Moving to Parker, Colorado
Parker Schools: DCSD, Charters and How to Enroll
Every address in Parker has an assigned neighborhood school inside one of three high school feeders, and every family can apply anywhere else in the district. Here is how that works, with the dates, the documents and every school in town.
By Connor Tien, DougCo Social · Updated September 2026
I am not a parent, so this is the guide I would want if I were one: no ratings-site opinions, just how Douglas County School District actually works, pulled from the district's own pages on September 29, 2026. The district sorts Parker into three high school feeders, Chaparral, Legend and Ponderosa, each with a middle school and its elementaries, and nine charter schools have Parker addresses on top of that. The good news is you do not have to figure out which one is yours. The district tells you, and then lets you choose anyway.
How DCSD Works
An assigned school for every address, and open enrollment on top of it.
Douglas County School District runs 45 elementary schools, 9 middle schools, 9 high schools, 6 alternative schools and 20 charter schools across the county, for about 61,000 students. Your address puts you in an attendance zone, and the school for that zone is what DCSD calls your neighborhood or address-assigned school, "the school that you are assigned to based on your residence address." Plug the address into the district's School Locator Map and you have your answer before the moving truck is booked.
Then there is open enrollment. You can request a different DCSD school, including one in another town, on a space-available basis; the district calls that your school of choice, and placement there is not guaranteed. For the 2027-28 school year, Round 1 runs from 8am on Monday, November 2, 2026 to 4pm on Tuesday, December 1, 2026; results arrive by December 8 in the EngagED parent portal and you accept by 4pm on December 15. Round 2 runs from 8am on Friday, January 22, 2027 to 4pm on Monday, August 2, 2027 and is first come, first served, with Round 1 waitlists ahead of it. Round 1 applicants are prioritized by grade level under district policy, and the prioritized list is purged on August 2 each year.
Local tip: Two calendars matter if you are moving mid-year: the district's open enrollment windows above, and your own closing date. Your assigned school will take you whenever you arrive; a specific other school will only take you if it has room.
Enrolling a New Student
Four steps, all online, from the district's Student Enrollment page.
The Chaparral High School Feeder
The Stonegate, Clarke Farms and Bradbury Ranch side of town, per the district's Parker Region list.
| School | Grades | Address |
|---|---|---|
| Chaparral High School | 9-12 | 15655 Brookstone Drive · 303-387-3500 |
| Sierra Middle School | 6-8 | 6651 Pine Lane Avenue · 303-387-3800 |
| Cherokee Trail Elementary | PreK-6 | 17302 Clarke Farms Drive · 303-387-8125 |
| Mammoth Heights Elementary | PreK-6 | 9500 Stonegate Parkway · 303-387-8925 |
| Pine Grove Elementary | K-6 | 10450 Stonegate Parkway · 303-387-8075 |
| Pine Lane Elementary | PreK-6 | 6485 E Ponderosa Drive · 303-387-8275 |
| Prairie Crossing Elementary | K-6 | 11605 S Bradbury Ranch Drive · 303-387-8200 |
Local tip: Note the grade splits. In this feeder the elementaries run to 6th grade and Sierra Middle takes 6-8, so a 6th grader may belong at either, depending on the address. The School Locator settles it.
The Legend High School Feeder
The east side: Canterberry Crossing, Hilltop Road and the Tallman Drive neighborhoods.
| School | Grades | Address |
|---|---|---|
| Legend High School | 9-12 | 22219 Hilltop Road · 303-387-4500 |
| Cimarron Middle School | 6-8 | 12130 Canterberry Parkway · 720-433-0120 |
| Frontier Valley Elementary | PreK-5 | 23919 E Canterberry Trail · 303-387-8475 |
| Gold Rush Elementary | PreK-5 | 12021 S Swift Fox Way · 303-387-7700 |
| Iron Horse Elementary | PreK-5 | 20151 Tallman Drive · 303-387-8525 |
| Pioneer Elementary | PreK-6 | 10881 Riva Ridge Street · 303-387-8400 |
The Ponderosa High School Feeder
The south side along Parker Road and Highway 83: The Pinery, Pradera and, outside town, Franktown.
| School | Grades | Address |
|---|---|---|
| Ponderosa High School | 9-12 | 7007 E Bayou Gulch Road · 303-387-4000 |
| Sagewood Middle School | 6-8 | 4725 Fox Sparrow Road · 303-387-4300 |
| Legacy Point Elementary | PreK-5 | 12736 S Red Rosa Circle · 303-387-8725 |
| Mountain View Elementary | PreK-2 | 8502 N Pinery Parkway · 303-387-8675 |
| Northeast Elementary | 3-5 | 6598 N State Highway 83 · 303-387-8600 |
| Franktown Elementary | PreK-5 | 1384 N State Highway 83, Franktown · 303-387-5300 |
Two things to know here. Mountain View Elementary is PreK-2 and Northeast Elementary is 3-5, so Pinery-area kids change buildings after second grade. And Franktown Elementary is in Franktown, in the same district feeder but outside Parker; it is on the list because the district puts it there.
