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Neighborhood Schools

Challenge, Enrich, Connect

Nearly 70% of PSD families choose to send their children to a neighborhood school, the school located in the attendance area in which they live. Students at PSD neighborhood schools grow up together in a culture of academic excellence, community, and character development. Neighborhood schools teach PSD’s rigorous standards-driven curriculum, along with gifted, enrichment, and accelerated options.

Round-trip transportation is provided for:

  • elementary school students living more than 1 mile from their neighborhood school*
  • middle school students living more than 1½ miles from their neighborhood school
  • high school students living more than 2 miles from their neighborhood school

* One-way transportation is provided for half-day kindergarten students who live more than 1 mile from school.

Challenging Curriculum

Neighborhood schools emphasize academic excellence through PSD’s standards-driven curriculum.

  • District-wide standards identify what each child should know and be able to do in each subject, at each grade level.
  • PSD standards meet and exceed state and national educational requirements.
  • Courses and content are sequenced to help students build a succession of learning at each grade level.
  • Classroom instruction provides clear connections between the classroom and the world beyond.
  • PSD students consistently perform, on average, 4%–16% higher than students statewide in all subjects, at all grade levels on the rigorous CSAP tests.

Enrichment & Accelerated Programs

Enrichment, gifted and talented, and accelerated programs complement neighborhood schools’ standards-driven instruction and expand the classroom for students.

Elementary enrichment programs include accelerated math and reading, Odyssey of the Mind, Lego Robotics, Living History Rendezvous, Eco Week, art shows, honor choir, science fair, Spelling and Geography Bee, student leadership, and more.

Middle schools offer Science Olympiad, Math Counts, Science/Astronomy Club, vocal and instrumental music groups, athletics, Robotics, National Junior Honor Society, and more.

Each year hundreds of senior high students take part in a broad spectrum of extra-curricular activities in academics, music and theatre, and athletics, many advancing to state- and national-level competition.

Gifted & Talented

PSD’s gifted and talented education programs promote early identification of gifted students and match programming options for varying strengths learning styles and student needs. All 2nd graders are tested for learning levels in April. Services at each school differ. Each school's specific gifted and talented services are posted on the Gifted and Talented web page.

AP, College Credit

All PSD’s comprehensive high schools allow high school students to get a head start on college-level work by offering a variety of nationally recognized Advanced Placement (AP) courses. AP courses prepare high school students to take AP exams and earn credit or advanced standing at most of the nation’s colleges and universities. Information: www.collegeboard.com

Pre-Advanced Placement (Pre-AP) courses are offered in most PSD neighborhood middle schools and help prepare students for rigorous AP courses.

Through PSD’s college credit program, all eligible 11th- and 12th-grade students may take college courses at Colorado State University, Front Range Community College, or Aims Community College. Students can receive dual high school and college credit, and financial reimbursement may be given after successful completion of courses.

Download Neighborhood Schools at a Glance to see list of neighborhood schools and school details.