Peak to Peak Charter School
Encyclopedia
Peak to Peak Charter School is a K-12 public college-preparatory charter school
located in Lafayette
, Colorado
, and is part of the Boulder Valley School District
(BVSD).
Peak to Peak is a member of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools
, and its 2005-2006 senior class had the highest ACT
score average (25.0) for all of BVSD, and the third-highest for the entire state of Colorado
.
and wanted to offer families a K – 12 college preparatory charter school option.
The writing of Peak to Peak’s original charter school proposal started soon after that original meeting, and several more people joined the group. Included in this effort were people who had been involved in a number of BVSD
choice schools, including High Peaks Elementary School, Burbank Core Knowledge Middle School, Summit Middle Charter School, Horizons Charter School, and Community Montessori. That group worked over the next several months to write the proposal, which was submitted to BVSD
on May 26,1998.
Peak to Peak’s proposal to BVSD
is available on Peak to Peak’s website. It identifies the foundation for Peak to Peak’s vision and contains the school’s mission statement, goals, and objectives. In addition, the proposal outlines in objective terms how Peak to Peak will know if it has reached its goals.
Following the submission of Peak to Peak’s proposal to BVSD
, Peak to Peak’s original founders and newly elected Board of Directors worked over the summer of 1998. That work included holding public meetings to inform people about the newly proposed school, inviting others to become subscribers, continuing work on the curriculum, grant writing, searching for a facility, and negotiating with BVSD
.
Peak to Peak’s proposal was approved by BVSD
in August 1998.
’s various funds to the services that BVSD
required Peak to Peak to purchase. However, the largest negotiating obstacle was centered on facilities. BVSD
had a number of under-enrolled schools at the time of Peak to Peak’s original proposal, so the founders requested that the school share one of BVSD
’s underutilized buildings. Unfortunately, the resolution approving Peak to Peak’s proposal specifically stated that Peak to Peak would not be sited in a BVSD
-owned facility.
The facilities provision was extremely problematic due to the high price of real estate in Boulder County. Of the previously approved BVSD
charter schools, two were located in BVSD
facilities and two that were denied district space never got off the ground. The two schools that were not given a facility were unable to secure a building on a charter school’s limited budget. Thus, they never opened.
After nearly a year of negotiations and thousands of hours of work, Peak to Peak’s contract with BVSD
was approved by the school board. On May 13, 1999, Peak to Peak was officially approved as a charter school by a five to two vote. Supporters included Janusz Okolowicz, Don Shonkwiler, Stan Garnett, Bill De La Cruz, and Julie Phillips. Voting in opposition were Jean Bonelli and Linda Shoemaker. Unfortunately, Peak to Peak still needed a facility.
When the facility challenges became too great, the Board of Directors and the “subscribers” who had joined the effort before the contract was signed shifted their focus to opening an elementary school. The group worked with Terry O’Connor, a local developer who was planning a new building in Louisville’s Colorado Tech Center (CTC). Technical issues created problems at that site, and the founders contracted to lease an available CTC building that was owned by the same developer. Site plans, which included a circular drive, a playground, and landscaping, were submitted to the City of Louisville. Unfortunately, a neighbor opposed the efforts and worked hard to galvanize opposition. On July 5, 2000, with 300 students enrolled and an additional 300 on the waitlist, the Louisville City Council turned down Peak to Peak’s proposal.
With only six weeks until school was to start, a group continued its efforts to look for any alternative site. Every area municipality was contacted, real estate was combed, miles were driven, and a deadline for finding a site was established. On July 26th that deadline arrived and no site had been secured. In one of Peak to Peak’s bleakest moments, having run out of facility options, on July 26th Peak to Peak’s Board of Directors voted to end efforts to open in the fall of 2000; knowing that the vote could mean the end of Peak to Peak.
