The Scoop on Denver Private Schools and Options You Didn’t Know You Had

Although this post is focused on private school options, I want to be sure to point you to Ingrid’s excellent post on School Choice and echo her sentiments regarding our high-quality Stapleton public schools. In fact, this is one of the reasons my family chose to build in Stapleton, too! That being said, Stapleton residents may have even more options than we thought. Since all kids and families needs are different – options are certainly a good thing!

I started thinking about this topic while visiting friends in the University Hills part of town (down by DU). Something was a little odd – a Colorado Academy award for their 2^nd grade child hanging on the wall next to an International School of Denver plaque for their 6^th grade child. Why did this strike me as odd? Those schools are at least 30 minutes apart (without traffic) and nowhere near their home. Since I know both parents work very demanding jobs – I had to ask – how in the world do you do it?

Well, as it turns out, Colorado Academy has a bus service that stops just one block from their house and whisks their little one off to school and drops him back off at 4:00pm. For their daughter, the International School of Denver (Lowry) is close to work on the Anschutz campus, so they drive her and carpool with other colleagues. I had to know – do other schools do this? Could my Stapleton clients realistically look outside the neighborhood for school options? And most importantly – where are these magical bus stops???

Yes! Although private schools that offer this type of service are few and far between…..here are a handful to check out! (please note this is not intended to be an all inclusive list)

Colorado Academy (PK-12)

• Park Hill bus stop available with many other convenient stops available. Colorado Academy will also consider new stops based on family needs.
• Provides before and after school care.
• Cost = $586-$2,926/year based on mileage
• Additional information can be found here:
• http://www.coloradoacademy.org/Page/About/Bus-Transportation

Denver Christian (K-12)

• Transportation is available, but does not currently serve the Stapleton neighborhood and they are not expanding services at this time. Depending on your commute, however, you may find one of the routes helpful!
• Cost is about $85/month
• More info and routes available here: http://community.denverchristian.org/services/shuttlebus.cfm

Graland Country Day School (PK-8)

•  Bus service available for K-8 with a Stapleton stop at Sam Gary Library
•  After school care programs available until 6pm
•  Cost for bus service is about $1000/year

International School of Denver

• Transportation services available children 3+ years. Although they do not currently include Stapleton, they are open to expanding if enough families are interested.
• Cost = $1-2/one way ride

Regis Jesuit High School (9-12)

• Transportation is available, but does not currently serve the Stapleton neighborhood. However, service is available near downtown Denver and other locations around Denver.
• Regis also assists with carpools.
• Cost is about $1400/year with many flexible/lower cost options
• More info and routes available here: https://www.regisjesuit.com/page.aspx?pid=317

Schools that do not provide transportation services (but kindly responded to my inquiry):

• Beacon Country Day School (PK-8) – but they do offer an extended day program (until 5:30p)
• Cherry Hills Christian (PK-8)
• Denver Academy of Torah (PK-8)
• Denver Jewish Day School (K-12)
• Montessori School of Denver (PK-8)
• St. Anne’s Episcopal School (PK-8) – but they do assist with carpooling and afterschool care
• Valor Christian (9-12)

Looking for more information (to come soon):

• Kent Denver School (6-12)
• Mullen High School (9-12)

Private schools within driving distance:

• Bishop Machebeuf Catholic High School (9-12)
• International School of Denver (PK-8)
• The Logan School for Creative Learning (PK-8)
• St. James School (PK-8)
• Stanley British Primary (PK-8)

I will be gathering more information on a number of these schools in the coming weeks and months and will update Scoop readers on my findings! Do you know of any private school that provides students/families with transportation services? Let us know!