Howbert Elementary School

"It is a great school. Great education. They did dumb it down a little because district 11 brought kids in from other schools. Had the kids out in temp buildings. Negatives. Seems to be a lot of alt right parents. Sent a letter to us when Obama was addressing the kids and that our child did not have to show because parents were pulling their kids out of school so they did not get indoctrinated. Code for we are racist. Sad thing is the principal and district 11 did not have the fortitude to stand up against racism. The worst thing is the school is named after a participant and defender of the sand creek massacre. Kinda like naming a school after hitler. But not educating the children who hitler was. It is embarrassing to me being a native to Colorado. Reminds me of something southern people would do."

"I like it so do my kids."

"My son has severe Autism. The school did very well in "integrating" him so he other children learn tolerance for him and he can have that social interaction. The school was always clean and there was always educational projects going on around him."

"Howbert is not a great school if your child needs additional help. They treat tutoring as if it's a nuisance to them. Also, be prepared to face some controversy if you send your 5 year old to Kindergarten and not their preschool. 6 and 7 year olds are the norm there. Don't expect exciting or educational field trips either. Their one and only field trip was a few blocks away to the Garden of the Gods Information Center, not even the actual park. Third thing, children learn differently and at different paces. Howbert isn't open to this fact and they stick strictly to D-11’s guidelines. In my case, my son never went to preschool. Although he was slightly under standardized test scores, he made significant improvements from quarter to quarter. I was seeing his ability to learn this much and this fast in a short amount of time. I was seeing hope in my child. They did not. The principal was angered when I declined her suggestion of holding him back another year. Their argument about his test scores then became personal attacks (my son was sitting only 3ft away listening to the whole thing). His principal pointed to his stick figure drawings. "Look at his people. There's no neck or body. This is a sign of immature thinking and underdevelopment". Since when did a kindergartner's art become a determining factor of their intelligence? Who is she to tell me this? To tell him this? VERY UNPROFESSIONAL. After that meeting my son came home and cried. I held him in my arms that afternoon and reassured him that he was smart. I had to repair the emotional damage that his "mentors " had caused. We found Howbert to be detrimental and very callous in this respect."

"I have 2 kids at Howbert this year and for the past 3 years. The staff has been very accommodating for my autistic son. They have been fabulous about keeping in touch with parents. The iep meetings have gone very well and they have suggested goals that were beyond what I would have thought of and are still very appropriate. My other child has been determined to be gifted and talented and the staff has worked to provide her with activities outside the classroom that challenge her and keep her engaged. The only negative comment I have is that the front office staff seem suspicious and confrontational. Every time the kids are out for any reason I feel like I am being interrogated by them. I will continue to send my kids to this school as I so far have loved it and most of the staff."