Early the next morning, before the rest of the community could be notified of the vote, everything changed. An earlier real estate contact returned a call about a real estate sign that had been seen in Broomfield. The realtor indicated that the specific commercial building really would not fit the school’s needs, but mentioned that he was about to list a day care center on Excalibur Street in Lafayette. The wheels were again turning! That morning, a Peak to Peak board member went to the school to determine whether it held any hope, and a showing was scheduled for that evening. While too small to house all of the students who had accepted enrollment into Peak to Peak, it was an option, and, within 24 hours of the initial realtor’s call, Peak to Peak had signed a contract for the disheveled, little day care center.
The next step was working with the City of Lafayette to obtain a zoning change. The City’s application deadline was fast approaching, and the approval or denial vote would not occur until August 28th, two days after other BVSD
schools had already begun classes.
Peak to Peak was determined to provide a school to those who were willing to take a chance on the Lafayette’s approval. Nine days after the real estate contract was signed, a complete zoning application including a site plan, landscaping plan, traffic analysis, and a summary of how Peak to Peak complements Lafayette’s Comprehensive Plan was submitted at 4:58 p.m., two minutes before the application deadline. The Mayor of Lafayette, who lived in the neighborhood that housed the little day care center was there, waiting to see if Peak to Peak made the deadline. Several weeks later, on August 28, 2000, after much work answering questions to the City and organizing for the public meeting, the Lafayette Planning Commission approved the zoning request and Peak to Peak had a facility!
We were elated to have a building. Unfortunately, the facility would hold only 200 of the 300 students enrolled for the upcoming school year. Options were considered and a creative solution was developed. Peak to Peak held a meeting for all of Peak to Peak’s families and informed them that the school would prefer a regular school year calendar but was willing to move to a year-round calendar in order to accommodate all of those enrolled. As a result of this announcement, a number of families voluntarily left, leaving just the right number of students of 197 to start in September on a regular school year calendar.
During all of the uncertainty that summer, Peak to Peak founders, subscribers, now joined by the newly enrolled families, had to continue their incredible work. If a building was miraculously secured, the school had to be ready to open in the fall. So, work continued. Curriculum continued to be developed, grants continued to be written, administrators and teachers were hired, and the furniture and textbooks needed to start a school were acquired. All of this happened with no certainty that a building would come through. The Acquisition Committee continued to follow every lead in an effort to furnish our building on a very limited budget. That first year, they hit the jackpot and nearly filled the entire school with used white boards, teacher desks and chairs, conference tables, filing cabinets, and bookcases for a total price tag of $600! Teacher desks were purchased for $20 a piece, and the accompanying chairs each cost $20. Only $10,000 was spent on the first library. That money went toward the purchase of a set of Core Knowledge books and a cataloging/circulation system that included a scanner and computer. Yet, the school opened with a collection of 3,000 donated books. After purchasing new student desks, lunch tables, and several miscellaneous items, this amazing team furnished the school for under $35,000. No money was spent on storage, and only $1,000 was spent for moving and labor. This compares to the roughly $450,000 normally spent at other public schools of comparable size.
With remarkable tenacity and immeasurable hard work, the Peak to Peak community cleaned and renovated the newly acquired building in one week. This hard work enabled Peak to Peak to begin its first day of school on September 4, 2000, one week after receiving approval from the Lafayette Planning Commission to operate in the newly renovated day care building.
This building worked well for Peak to Peak’s first year of operation, but was not large enough to house the school’s growth. So, efforts began immediately to accommodate Peak to Peak’s expected enrollment. Another real estate search began, and two attempts were made to secure a site before Peak to Peak successfully located a 26 acres (105,218.4 m²) site on Merlin Drive in Lafayette. A contract was signed to purchase the property for the permanent facility, while work simultaneously continued to accommodate the next year’s student growth. To temporarily house its 607 students for the 2001-2002 school year, Peak to Peak operated on two sites. The school obtained Lafayette's approval to place an 8000 square feet (743.2 m²) modular building next to the former day care building to increase that site’s capacity from approximately 200 to 300 students. Approval was also obtained from Lafayette to place three modular buildings on the new Merlin Drive campus site to house the additional 312 students in grades 4-9. However, those temporary buildings were only approved for one year. With the impending one-year deadline to build a new campus and remove the temporary buildings on June 22, 2001, Peak to Peak again submitted a site application to the City of Lafayette to construct a comprehensive 97000 square feet (9,011.6 m²) K – 12 campus.
