There’s a reason why Boulder has been named number one on Portfolio.com’s Top Brainiest Cities and the number one Most Educated City in America by Forbes magazine. The city of Boulder may be a fun place to live with lots of exciting things to do, but it also takes education very seriously.
With its combination of public, private and charter schools as well as institutions of higher education, Boulder offers educational opportunities for every age range and interest.
Public schools are operated by the Boulder Valley School District and include three high schools, and several middle and grade schools. There are also a number of charter schools, including two high schools, a middle school, a K-8 school and a K-12 school.
A variety of private high schools, middle schools and elementary schools operate in and near Boulder, including The Acorn School for Early Childhood Development, Boulder Journey School, Mountain Shadows Montessori School, Bixby School, September School, Jarrow Montessori School (the oldest Montessori school in Colorado), Bridge School, the Watershed School, Shining Mountain Waldorf School, Sacred Heart of Jesus, September High School, Hillside School, an alternative for children with learning disabilities, and Patience Montessori School.
Institutes of higher learning include the University of Colorado at Boulder, a public university which contributes roughly 46,000 residents (30,000 undergraduate students, 7,000 graduate students and 10,000 staff/faculty) to the population. Naropa University, which offers undergraduate and graduate programs, is one of two Buddhism-inspired colleges in the United States. There is also Rivendell College, private Christian Liberal Arts College, Boulder College of Massage Therapy, Ruseto College (a private two-year college for Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine), Southwest Acupuncture College, the Culinary School of the Rockies, and the Homeopathy School of Colorado.
There are also a number of science institutes in the area, including the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, the Center for Astrophysics and Space Astronomy, Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and many more.
