Mountain Phoenix Community School

Our whole family loves our school! From art to academic integration to the festivals and community, we are so grateful to have another 6 years here!

Public Waldorf school at its finest! Dedicated, passionate and incredibly knowledgable staff. The community is like our second family!

We have been a family here for over 5 years. Our child is thriving and happy! The community and staff are amazing!

This school is pretty much useless. They fire the teachers that are working to make the school better for the sake of their philosophy. I was scolded by the first grade teacher for teaching my daughter how to read.

Mountain Phoenix has been such a blessing for our family. The community is active and welcoming and the curriculum is infused with art, music, handwork, dance, drama, and lots of time outside. My very active, creative daughter loves it!

We love this school! My children both attend, my oldest has been there for 4 years now. The campus is beautiful, the teachers are amazing, and the directors are both great. We are so lucky that we found this school.

Since I have brought our two children to this school, their whole attitudes have changed. They love school now! I didn't know anything about Waldorf school at first and I have learned so much. Now that I have learned about this philosophy, I wouldn't take my children anywhere else. Both of my children's teachers are easy to talk to to and have lots of experience. The festivals are amazing. They have fairs ad events through out the year that bring families together and I have made so many friends with like minded parents. I knew I could ever afford private school, but I feel like I have found the best school private or public for my kids!

My daughter attends the Coal Creek Canyon Campus, and I couldn't imagine a better place for her to begin her education. A Waldorf-inspired education can benefit children at any level, developing their strengths and supporting any weaknesses though their focus on the whole child: head, heart and hand. While budgetary restrictions are forcing many schools to drastically reduce arts and sciences in the curriculum, those subjects are integral to the students' day at Mountain Phoenix.

The teachers and staff have excellent credentials and create a warm atmosphere for the children to learn in a caring environment. The classrooms are small, with mixed grade levels. The teachers are diligent about carefully assessing each child and guiding them to work to their fullest potential in each subject. I don't know yet where my daughter will go to school after 8th grade, but I know after the wonderful foundation she'll have received at Mountain Pheonix, she'll be ready to go anywhere!

My children attend Mountain Phoenix Community School in Coal Creek Canyon. This is their fifth year and they love it. They are thriving in this small, community oriented learning environment. Both have grown so much in their love of learning and their sense of who they are as individuals. The Waldorf teaching methods bring the curriculum alive for the children and the arts infused learning makes it fun while training their minds in ways the neighborhood schools have all but lost. This is a very special campus with fresh air and beautiful mountain charm. It may not be for everyone, but it has been an amazing blessing in our lives!

We have been at Mtn Phoenix (mountain campus) for two years and our overall experience has been a positive one. It is a school that believes in the well-being of the whole child and the small size allows the teachers, staff and families to all know each other and lends itself to a great sense of community.

The academic portions of the day are presented both traditionally (spelling lists, reading reflections and math worksheets) and experientially with field trips and time outdoors where appropriate. I appreciate the fact that the entire school day does not revolve around straight academics, there is music and art almost every day and two long recesses that allow for physical activity and unfettered play. I believe these things are critical in a child’s day to allow them to really learn during their time in the classroom. This year Hobby and Service classes were offered as well.

Not every school is a fit for every child or every family, but I would encourage parents looking for a more alternative education for their child/children to meet the people at MPCS and judge for themselves. You can’t make an informed decision about a school from its standardized test scores and website commentary. A school is so much more than that. The administrative leadership has a lot of room for growth, but I don’t believe there is a group of teachers more committed to the well-being of their children.

What I have learned as a parent is that different schools are good for different kids. What one family would call horrible, another would call a life saver. The Mountain Phoenix Coal Creek Campus has been a life saver for my son. We were underwhelmed by two neighborhood public schools so tried a wonderful private school, only to have that school close due to financial problems. We brought our son ( after constant meetings, and phone calls, and e-mails with past teachers) up to to the Mountain Phoenix Coal Creek Campus (a public charter school). He found a sense of calm in the wooded mountains that surrounds the school as well as the CCC staff. All of the teachers at the CCC are well trained and have years of experience under their belts. The classrooms are small and there is a lot of hands on, experiential learning. My son can't wait to go to school in the morning. Last night he couldn't wait to get his homework done so he could earn points to attend Mr. Smith's Rocketry class (building rockets). You could say we a family that doesn't quite fit in the traditional public school mold. The Mountain Phoenix Coal Creek Campus has taught my son the traditional academic line, but through treasure hunts. He has learned how to play the viola, and even to knit. Which I have found calms my normally hyperactive child. My hat is off to these hard working and caring teachers who make the drive up the canyon every day. I can't believe how lucky we are to have found this school and a public charter at that!

My child goes to the Mt. Campus in Coal Creek Canyon. He is in his third year at that location. I honestly can't say anything about the other campus, but what I do know about our school that my child attends is that it is everything I could have wished for! This school has evolved into an organized, caring school where as a parent, I know that my input and concerns are honored and respected. My child has grown immensely and has developed self-confidence and a desire to learn! What more could I ask for?

When we enrolled our daughter at Mt. Phoenix, we thought, great, a little school now ready to grow into a larger school.
When they promised bus transport from the Wheat Ridge to the Coal Creek Canyon Campus, we thought, good, this is going to work out.
When they told the eighth grade students that no ball point pens were allowed and no media presentations of any kind were to be used in the classroom, we thought, that’s odd.
When on the first day of school, there was no bus and no notification that five students would be jammed into a faculty member’s Buick, we thought, What’s going on here?
When my child and her best friend were repeatedly bullied and the teachers and principle told us it was my child’s fault, we said, “Wait a minute!”

What you have here is a little school in a remote canyon that operates on its own set of standards, however chaotic, trying to establish itself in Wheat Ridge on a larger scale. I’m sorry but I thought that when the school was funded by Jeffco tax payers, the schools had to be worthy of that support! In our opinion, Mt. Phoenix School is an experiment that is failing in that mission. The new campus is expensive and so they always have their hand out to parents.

Our child was suspended AFTER the October classroom Jeffco student count. I looked for another school even before a number of hostile meetings with the principle and teachers made it clear they were not going to ask our child to return.

Everything was infinitely better once we found out about Alpine Valley School. This is best–kept secret in Wheat Ridge and for us it was the only logical choice. If you haven’t considered this option, you owe it to your child to look into this unique educational alternative.

This is a wonderful school, that nurtures and loves the kids who attend it. The children love it and feel accepted here. The teachers work hard to help each and every child.