Concern about whether an approval for the final campus could be obtained arose when Lafayette indicated that Peak to Peak needed an additional driveway to accommodate expected traffic. There were only two ways that another drive could be built, either through BVSD
property to the north or over a railroad track to the east. Neither seemed feasible and Peak to Peak was again faced with the possibility of not being able to house its students. BVSD
turned down the request to build a drive through its property, but indications from the railroad were positive, and in July of 2001, Lafayette approved Peak to Peak’s application with the condition that the second drive be constructed.
Financing for the new school was obtained on July 26th, with the sale of an $18.8 million bond. Peak to Peak made history as the first charter school in the country to sell bonds after one year of operation; the bonds were oversubscribed and sold out within two hours. The bonds, underwritten by Kirkpatrick Pettis, were to be repaid out of Peak to Peak’s operational budget over 30 years. In 2004, Peak to Peak reduced our bond’s interest rate and saved over $1 million over the life of the loan. When Peak to Peak issued its original bonds at 8.31%, the bonds were rated speculative by Moody's Investor Services. Standards and Poors has now rated Peak to Peak 's bonds investment grade. With the State of Colorado’s moral obligation backing and the purchase of bond insurance, Peak to Peak issued bonds with a AAA rating at a new interest rate of 5.18 percent.
Following the end of the 2001-2002 school year, the original building on Excalibur was sold. One year after construction began, in September 2002, Peak to Peak proudly opened the doors of its newly constructed three-building campus to its approximately 1,000 students. The buildings were completed on time and under budget.
With each growth year, parents, teachers, and staff worked together and an amazing volunteer effort was staged. Working with staff, volunteers wrote and organized the City of Lafayette applications, managed the site development, hired teachers and staff, wrote grants, sought supplies and furniture at free or reduced rates, scrubbed buildings and equipment, and moved classroom supplies into the rooms.
Peak to Peak Charter School is considered highly decorated. It has been named a John Irwin School of Excellence several times, a direct result of the school's "Excellent" CSAP score. Additionally, it was named the number one High School in the Denver metro area by 5280, a Denver lifestyle magazine, in August 2007. During the same year, they were also named number 47 on the US News and World Report listing of best schools.
The number of National Merit Finalists at Peak to Peak has traditionally been larger than the average statewide. In 2007 and 2008, thirteen students were given this prestigious level of honor.
In 2008, Peak to Peak Charter School was ranked 40th in Newsweeks "Top 100 Public schools in the US."
The Peak to Peak High School athletic program was ranked 9th overall in the state among Class 3A high schools and 42nd overall among 330 Colorado high schools in the February 2007 Mile High Sports Magazine. The Mile High Sports ranking placed the Peak to Peak program second best in the Boulder Valley School District
.
2011: The Peak To Peak Cross Country Team is scheduled to compete at the Stanford Meet this fall. Only the seven top runners will compete.(Or the next in line)
The school's board of directors decided that the school would be better served as the Phoenix. Then in 2001 the school administration put it to the students to make a change. This time, given a range of choices, the student body chose the Puma as their mascot.
Charter school
Charter schools are primary or secondary schools that receive public money but are not subject to some of the rules, regulations, and statutes that apply to other public schools in exchange for some type of accountability for producing certain results, which are set forth in each school's charter...
located in Lafayette
Lafayette, Colorado
The City of Lafayette is a Home Rule Municipality located in Boulder County, Colorado, United States. The United States Census Bureau estimates that the city population was 23,884 on 2005-07-01.- Geography :Lafayette is located at ....
, Colorado
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
, and is part of the Boulder Valley School District
Boulder Valley School District
The Boulder Valley RE 2 School District is a school district in Colorado, headquartered in the BVSD Education Center in unincorporated Boulder County, near Boulder. The district serves Boulder, Gold Hill, Jamestown, Lafayette, Louisville, Nederland, Superior, and Ward...
(BVSD).
