Hard to believe that it was just two and half years ago that residents of Highlands Ranch homes were petitioning against construction of the retail giant, Super Target at the Town Center North Shopping Center.  The land on the south side of Lucent had already been established as retail space, making the north side an obvious addition.  A few years earlier, construction of Home Depot got the same reception from residents of South Denver homes.  Personally, I am thrilled to have both of these so close to home. 

Now Town Center is a thriving retail center.  Restaurants, flower shops, and a number of great stores, including Tattered Cover, Vitamin Cottage, Super Target, and Petco draw in the locals.  On November 20^th, 2010 S.A. Elite Sports Authority joined the north side of the shopping center.  S.A. Elite is a division of Sports Authority geared towards premium brand performance wear for the elite sports enthusiast.  Sports Authority, a Colorado based company, launched their first Elite store in the Cherry Creek Shopping Center. 

No small venture, the 13,500 square foot store in Highlands Ranch offers high performance apparel for the fashion conscious athlete.  Name brands on seasonal wear include some of my personal favorites like Spyder, Merrell, and Under Armour just to name a few.  For my husband, an dedicated runner and triathlete, this is a solid addition to our already great community. 

Click here to see Highlands Ranch homes and Highlands Ranch Condos for sale.

The Douglas County School District is proud to be known as forward-thinking and innovative. Now, residents served by the district may once again have the opportunity to use option certificates or vouchers towards private school tuition in lieu of public education. It’s an interesting concept that is a main topic of conversation with parents of school-aged children and acceptance of the proposed vouchers is varied.

The District’s board committee, the Choice Taskforce, has come up with a plan that will offer parents and students more options in school choices. The Taskforce meets fairly regularly, gathering information so that they may provide recommendations and suggestions to improve the quality of education in our district and how to better serve the community in alternative choices.

Douglas County residents have always looked for more choices for their children’s education and until now, Charter schools filled the void for some. The District believes this will allow public schools more autonomy by creating an opportunity to explore partnerships with private schools, expanding local programs and national programs.

Seven subcommittees make up the Choice Taskforce and they are as follows:

1. Neighborhood School Autonomy
2. Open Enrollment Reform
3. Online Learning
4. Contract Schools
5. Option Certificates
6. Home School Programs/Partnerships
7. Charter Schools

Each subcommittee works toward a specific focus or topic area.  The suggestions are presented to the Board and District the latter part of each year. 

At a recent meeting the Option Certificates subcommittee presented a draft to the Taskforce and the Board for further consideration and discussion. Similar to our current Charter Schools, it has been suggested that Douglas County consider adopting a private school as a “contract school”. In order to participate in the program the private schools would still undergo the same rigorous process as our Charter schools.

Exactly how these vouchers would work is not quite clear. In the most basic of terms, the per capita amount public schools receive would be made available to those parents looking for an alternative educational option for their children. A portion of their allocated money would go to cover private school tuition in one of the approved contract schools. Any balances after the disbursement of the money would have to be covered out of pocket by parents.

Some parents find this an exciting opportunity for their children. While others worry about how the shift in public funding to the private sector might affect our already struggling public schools. The verdict is still out on this one and no decisions have been made.

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