different learning styles and personalities. Obviously, different teacher combinations with different kids have different results, and I've seen HP not be the best place for some kids - like almost every school. Great place for my kids though. Not sure what other parents expect, but in my experience, public schools have not been 1-to-1 education for either high achievers or low achievers. My son is in TAG and he's learning a lot, but obviously isn't being pushed to his limits, but is definitely being pushed. I appreciate the level of pushing, and want him to develop academically and socially, and I find that HP is doing a good, balanced job. My daughter is still too young for TAG, but seems to be getting the right amount of attention. We weren't looking or expecting private, prep-school education and we aren't disappointed, which for us, is perfect.
Submitted by parent on September 25, 2015

High Peaks caters to mediocrity. It advertises itself as high-achieving so that bright students will open enroll. High-achieving at High Peaks means helping 95% of the kids enrolled be average/proficient; a high percentage are molded into mediocrity. The more able students are marking time and are used to improve school stats while their understanding of their abilities and self-esteem suffers. The gifted program previously built by Michelle Eckstein (who is now at Peak to Peak) has changed; it is run with a repetition and consolidation mindset characteristic of low expectations. The staff lack professional development with regard to how they can serve intelligent minds. We've been through 3 teachers. They just would not go beyond their narrow curriculum. Presumably, it is not encouraged. High Peaks boasts about its Niche Ranking- this is an uncredentialled ranking service and parents who don't understand the proficiency ratings game on state tests or ranking methodologies are failing their children by sending them here. The sad thing is that this school has potential, it has capable minds, it lacks vision and leadership.
Submitted by parent on December 03, 2014

I'd HIGHLY recommend HIGH PEAKS! I have 3 children, each with different learning styles & abilities. My oldest went to Middle School this year & has tested into advance classes because of the education he received at High Peaks. My other 2 are in 2nd & 4th grades. The teachers are absolutely wonderful & child centered. The curriculum is outstanding! They don't stress the kids over learning, they make it fun. High Peaks is a Core Knowledge school, so they get more in depth instruction than in a neighborhood school. They tailor lessons to each student's ability & have small groups to help students succeed. The Principal is Lora de la Cruz. We have found her to be very welcoming. She is extremely caring & has been available whenever we've had a concern or issue with our children. She has been instrumental in getting our 2nd grader the help she needs. I can't say enough about the school. From the Principal to the Teachers to the Staff, this school really cares about children & their families.
Submitted by parent on November 12, 2014

I have been a parent for 8 years at High Peaks. Our Core Knowledge focus school attracts a highly engaged community of students and parents who thrive on learning. Our family's experience been overwhelmingly positive and my two children have thrived there. My middle schooler was more than prepared for middle school after graduating High Peaks. High Peaks is a warm, supportive environment where the teachers and principal truly go above and beyond for students. We feel lucky to be part of such a wonderful community.