Peak to Peak is a member of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools
North Central Association of Colleges and Schools
The North Central Association of Colleges and Schools , also known as the North Central Association, is a membership organization, consisting of colleges, universities, and schools in 19 U.S. states, that is engaged in educational accreditation...
, and its 2005-2006 senior class had the highest ACT
ACT (examination)
The ACT is a standardized test for high school achievement and college admissions in the United States produced by ACT, Inc. It was first administered in November 1959 by Everett Franklin Lindquist as a competitor to the College Board's Scholastic Aptitude Test, now the SAT Reasoning Test...
score average (25.0) for all of BVSD, and the third-highest for the entire state of Colorado
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
.
Conception and Initial Proposal
The school was first discussed among about a dozen people in November 1997. Those gathered were concerned about possible limits to open enrollment opportunities in BVSDBoulder Valley School District
The Boulder Valley RE 2 School District is a school district in Colorado, headquartered in the BVSD Education Center in unincorporated Boulder County, near Boulder. The district serves Boulder, Gold Hill, Jamestown, Lafayette, Louisville, Nederland, Superior, and Ward...
and wanted to offer families a K – 12 college preparatory charter school option.
The writing of Peak to Peak’s original charter school proposal started soon after that original meeting, and several more people joined the group. Included in this effort were people who had been involved in a number of BVSD
Boulder Valley School District
The Boulder Valley RE 2 School District is a school district in Colorado, headquartered in the BVSD Education Center in unincorporated Boulder County, near Boulder. The district serves Boulder, Gold Hill, Jamestown, Lafayette, Louisville, Nederland, Superior, and Ward...
choice schools, including High Peaks Elementary School, Burbank Core Knowledge Middle School, Summit Middle Charter School, Horizons Charter School, and Community Montessori. That group worked over the next several months to write the proposal, which was submitted to BVSD
Boulder Valley School District
The Boulder Valley RE 2 School District is a school district in Colorado, headquartered in the BVSD Education Center in unincorporated Boulder County, near Boulder. The district serves Boulder, Gold Hill, Jamestown, Lafayette, Louisville, Nederland, Superior, and Ward...
on May 26,1998.
Peak to Peak’s proposal to BVSD
Boulder Valley School District
The Boulder Valley RE 2 School District is a school district in Colorado, headquartered in the BVSD Education Center in unincorporated Boulder County, near Boulder. The district serves Boulder, Gold Hill, Jamestown, Lafayette, Louisville, Nederland, Superior, and Ward...
is available on Peak to Peak’s website. It identifies the foundation for Peak to Peak’s vision and contains the school’s mission statement, goals, and objectives. In addition, the proposal outlines in objective terms how Peak to Peak will know if it has reached its goals.
Following the submission of Peak to Peak’s proposal to BVSD
Boulder Valley School District
The Boulder Valley RE 2 School District is a school district in Colorado, headquartered in the BVSD Education Center in unincorporated Boulder County, near Boulder. The district serves Boulder, Gold Hill, Jamestown, Lafayette, Louisville, Nederland, Superior, and Ward...
, Peak to Peak’s original founders and newly elected Board of Directors worked over the summer of 1998. That work included holding public meetings to inform people about the newly proposed school, inviting others to become subscribers, continuing work on the curriculum, grant writing, searching for a facility, and negotiating with BVSD
Boulder Valley School District
The Boulder Valley RE 2 School District is a school district in Colorado, headquartered in the BVSD Education Center in unincorporated Boulder County, near Boulder. The district serves Boulder, Gold Hill, Jamestown, Lafayette, Louisville, Nederland, Superior, and Ward...
.
Peak to Peak’s proposal was approved by BVSD
Boulder Valley School District
The Boulder Valley RE 2 School District is a school district in Colorado, headquartered in the BVSD Education Center in unincorporated Boulder County, near Boulder. The district serves Boulder, Gold Hill, Jamestown, Lafayette, Louisville, Nederland, Superior, and Ward...
in August 1998.