Charter Schools in Parker
Public and tuition-free, authorized by DCSD, each with its own application. Nine have Parker addresses on the district's list.
Local tip: Where the district page does not print a grade span, we have not guessed one; the school's own site has it, along with its lottery dates. Each charter runs its own enrollment, separate from the district's open enrollment rounds.
School Buses
Who rides and what it costs, from the district's transportation FAQ.
DCSD bus service is for students at their assigned neighborhood school; the district's FAQ says transportation is not available to students who are open enrolled. Rides are $1 each way per student under board policy, billed quarterly to the student's MySchoolBucks account, with waivers for students with a transportation IEP and families on the Free and Reduced program. For 2026-27 the district says the annual bus pass is not available because of rolling route cancellations, so plan on the per-ride charge. Passes are requested at engaged.dcsdk12.org under Manage Transportation, and routes show up in the SMART tag parent app in late summer.
FAQ
Yes. DCSD calls it your neighborhood or address-assigned school: the school you are assigned to based on your residence address, where placement is guaranteed. Find yours with the district's School Locator Map. You can also request any other DCSD school through open enrollment, where a seat is not guaranteed.
The district groups Parker into the Chaparral High School feeder (Sierra Middle plus Cherokee Trail, Mammoth Heights, Pine Grove, Pine Lane and Prairie Crossing elementaries), the Legend High School feeder (Cimarron Middle plus Frontier Valley, Gold Rush, Iron Horse and Pioneer) and the Ponderosa High School feeder (Sagewood Middle plus Legacy Point, Mountain View, Northeast and Franktown).
Round 1 runs from 8am on Monday, November 2, 2026 to 4pm on Tuesday, December 1, 2026; results arrive by December 8 in the EngagED parent portal and offers must be accepted by 4pm on December 15. Round 2 runs from 8am on Friday, January 22, 2027 to 4pm on Monday, August 2, 2027 and is first come, first served, with Round 1 waitlists ahead of it.
Nine DCSD charters have Parker addresses: American Academy (Lincoln Meadows and Motsenbocker campuses), Challenge to Excellence, Global Village Academy, Leman Academy of Excellence (Bayou Gulch and Stroh campuses), North Star Academy, Parker Core Knowledge and Parker Performing Arts. Each runs its own application.
No. The district's transportation FAQ says bus service is not available to students who are open enrolled. For eligible students, rides are $1 each way per district policy, billed quarterly, with waivers for students with a transportation IEP or on the Free and Reduced program; passes are requested at engaged.dcsdk12.org.
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More Parker Guides
Moving to Parker
Cost of living from the Census, the 8 percent sales tax, who your water, power, gas and trash providers are, the E-470 commute and what a year at 5,900 feet feels like.
Parker Neighborhoods
Downtown, Stonegate, The Pinery, Pradera, Canterberry Crossing, Stroh Ranch, Meridian Village, Cottonwood and more: who runs each one, which water district you are in, the pools and the schools.
Things to Do in Parker
Discovery Park and the ice trail, the Cherry Creek Trail, the Rueter-Hess Incline, the PACE Center, Mainstreet, where to eat, and the events that come back every year.
New Resident Checklist
Driver license in 30 days, plates in 90, emissions, voter registration, DougCoAlert, water, power, gas, trash, the library card and the local stuff, in order.
Sources
Every school, grade span, address, date and rule on this page was read on the district's own site on September 29, 2026. Dates were checked against a calendar. If the district changes a window, the district's page wins.
- DCSD, Parker Region schools (feeders, grades, addresses, phones): dcsdk12.org/parker
- DCSD, Charter Schools: dcsdk12.org/schools-academics/schools/charter-schools
- DCSD, Why DCSD (district counts, graduation rate): dcsdk12.org/about/why-dcsd
- DCSD, Open Enrollment (2027-28 windows, priority): dcsdk12.org/about/departments/choice-programming/open-enrollment
- DCSD, Student Enrollment (Online Registration, documents): dcsdk12.org/admissions/student-enrollment
- DCSD, School Locator Map: dcsdk12.org/schools-academics/schools/school-locator-map
- DCSD, Transportation FAQs (eligibility, fees, passes): dcsdk12.org/parents-students/bussing/faqs
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