Contract Negotiations
The approval of Peak to Peak’s original proposal meant that the school was approved as a concept, but a contract outlining specific obligations for both parties still had to be negotiated. Many details had to be resolved to complete that contract, but the two most difficult items related to budget and facilities. There were many fine points regarding the budget, from the amount to be received from BVSDBoulder Valley School District
The Boulder Valley RE 2 School District is a school district in Colorado, headquartered in the BVSD Education Center in unincorporated Boulder County, near Boulder. The district serves Boulder, Gold Hill, Jamestown, Lafayette, Louisville, Nederland, Superior, and Ward...
’s various funds to the services that BVSD
Boulder Valley School District
The Boulder Valley RE 2 School District is a school district in Colorado, headquartered in the BVSD Education Center in unincorporated Boulder County, near Boulder. The district serves Boulder, Gold Hill, Jamestown, Lafayette, Louisville, Nederland, Superior, and Ward...
required Peak to Peak to purchase. However, the largest negotiating obstacle was centered on facilities. BVSD
Boulder Valley School District
The Boulder Valley RE 2 School District is a school district in Colorado, headquartered in the BVSD Education Center in unincorporated Boulder County, near Boulder. The district serves Boulder, Gold Hill, Jamestown, Lafayette, Louisville, Nederland, Superior, and Ward...
had a number of under-enrolled schools at the time of Peak to Peak’s original proposal, so the founders requested that the school share one of BVSD
Boulder Valley School District
The Boulder Valley RE 2 School District is a school district in Colorado, headquartered in the BVSD Education Center in unincorporated Boulder County, near Boulder. The district serves Boulder, Gold Hill, Jamestown, Lafayette, Louisville, Nederland, Superior, and Ward...
’s underutilized buildings. Unfortunately, the resolution approving Peak to Peak’s proposal specifically stated that Peak to Peak would not be sited in a BVSD
Boulder Valley School District
The Boulder Valley RE 2 School District is a school district in Colorado, headquartered in the BVSD Education Center in unincorporated Boulder County, near Boulder. The district serves Boulder, Gold Hill, Jamestown, Lafayette, Louisville, Nederland, Superior, and Ward...
-owned facility.
The facilities provision was extremely problematic due to the high price of real estate in Boulder County. Of the previously approved BVSD
Boulder Valley School District
The Boulder Valley RE 2 School District is a school district in Colorado, headquartered in the BVSD Education Center in unincorporated Boulder County, near Boulder. The district serves Boulder, Gold Hill, Jamestown, Lafayette, Louisville, Nederland, Superior, and Ward...
charter schools, two were located in BVSD
Boulder Valley School District
The Boulder Valley RE 2 School District is a school district in Colorado, headquartered in the BVSD Education Center in unincorporated Boulder County, near Boulder. The district serves Boulder, Gold Hill, Jamestown, Lafayette, Louisville, Nederland, Superior, and Ward...
facilities and two that were denied district space never got off the ground. The two schools that were not given a facility were unable to secure a building on a charter school’s limited budget. Thus, they never opened.
After nearly a year of negotiations and thousands of hours of work, Peak to Peak’s contract with BVSD
Boulder Valley School District
The Boulder Valley RE 2 School District is a school district in Colorado, headquartered in the BVSD Education Center in unincorporated Boulder County, near Boulder. The district serves Boulder, Gold Hill, Jamestown, Lafayette, Louisville, Nederland, Superior, and Ward...
was approved by the school board. On May 13, 1999, Peak to Peak was officially approved as a charter school by a five to two vote. Supporters included Janusz Okolowicz, Don Shonkwiler, Stan Garnett, Bill De La Cruz, and Julie Phillips. Voting in opposition were Jean Bonelli and Linda Shoemaker. Unfortunately, Peak to Peak still needed a facility.
Facility Acquisition
Originally, the founders of Peak to Peak planned to open a high school as the first stage of a full K-12 campus. Following the May 1999 contract approval, months were spent trying to secure a location for that program.When the facility challenges became too great, the Board of Directors and the “subscribers” who had joined the effort before the contract was signed shifted their focus to opening an elementary school. The group worked with Terry O’Connor, a local developer who was planning a new building in Louisville’s Colorado Tech Center (CTC). Technical issues created problems at that site, and the founders contracted to lease an available CTC building that was owned by the same developer. Site plans, which included a circular drive, a playground, and landscaping, were submitted to the City of Louisville. Unfortunately, a neighbor opposed the efforts and worked hard to galvanize opposition. On July 5, 2000, with 300 students enrolled and an additional 300 on the waitlist, the Louisville City Council turned down Peak to Peak’s proposal.
With only six weeks until school was to start, a group continued its efforts to look for any alternative site. Every area municipality was contacted, real estate was combed, miles were driven, and a deadline for finding a site was established. On July 26th that deadline arrived and no site had been secured. In one of Peak to Peak’s bleakest moments, having run out of facility options, on July 26th Peak to Peak’s Board of Directors voted to end efforts to open in the fall of 2000; knowing that the vote could mean the end of Peak to Peak.
Early the next morning, before the rest of the community could be notified of the vote, everything changed. An earlier real estate contact returned a call about a real estate sign that had been seen in Broomfield. The realtor indicated that the specific commercial building really would not fit the school’s needs, but mentioned that he was about to list a day care center on Excalibur Street in Lafayette. The wheels were again turning! That morning, a Peak to Peak board member went to the school to determine whether it held any hope, and a showing was scheduled for that evening. While too small to house all of the students who had accepted enrollment into Peak to Peak, it was an option, and, within 24 hours of the initial realtor’s call, Peak to Peak had signed a contract for the disheveled, little day care center.
The next step was working with the City of Lafayette to obtain a zoning change. The City’s application deadline was fast approaching, and the approval or denial vote would not occur until August 28th, two days after other BVSD
Boulder Valley School District
The Boulder Valley RE 2 School District is a school district in Colorado, headquartered in the BVSD Education Center in unincorporated Boulder County, near Boulder. The district serves Boulder, Gold Hill, Jamestown, Lafayette, Louisville, Nederland, Superior, and Ward...
schools had already begun classes.
Peak to Peak was determined to provide a school to those who were willing to take a chance on the Lafayette’s approval. Nine days after the real estate contract was signed, a complete zoning application including a site plan, landscaping plan, traffic analysis, and a summary of how Peak to Peak complements Lafayette’s Comprehensive Plan was submitted at 4:58 p.m., two minutes before the application deadline. The Mayor of Lafayette, who lived in the neighborhood that housed the little day care center was there, waiting to see if Peak to Peak made the deadline. Several weeks later, on August 28, 2000, after much work answering questions to the City and organizing for the public meeting, the Lafayette Planning Commission approved the zoning request and Peak to Peak had a facility!
We were elated to have a building. Unfortunately, the facility would hold only 200 of the 300 students enrolled for the upcoming school year. Options were considered and a creative solution was developed. Peak to Peak held a meeting for all of Peak to Peak’s families and informed them that the school would prefer a regular school year calendar but was willing to move to a year-round calendar in order to accommodate all of those enrolled. As a result of this announcement, a number of families voluntarily left, leaving just the right number of students of 197 to start in September on a regular school year calendar.
During all of the uncertainty that summer, Peak to Peak founders, subscribers, now joined by the newly enrolled families, had to continue their incredible work. If a building was miraculously secured, the school had to be ready to open in the fall. So, work continued. Curriculum continued to be developed, grants continued to be written, administrators and teachers were hired, and the furniture and textbooks needed to start a school were acquired. All of this happened with no certainty that a building would come through. The Acquisition Committee continued to follow every lead in an effort to furnish our building on a very limited budget. That first year, they hit the jackpot and nearly filled the entire school with used white boards, teacher desks and chairs, conference tables, filing cabinets, and bookcases for a total price tag of $600! Teacher desks were purchased for $20 a piece, and the accompanying chairs each cost $20. Only $10,000 was spent on the first library. That money went toward the purchase of a set of Core Knowledge books and a cataloging/circulation system that included a scanner and computer. Yet, the school opened with a collection of 3,000 donated books. After purchasing new student desks, lunch tables, and several miscellaneous items, this amazing team furnished the school for under $35,000. No money was spent on storage, and only $1,000 was spent for moving and labor. This compares to the roughly $450,000 normally spent at other public schools of comparable size.
With remarkable tenacity and immeasurable hard work, the Peak to Peak community cleaned and renovated the newly acquired building in one week. This hard work enabled Peak to Peak to begin its first day of school on September 4, 2000, one week after receiving approval from the Lafayette Planning Commission to operate in the newly renovated day care building.
This building worked well for Peak to Peak’s first year of operation, but was not large enough to house the school’s growth. So, efforts began immediately to accommodate Peak to Peak’s expected enrollment. Another real estate search began, and two attempts were made to secure a site before Peak to Peak successfully located a 26 acres (105,218.4 m²) site on Merlin Drive in Lafayette. A contract was signed to purchase the property for the permanent facility, while work simultaneously continued to accommodate the next year’s student growth. To temporarily house its 607 students for the 2001-2002 school year, Peak to Peak operated on two sites. The school obtained Lafayette's approval to place an 8000 square feet (743.2 m²) modular building next to the former day care building to increase that site’s capacity from approximately 200 to 300 students. Approval was also obtained from Lafayette to place three modular buildings on the new Merlin Drive campus site to house the additional 312 students in grades 4-9. However, those temporary buildings were only approved for one year. With the impending one-year deadline to build a new campus and remove the temporary buildings on June 22, 2001, Peak to Peak again submitted a site application to the City of Lafayette to construct a comprehensive 97000 square feet (9,011.6 m²) K – 12 campus.
Concern about whether an approval for the final campus could be obtained arose when Lafayette indicated that Peak to Peak needed an additional driveway to accommodate expected traffic. There were only two ways that another drive could be built, either through BVSD
Boulder Valley School District
The Boulder Valley RE 2 School District is a school district in Colorado, headquartered in the BVSD Education Center in unincorporated Boulder County, near Boulder. The district serves Boulder, Gold Hill, Jamestown, Lafayette, Louisville, Nederland, Superior, and Ward...
property to the north or over a railroad track to the east. Neither seemed feasible and Peak to Peak was again faced with the possibility of not being able to house its students. BVSD
Boulder Valley School District
The Boulder Valley RE 2 School District is a school district in Colorado, headquartered in the BVSD Education Center in unincorporated Boulder County, near Boulder. The district serves Boulder, Gold Hill, Jamestown, Lafayette, Louisville, Nederland, Superior, and Ward...
turned down the request to build a drive through its property, but indications from the railroad were positive, and in July of 2001, Lafayette approved Peak to Peak’s application with the condition that the second drive be constructed.
Financing for the new school was obtained on July 26th, with the sale of an $18.8 million bond. Peak to Peak made history as the first charter school in the country to sell bonds after one year of operation; the bonds were oversubscribed and sold out within two hours. The bonds, underwritten by Kirkpatrick Pettis, were to be repaid out of Peak to Peak’s operational budget over 30 years. In 2004, Peak to Peak reduced our bond’s interest rate and saved over $1 million over the life of the loan. When Peak to Peak issued its original bonds at 8.31%, the bonds were rated speculative by Moody's Investor Services. Standards and Poors has now rated Peak to Peak 's bonds investment grade. With the State of Colorado’s moral obligation backing and the purchase of bond insurance, Peak to Peak issued bonds with a AAA rating at a new interest rate of 5.18 percent.
Following the end of the 2001-2002 school year, the original building on Excalibur was sold. One year after construction began, in September 2002, Peak to Peak proudly opened the doors of its newly constructed three-building campus to its approximately 1,000 students. The buildings were completed on time and under budget.
With each growth year, parents, teachers, and staff worked together and an amazing volunteer effort was staged. Working with staff, volunteers wrote and organized the City of Lafayette applications, managed the site development, hired teachers and staff, wrote grants, sought supplies and furniture at free or reduced rates, scrubbed buildings and equipment, and moved classroom supplies into the rooms.
School Accomplishments
Peak to Peak is the only public school in Boulder Valley and the second in the State of Colorado to receive a College Preparatory Accreditation from the North Central Association (NCA). The NCA has awarded the college preparatory accreditation to 240 private schools in its region, while only 20 public schools have received this designation.Peak to Peak Charter School is considered highly decorated. It has been named a John Irwin School of Excellence several times, a direct result of the school's "Excellent" CSAP score. Additionally, it was named the number one High School in the Denver metro area by 5280, a Denver lifestyle magazine, in August 2007. During the same year, they were also named number 47 on the US News and World Report listing of best schools.
The number of National Merit Finalists at Peak to Peak has traditionally been larger than the average statewide. In 2007 and 2008, thirteen students were given this prestigious level of honor.
In 2008, Peak to Peak Charter School was ranked 40th in Newsweeks "Top 100 Public schools in the US."
Athletics
Peak to Peak High School Athletic Program 9th in Colorado 3AThe Peak to Peak High School athletic program was ranked 9th overall in the state among Class 3A high schools and 42nd overall among 330 Colorado high schools in the February 2007 Mile High Sports Magazine. The Mile High Sports ranking placed the Peak to Peak program second best in the Boulder Valley School District
Boulder Valley School District
The Boulder Valley RE 2 School District is a school district in Colorado, headquartered in the BVSD Education Center in unincorporated Boulder County, near Boulder. The district serves Boulder, Gold Hill, Jamestown, Lafayette, Louisville, Nederland, Superior, and Ward...
.
- 2005: boys' Varsity soccer team took the Colorado 3A state soccer championship title.
- 2006: boys' Varsity hockeyHockeyHockey is a family of sports in which two teams play against each other by trying to maneuver a ball or a puck into the opponent's goal using a hockey stick.-Etymology:...
team took the Colorado 5A state hockey championship title. - 2007: varsity Track and FieldTrack and fieldTrack and field is a sport comprising various competitive athletic contests based around the activities of running, jumping and throwing. The name of the sport derives from the venue for the competitions: a stadium which features an oval running track surrounding a grassy area...
team sent seven competitors to the state track meet. One student became the state champion in the 100 meter and repeated as state champion in the 300 meter hurdles. A girls’ relay team is the 4x400 meter relay champions. Another athlete finished third in the boys 400 meter dash. - 2007: boys' varsity GolfGolfGolf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....
team won its first-ever regional golf title during the 4A Metro-East competition at Deer Creek Golf CourseDeer Creek Golf CourseStretching through densely wooded areas and bringing winding creeks into play, Deer Creek is recognized for its beauty and challenge. Designed by Robert Trent Jones, Jr., this course is a natural choice in the heart of Johnson County....
in LittletonLittleton, ColoradoLittleton is a Home Rule Municipality contained in Arapahoe, Douglas, and Jefferson counties in the U.S. state of Colorado. Littleton is a suburb of the Denver-Aurora Metropolitan Statistical Area. Littleton is the county seat of Arapahoe County and the 20th most populous city in the state of...
on Sept. 18th. The team now qualifies for state competition. - 2010: boy's Varsity Cross-country Running places first at the Metro League meet, defeating longtime rival Holy Family.
- 2011: girl's Varsity TennisTennisTennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
team finished third in Kent Denver SchoolKent Denver SchoolKent Denver School is a private, co-educational, non-sectarian college preparatory high school and middle school in Cherry Hills Village, Colorado...
regional meet for their inaugural year at Peak to Peak Charter School. The three doubles team qualified for their first 4A state competition appearance in Pueblo, Colorado. - 2011: girl's Varsity soccer team finished second in the Colorado 3A state soccer championship finals.
2011: The Peak To Peak Cross Country Team is scheduled to compete at the Stanford Meet this fall. Only the seven top runners will compete.(Or the next in line)
Mascot
The mascot of Peak to Peak Charter School is a Puma.The school's board of directors decided that the school would be better served as the Phoenix. Then in 2001 the school administration put it to the students to make a change. This time, given a range of choices, the student body chose the Puma as their mascot.